Jason Chatraw - Mystics, Mavericks & Miracle Workers: A 30-Day Journey with Some Saints

Copyright 2007 by Eric Sandras and Jason Chatraw

Scripture verses marked (NIV) taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture verses marked (NASB) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture verses denoted as being taken from The Message, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

ISBN: 978-0-978639495

Printed in the United States of America

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Ampelon Publishing

PO Box 140675

Boise, ID 83714

To order other Ampelon Publishing products, visit us on the web at: www.ampelonpublishing.com

Cover design: Jared Swafford swingfromtherafters.com

To all the saints who

have traveled the journey

before us and finished the race well

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

I. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

I.1 Day One: Experiencing Gods Love

I.2 Day Two: The Need for Self Love

I.3 Day Three: Loving God for My Sake

I.4 Day Four: Loving God Because He Is

I.5 Day Five: Loving God for Others Sake

II. St. Teresa of vila

II.1 Day One: Battling Busyness

II.2 Day Two: Surrendering Our Will to God

II.3 Day Three: A Single Focus

II.4 Day Four: Divine Revelation

II.5 Day Five: Hidden in God

III. St. Francis of Assisi

III.1 Day One: The Joy in Suffering

III.2 Day Two: Honoring the Creation

III.3 Day Three: Compassion in Action

III.4 Day Four: Grace and Mercy

III.5 Day Five: Fresh Perspective

IV. St. Catherine of Genoa

IV.1 Day One: Patience for the Process

IV.2 Day Two: The Best Investment

IV.3 Day Three: The Art of Friendship

IV.4 Day Four: Broken yet Loved

IV.5 Day Five: Our Powerful Words

V. St. John of the Cross

V.1 Day One: Our Hearts Exposed

V.2 Day Two: Our Need for God

V.3 Day Three: Stains of Imperfection

V.4 Day Four: Clear Minds, Full Hearts

V.5 Day Five: Purifying Fire

VI. St. Ambrose of Milan

VI.1 Day One: The Redeeming Work of Grace

VI.2 Day Two: Experiencing Gods Overflow

VI.3 Day Three: Rewards for the Faithful

VI.4 Day Four: The Charm of Human Fellowship

VI.5 Day Five: The Need for Purity in Social Justice

About the Authors

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is the fruit of learning from various authentic leaders and writers. Some of whom Ive spent many a day with and others only hours. Some of my connections have been face to face over several cups of coffee, others from across a room as they taught and I took notes. Regardless they invited me to a deeper relationship with Christ and for that I thank: Brennan Manning, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Todd Hunter and Kathleen Norris.

Eric

My contribution to this book was inspired by hours and hours of reading insights from saints who have journeyed before us all. For most of my young adult life, I remained oblivious to their writings until one of my former editors, Angela Ramage, introduced me to a couple of her friendsSt. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of vila. Ive since begun calling them my friends, too. I also want to thank Gary L. Thomas, whose books on spiritual formation have also inspired me to take a deeper look at my faith through the eyes and souls of these saints. Lastly, Emmakate Youngs editorial direction has proved invaluable in turning a good idea into a something I hope will encourage every reader to pursue his or her faith with a greater passion and fervency.

Jason

INTRODUCTION

I ran over a squirrel one time while driving my Toyota 4Runner. Its not like I did it on purpose, but there it was, stopped in the middle of the road, not sure which way to go. As I came blazing over a knoll in the road I saw him darting across the pavement. He could have made it, but instead he just stopped and stared at the big green beast that was bearing down upon him. I could see in his eyes that he knew he should do something anything, but instead he just stood there paralyzed with indecision.

Bummer. My kids are not gonna be happy if they hear about this, I thought as my squirrel-crushing Toyota closed in on its target.

Move! Run for it! Just do something! I sensed the little critter shouting to his petrified feet.

I gritted my teeth and prayed for his little soul. Then as quickly as the crisis approachedit passed. I looked in my rearview mirror and the tiny wind-swept varmint rolled over once and took off across the street. Thankfully, my high ground clearance 4x4 had allowed me to straddle the furry fellow between the tires. He ran off thinking twice about the sanity of stopping in the middle of a road. I drove off realizing I would need to rethink my theology regarding the appropriateness of praying for a squirrels soul.

Oddly, my spiritual journey resembles my squirrel friends life more than I like to admit. Often times it seems pretty scattered and random, then when life comes barreling down upon me I get stuckparalyzed. I know where I want to go. I know where safety and peace lie, but somehow I just cant seem to take the steps to get there.

Thankfully, like lucky-the-squirrel, God gives us other chances. We may feel a little spun out by life, but his promise is we can learn to be pressed in on every side, but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair (see St. Paul @ II Corinthians 4:8). I need that. I need the presence of God in my life that allows my inner strength to carry me through this journey without being crushed. I want to walk in such a way that Im not just scattered and random with my behaviors, but purposeful and proactive.

So, Why did the squirrel cross the road? Yes, you got it, To get to the other side. Thats what we need to remember. We are living in this life toward that one on the other side. We are living in this life with a purpose and destination in mind.

But however purposeful and determined we may be, we still sometimes get stuck, dont we? Sometimes we forget how to live in this life and move toward that one. Sometimes it gets easy to become paralyzed with indecision or distracted by all the nuts around us. There is some good news though. Jesus still knows the way! He has been teaching his followers how to live this life in an authentic and meaningful way for over two millennia.

Along the way some of those very followers have left us an assortment of insightful travel guides. Believe it or not, the path to relevant and meaningful faith is well traveled. Indeed it is narrow and few find it, but nonetheless it is present and available to those who are looking.

Thats our prayerful hope with Mystics, Mavericks, and Miracle Workers. We pray you will find that ancient path which is full of contemporary relevance. Jason and I want to offer you a travel guide of sorts. We arent historians by any stretch of the imagination. Neither are we locked away in some monastic community cut-off from the reality of marriage, mortgages, and lifes normal mayhem. We are just a couple of guys who are stumbling forward in this faith journey with you as we all attempt to get to the other side.