8th
A Confession
Okay. I’m a punk.
A couple years ago I started getting hit up to endorse a number of books. Most of them were actually written by friends of mine. And most of them were actually good books too.
But I still said no. To all of them.
I sort of rationalized in my head that I’d prefer not to put my name on something that I wasn’t absolutely positive was theologically accurate (as if anything is anyway…).
Then my publisher recently sent me a copy of Tim Stafford’s new and completed book, Shaking the System: What I Learned from the Great American Reform Movements. This was one of the books I was sent a draft of the manuscript and asked for an endorsement. But I never sent one in. As soon as I got my copy of the finished book, I turned it over and looked to see who actually ended up endorsing it…
Ready for this? The some of the all time greats: Philip Yancey, Ronald Sider, John Perkins, Charles Marsh, and Jim Wallis.
Damn.
What was I thinking?
In addition to not endorsing that book, I also failed to send in endorsements for some other great books, in fact, all excellent books that I should have endorsed:
- Scott Bessenecker’s book The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World’s Poor
- Craig Greenfield’s book Urban Halo, The A Story of Hope for Orphans of the Poor
- John Hayes’s book Submerge: Living Deep in a Shallow World: Service, Justice and Contemplation Among the World’s Poor
- Christine Sine’s reprint of Sacred Rhythms: Finding a Peaceful Pace in a Hectic World now called, Godspace: Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life
If you’re the author’s of any of these…sorry. There were a few others too that I didn’t endorse either. Sorry about that as well.
Since then I’ve written a book myself, Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World. I actually finished it on Friday. My editor is actually trying to chase down some endorsements for my book, no thanks to me for making it hard for him. The first one has come in and I was not only blown away at who it was, but at the kindness it reflected:
Jean Vainer wrote:
This is a challenging and appealing book. It reveals the part of love to Jesus and of Jesus—presence to the poor, the broken and the vulnerable. Chris has a gentle and realistic way of showing that this path which can appear as austere, suffering and insecure is tempered, rendered human and Christian and even enjoyable through meetings of love and of tenderness, which heal us, liberate us, give us strength and new life.
Wow. Really?
Anyway, I recently have agreed to endorse a few books and stop being such a jerk about it. I’ve already sent one in for David Zimmerman’s newest book, Deliver Us from Me-Ville, and have agreed to send one in for Dewi Hughes and Father Emmanuel Katongole’s newest books too.
Can I be absolved now for this confession?
