I finished A Heretic's Guide to Eternity last week. I absolutely loved it. I would feel comfortable recommending it to everyone even though I am sure the word "heretic" would scare off many.
Like so many of the books I have read in recent years, it felt as if the author was in my head. For some reason it makes me feel less insane and more alive when I realize that I am not alone in my thoughts, which is how I felt for so long. To realize that there are others - many others - gives me confidence to explore my thoughts further. It also makes me think that there is something happening - a spiritual revolution of some kind - similar to that of the reformation.
I also enjoy reading books like this because it helps me articulate my views to others - I pick up analogies, phrasing, etc. that does a great job of communicating what resonates as truth to me. I had many "YES!" moments while reading this. I become envious when others find wording to communicate that is so much more effective than anything I have come up with. However, during those moments I remember a talk I heard from Don Sundquist who was Sam Walton's right hand man for many years; he stated that Sam never came up with new ideas; he just collected ideas - the ideas that seemed to work at this competitors and then absorbed those ideas into his operating methods. I feel like collecting and organizing information is one of my strengths; so, I plan to press into that philosophy and collect ideas for communicating my thoughts from others.
Also, I want to do a better job of digesting what I read before moving on to something else. The temptation for me is to always move forward with new material instead of truly absorbing the material currently before my eyes. Therefore, for books such as Heretic, that are chocked full of good information, I hope to collect those ideas chapter by chapter by blogging about them. I begin that process shortly.
However, before analyzing the Foreword and Introduction, I wanted to comment on Spencer Burke. Before starting this book, I knew nothing of him. From the picture on the back cover he looks to be in his late 40's / early 50's. He is a former pastor who eventually had to leave institutionalized religion because of the fundamental conflicts it created with his evolving understanding of reality. He created theooze.com and ETREK.com which is a website facilitating the formation and curriculum for alternative learning groups. His thoughts are great, but it is his praxis which really gets me excited - he is truly living a life which manifests what he claims to believe - that is inspiring to me. For example, his family has a picnic with a group of people once a month in their local park; they call it "church" - ahhh, water to my soul! I am so tired of "sing five songs (two standing up, two sitting down, then one standing up again), pass the offering bag, hear a sermon, hear a closing worship song, then leave".
Who knows, but if Spencer and I lived in the same town, I could easily see myself doing whatever I could to find ways to spend time with him. I would love to get to know him better. I would love to get a look behind the curtain of his life and see what he is really like - is there truly spiritual fruit there? Is he a loving person when nobody is looking? If I were somehow able to confirm that he is, I think I would radically adjust my life to be in closer in contact with him, be discipled by him and do what I could to support his efforts. I have found that I am not a great leader, but I am off the scales in administrative, organizing and strategic type thinking. I can honestly say that if I had a list of leaders with which I would want to align my kingdom building efforts, Spencer Burke would be on that list.
So, with all that being said, I begin the blogs that process the thoughts discussed in the book.
