Читать книгу Simple Harmony - Larry Duggins - Страница 6

We were sitting in the airport in Dallas, waiting to board the plane for our inaugural Perkins School of Theology international immersion class in Celtic Christian spiritual traditions. The group buzzed with excitement as we chatted about going to the ancient monastic sites of Iona, Lindisfarne, and the new monastic Northumbria Community. The trip would be a pilgrimage, I reminded them. Journaling, a daily office, and other formational experiences would be at the center of our journey together. Upon our return to the U.S. they would write academic papers in which they would reflect upon some aspect of Celtic spirituality that could enliven contemporary practices of worship or evangelism in their own churches.

Looking around at the dozen or so students, I recognized all but one—a fifty-something, white-haired man whose theological education, I surmised, was probably not in readiness for his first career. I introduced myself, asking what he hoped to do upon graduation. Larry said he wanted to develop young adult ministries in nontraditional spaces, especially to provide community, mission, and worship opportunities for people who don’t fit well in established churches.

Having just written two books on emerging and new monastic forms of ministry,1 and having begun two experimental new monastic, missional communities just a year earlier,2 I snapped to attention. We talked on, our voices growing increasingly animated as we shared ideas, dreams, and current situations. Little did we know that this conversation would spark the beginning of a shared pilgrimage that would go far beyond that initial journey to Iona.

Over the next few days while we worshipped, lived, and learned in the “thin space” of Celtic monastic communities, God clarified Larry’s call to the work of what has now become the Missional Wisdom Foundation. Once a brilliant entrepreneur in the world of finance and business, Larry is now an elder in the United Methodist Church and has become a beloved mentor to many who are learning to serve in missional, spiritually disciplined leadership roles in the church. Today Larry is the director of the Missional Wisdom Foundation and codirector of the Epworth Project, a network of new monastic houses in the Dallas–Ft. Worth metroplex. He also teaches in the Academy for Missional Wisdom, a training program that equips people to start and lead missional micro-communities. The fruitfulness of Larry’s life is a result of his own practice of what he thinks of as “simple harmony.”

Simple Harmony is the first of what I expect will be many books written by my friend and colleague Larry Duggins. This little volume captures so beautifully the ancient rhythms of “filling up and pouring out,” or the balance between contemplation and action. Using the Celtic cross as a visual aid, Larry describes the four quadrants of the balanced life, and the unity of a life lived in harmony with the triune God. The way of life described in this book is one that is deeply evangelistic, for it is a life lived immersed in the Holy Spirit, filled with love of God and neighbor. I have seen Larry teach the principles in this book to groups of clergy and lay people, and have watched them awaken and grow because of the wisdom contained in these pages.

I thank God for Larry and for this book of spiritual theology. May this slender volume bring insight, renewal, and conviction to all who read it. May the simplicity of a life lived in harmony with the Jesus of the Gospels become through us a beacon of hope and welcome to our neighbors.

Rev. Elaine A. Heath, PhD

Southern Methodist University

Dallas, Texas

April 16, 2012

1. The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), and Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010).

2. New Day and The Epworth Project, www.peopleofnewday.com and www.missionalwisdom.com/epworth/.