Fr. Steve's Morning Email - 4/22/09

Last night I cracked the book, "The Unlikely Disciple" by Kevin Roose.  I found this book last week next to two other books that I just loved, "The Year of Living Biblically" and "The Know-It-All" both by A.J. Jacobs.  A.J. Jacobs is a writer who immerses himself into a subject and then writes about it.  In "The Know-It-All" he ordered and read every word of the Encyclopedia Britannica.  For "The Year of Living Biblically" he followed to the best of his ability every word/commandment in the Bible.  Both are fascinating and funny.

His writing assistant, college student Kevin Roose, has followed in his boss' footsteps.  Roose is a student at Brown University and it is by his own admission, secular.  While doing research with his boss, he found himself in the foyer of Thomas Road Baptist Church, AKA Jerry Falwell's church.  He did not know an evangelical.  He was not a church goer and he wanted to know what it would be like to spend a semester at Libery University - the school founded by Falwell.  So he transferred from Brown to Liberty for a semester.  He immersed himself into every aspect of school life - just to keep an open mind and see what happens.

I've only read 63 pages.  So far, it's funny.  And it's fair.  I went to a Christian college, but compared to Liberty University, my college looks like the Delta fraternity in Animal House.  I'm curious to see how it ends.

One question that has come from this book and the books from Jacobs is this: what would happen if we would just commit to immerse ourselves into our faith - our church?  Just jump right in and let whatever happens happen. Call it - a leap of faith. 

I say give it a shot.  And who knows, you might make some money by writing a book.

--
Fr. Steve Rice
Rector, St Timothy's Episcopal Church
Winston-Salem, NC
www.sttimothys.ws
www.sttims.blogspot.com
336.765.0294