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While most of us will experience at least one crisis of faith, we arent usually giving a Sunday sermon when it happens. When the death of a child in his Connecticut congregation sends Chase Falson into a dizzy tailspin and the elders not-so-gently suggest a sabbatical, he numbly heads for the hills - of Italy - in desperate search of himself and his God.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great new way to look at Francis of Assisi,
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This review is from: The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father Through Lament (Paperback)
It's great to see how Mr Cron has given a fresh perspective on St. Francis of Assisi with this novel. I'd heard many of the stories about St. Francis but experiencing them with struggling Pastor Chase Falson was so refreshing. It's fun getting drawn in with Chase and Brother Kenny as they travel around the environs of Francis' life taking a pilgrimmage or as Brother Kenny refers to it, "praying with your feet". Chase struggles with his prejudices against Catholicism and anything other than the standard evangelical checklists. But the book rather than being a slam against evangelicalism is an invitation to draw closer to Christ and to do it through the life of one of His most radical followers, Francis of Assisi. In his day, Francis's example called the Church back to basic commitment to Jesus and that example speaks equally to our post modern world.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Seriously misquoting Gandhi, etc.,
This review is from: The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father Through Lament (Paperback)
Overall I too have appreciated this book, but upon a closer re-reading I was taken aback by two problems on pages 96 and 97, especially the first. There is a serious misquote of Gandhi on p. 96 when Cron cites him as saying: "The world is so hungry for God that God could only come as a piece of bread. We so long for joy that God even risked coming into the world in the form of intoxication, that risky thing called wine." NO! Gandhi never said such a thing. Although he respected all world religions, he was a Hindu and did not spout any such Christian Eucharistic theology. The first sentence in the quote may be related to this ACTUAL quote of Gandhi's: "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." Gandhi's concern was the immense poverty and hunger of so many people, so this last quote is an eloquent articulation of the simple fact that people need to be fed first before any more esoteric or spiritual considerations can attract much of their attention.I think this is a very serious error that totally changes the meaning of Gandhi's words. As to the second sentence there is absolutely nothing in Gandhi resembling that, so heaven only knows where that is from. Another perhaps less serious error occurs on p.97 when the protagonist writes to Francis that "It's no wonder that most of your writings, Francis, are about the importance of worship, liturgy, and the sacramental life." Although "most" is a rather vague quantifier, and might mean 51%, the general impression here that these were Francis' main foci is incorrect. There is much more nature mysticism and concern for ascetical practise, among other things, than there is discussion of worship, liturgy and the sacramental life. Francis was not ordained. No, he was not a deacon as the Roman Catholic sacramentary claims. Francis was too much of a Friar "Minor" or a person of great humility, to look for or accept ordination. Cron is not claiming that Francis was ordained, but his remark is suggestive of that erroneous strain of thought. I know that Cron explains early on something to the effect that he cannot document all his quotes without making the book into an academic work instead of a "novel". But such a serious misrepresentation of Gandhi in particular is very problematic. It is disrespectful of Gandhi's Hinduism, and it changes a quote that is about feeding the hungry of the world, to be instead a poetic reflection on Eucharist. While there is much about the book that I appreciate, I will now approach the rest of my second reading with much more caution and unfortunately a level of mistrust.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deeper journey of faith,
By
This review is from: The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father Through Lament (Paperback)
Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron is a novel that follows the senior pastor of an evangelical church who, in crisis over a longing for deeper faith, joins his uncle in Italy to embark on a pilgrimage to learn more about who St. Francis of Assisi was and how this humble monk became the first postmodern Christian. The reader is challenged to look at the way we 'do' church in the twenty-first century and evaluate whether or not we are fully living the gospel of Christ and being faithful to it. What can we learn from the myriad followers of Jesus who have gone before us? Is there benefit in preserving our spiritual history and not dismissing it as ancient and arcane?As a Christian who has been challenged over the last year to evaluate the way I have 'done' church, the discovery of this book could not have been more timely. The traditions of the church, the symbols and architecture, the deep appreciation for the arts, and the centrality of the Eucharist all speak of a deeper understanding and expression of the faith that I had yet to experience. Chasing Francis, along with its study guide, has given voice to some of my spiritual longing that had yet to be fully understood. This book is an excellent guide for anyone who is mildly curious about the more traditional ways of doing church, for those who want to take their faith deeper, and the ones who want to spur their church on to become more intentional in living out the Gospel of Christ. I give this book 5 stars out of 5. I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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