Blessed are the Bored in Spirit

Just finished Blessed Are the Bored in Spirit by Mark Hart. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back cover reads:
Too many young Catholics experience their faith as Mark Hart did: They rarely miss Mass even if they don't understand it; they have a Bible even if they never read it; they go to confession even if they aren't particularly repentant.

Is that your experience of Catholicism? Is yours a faith of Thou Shalt Nots? if so, forget about a dreary life of mindless obedience to rules you don't understand. It's time to enter into the transforming light of your Creator who invites you to live from the still center of His undying love.

The author's humorous and hard-hitting reflections drive home the point that God isn't calling the reader to be a good person--someone who merely obeys the rules--but a new person in Jesus Christ.

Reaction:
It's pretty tough to find books on the Catholic church for teens at Christian bookstores these days. I even had to special order this one. I love th title, which is why I bought it. I can relate to a ton of things in this book. It's not boring, and it's pretty short. Hart's humor is what I liked the most. He writes in such a way that anyone can relate to this book. I think any Catholic over the age of 14 should read this.

Quotes:
'It was out of the ground-the clay, adamah in Hebrew- that God formed Adam. It was out of the mud that Christ brought sight to the blind man, and it was on the ground that the soon-to-be greatest missionary apostle would have his life-changing encounter with God. The Latin word for earth or ground is humus, from which we derive the word 'humility.' Indeed, to be a person of humility we must first be grounded. Basically, to be transformed we must be brought down to earth, like it or not" (17).

"Christ didn't spend most of his earthly ministry reaching out to prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors and vagrants simply so those with the less obvious "white collar" sins might have a nice place to gather and acknowledge his presence for an hour or so every week. He welcomes everyone" (23).

"Awe doesn't shudder and stand motionless, like fear does. It barrels ahead, unable to control its enthusiasm" (26). HOLY BLOWTORCH!!!

"Author Joseph Conrad wondered how one kills fear. God answered that question the night Mary gave birth. You kill fear with trust" (31).

"Our eyes meet those of our chauffeur, the man who gave us life. He now looks as though he might take it from us. His exasperated expression is a cross between God the Father staring at the apple juice on Adam's chin and Noah on day 39 aboard the ark" (37).

"We smelled the incense but didn't comprehend it, noticed the bells but didn't understand them, heard the homilies but didn't apply them" (39). Michele, I thought of you!!

"We want the assurance of salvation but not the strain that comes with transformation. Everybody wants heaven but nobody wants to die" (41).

"If the sound emanating from the choir sounds more like mating cats that the angelic host, join the choir yourself, or sing louder" (47).

"God does love you, the sinner. He promises that "...he will wipe away every tear... [and will] make all things new" (Rev 21:4-5) and that "...though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18)" (74). MAJOR PROPS for quoting my favorite verse.

"A man who would rather die defending his wife's salvation is a man after Christ's own heart. [...] A woman who would rather die than compromise the salvation of her husband is a woman after Mary's own heart. [...] He loves
her enough to deny his own urges" (89-90).

"You will have a spouse who knows what it means to die to himself. You will have the man you notice and made time for because you weren't wasting your time on the low bar or singles' par guys. Pray hard and keep the standards high" (90).

Quoting JPII
"It is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life [...] It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society" (91).

"Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the refusal to be mastered by it" (97).

"To develop character, we need to enough courage to face hard tests without running away" (97).

"In the gospels, Jesus tells us not to fear more than he tells us to love!" (101).

"You cannot believe the gospel and still live your life the way you want" (102).

"When it came to actual knowledge regarding the faith, however, I had the retentive capacity of concrete" (105).

"If you're consumed with what you're not when you look in the mirror, remember that God sees all that you are. He sees your promise and he sees his glory within you. He's not checking to see if you measure up to the person next to you on the chart of potential; he's interested in how you're using the potential he's placed within you" (112).

"Like the Karate Kid's Mr. Miyagi, Jesus won't tell you everything he's doing to form you along the way. Don't complain about the car, just wax it; don't whine about the fence, just paint it. Keep sanding the floor, and before you know it, karate kid, you'll be on the mat, in the tournament, doing the crane technique and hoisting the trophy" (113).

"Love is messy. It involves hardship, demands patience, requires forgiveness, tests maturity, strains friendship, challenges priorities, refines character, ignites the heart and unleashes the soul. True love has consequences and carries responsibility. It isn't the same as lust, looniness or sever 'like.' It means death to self, to selfishness and to the world" (125). This struck me because Beau was talking about love at the Rex Lex concert last week. God's love of us comes easy and freely. True that, but our love of God is hard work. It's tough to die to all that we're used to and want.... and to keep dying to it.

"There are people in this world whose only experience of Christ's mercy and love will be what they experience in you" (125). Want proof? Go to Manitowoc and ask around about me. :)

awesomeness.