More Jesus Freak

Sometimes it's hard to see the forest...

I was excited to hear that Sara Miles had written a new book. I had listened to a podcast interview with her. I had visited the website of her church. I loved her. I loved her work. I wanted to buy the book.

But, I had read a few reviews of the book that questioned whether Sara Miles—a gay woman who came to her faith at the age of 47 through a piece of communion bread freely given to her around an open table—was qualified to write a book about being Jesus to the world. And so, while I felt compelled to buy the book, and had pulled it up on Amazon half a dozen times intending to buy, I never followed through.

I told myself I didn’t buy it because I was struggling to put food on the table … but seriously, when has a that ever stopped me from buying a book?? I mean, a girl, especially a reading girl has to have priorities!

...when you're looking at the deer.

Then last week after my Kilted 5K, my son and I went to Southcenter mall to do some “big city shopping.” While strolling through the aisles at Borders Books, the book nearly jumped into my hand and said “Take me home!”

Being a modern-thinking average Episcopalian, Sara Miles’ sexual orientation isn’t really an issue—or so I told myself—because there was a bit of the old-fashioned, intolerant, bible-thumping, right-is-right, wrong-is-wrong, yes-it’s-just-that-easy-to-throw-people-away kinda Christian still living in the back of my head—though she was just peering over my shoulder, waiting for the opportunity to be scandalized.

Do you know, Sara Miles waited until page 89 to even mildly shock that holier-than-thou devilGirl on my shoulder? And even then, she wasn’t really shocked … not even titillated, for heaven’s sake!

And here’s the “shocking” words:

“But my wife, Martha, was also in the process of changing careers…”

Huh. That’s it? I was almost disappointed.

This book is about feeding the hungry. It’s about loving people where they are. It’s about doing, not just being.

Go buy the book. Read about Love in Action. Be inspired.

“Life is a very narrow bridge between two eternities. Be not afraid.” —Rabbi Nachman of Braslav

~ by Kimberly Mason on June 1, 2010.