Kathleen Norris' book Amazing Grace has been a favorite of mine since I was introduced to it 3 years or so ago by my friend Jenny. I'd read The Cloister Walk before and thought it was okay. I'd read both better and worse. The Cloister Walk had in no way prepared me for this book: I had no clue the effect it would have.
I can't point to anything specific, and every time I read it, there's something new. I'm rereading it because it both encourages and challenges me. I don't agree with her on all points theologically, but I can't argue that God has used her greatly.
Tonight, I was struck by a phrase that I really liked -- and one that applies to many things in my life the last few weeks. In this chapter, she's talking about her experience of being thrust somewhat unexpectedly into a preaching ministry and reflecting on, literally, the faith of her fathers.
Who am I, to think I could escape the burden of all that preaching in my blood?
I don't preach because my faith is especially strong or worthy of imitation. My faith has become more stable with experience--and I believe that the year in which we were searching for a new pastor when I preached on two or three Sundays a month, helped my faith to mature.
It's an interesting enough chapter, well written and thoughtful. But what caught my attention was a single phrase that rings with truth: My faith has become more stable with experience. And she's right.
I find it interesting that she couples the stable faith of experience with the idea of maturity. The word often translated as "perfect" in the New Testament is a word that signifies more the idea of completion or maturity rather than our modern concept of perfection.
Experience births within us a perfect(ed) faith. Particularly now, I find that comforting.
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