Eugene Peterson

Ever have one of those books sitting around that you just know will change you, when you get around to reading it? Since seminary I've had Eugene Peterson's book The Contemplative Pastor sitting in my pile of books I must read. I don't remember who recommended it to me, but I always knew that it would be important to me once I took the time to actually read it. So yesterday I decided to crack it open and see where it takes me. Here's a good quote from an interview of Peterson:

...Maybe we need more pastors like him, and more churches that want pastors like him: the pastor who wants to be local, to take seriously a place, and the church that wants to be a community, using the materials of its locale. At least that's how I understand the pastoral life. I've been at Christ Our King Church for twenty-six years. All William Faulkner knew was two or three square miles of Mississippi, and I guess that's what I want to do. I want to know two or three square miles of Christ Our King, just know it and keep on knowing it.

Good stuff. The imperative of the local. There is tremendous wisdom is this idea of just staying local with our attentions. It reminds me of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

-t