Practicing
Changing Yourself to Change the World
- Christian Living
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Westminster John Knox
- Published: 2020
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Publisher's Description
From the masses of young people spurning organized religion to faithful followers of Jesus, there is a deep hunger across gender, age, socioeconomics, and denominational backgrounds for practical, tangible ways to live a life of love, mercy, and justice in our divided, fragmented world. But where do we start? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the world’s problems, with solutions to violence and poverty and oppression seeming so far out of reach. But you have more power to change the world than you realize—and it starts with changing yourself. In Practicing, Pastor Kathy Escobar inspires and challenges readers with practical encouragement to live their faith through real action using ten transformational practices, including listening more, including the marginalized, advocating for justice, and mourning with those who grieve. By putting our hearts, hands, and feet behind our good intentions, we can transform our groups, our communities, and our world. Extremely interactive, relational, and practical, Practicing can be read alone or processed together with a group, church, or class. Perfect for book clubs! Download the Reading Group Guide.
Endorsements (9)
“Escobar is a gem as a teacher and writer. You will leave this book better than when you picked it up. Every individual and every faith community will benefit from the lessons on these pages. This is ao important piece of work for anyone who interacts with those on the margins of society (which is to say everyone), and the chapter on grief alone is worth the cost of the book.”
“A good book delivers on its promise, and this book does just that—challenging us to explore questions of faith that. refuse to find satisfaction in a pithy response. We are invited to explore and venture out of our comfort zones to practice and dare to change. Practicing does not raise a ruckus and leave us hanging like an unscrupulous contractor who vanishes halfway through a major home renovation project. Instead, it allows for our fear of change while refusing to bow to the relentless pressure to stay small and safe. Kathy provides us a map and, perhaps most importantly, permission—permission to try, to fall down, and to rise and permission to have a little faith. What a great book!”
“Personal and collective transformation is foundational to creating just and healthy systems in society. And practices are foundational to that change. Kathy brilliantly and compellingly invites us on a journey of transformation through ten practices, which, as she illustrates, are foundational for those wanting to effect change in our increasingly complex world. She has a unique capacity to see the systems of injustice and both to articulate practices for those who hold power and privilege in the systems and to daily be in practice as a learner with those who have been oppressed by the same system. Kathy takes us to the depths of our souls and provides practical steps for growth and action, while holding the complexity and mystery. And she always leaves us with hope!”
“What a joy to find including, equalizing, mourning, and failing (failing!) on a list of spiritual practices alongside the traditional practices of prayer, meditation, service, and fasting found in thousands of other works on the topic. Practicing cuts through the traditional theological arguments and trendy spiritual experiments and offers a path for walking out the core principles of embodied faith in a way that is holistic, sustainable, satisfying, and fruitful. In Practicing, Kathy Escobar has given hope and a practical path to those of us who long to make our faith a verb for the sake of the world as well as our own souls.”
“Kathy Escobar is a true doer of the Word, not just a hearer only. She brings her pastoral heart to everything she does, including this latest offering, which is a true gift to all of us who are seeking to follow Jesus and not just be a fickle fan.”
“Practicing reminds us how much we need one another and how much we need to see what is right with us. This book nudges us all closer to ourselves, to each other, and to God by outlining simple spiritual practices. It is an essential guide for transformation in the messy and beautiful.”
“I trust Kathy’s heart because I have seen her practice what she preaches. Now she breaks open and preaches—in the best way—what she has been practicing for so many years. I, for one, need to take off perfectionism and lean into the grace and wisdom of these practices. This is a beautiful, humble, wise, and world-changing book.”
“Kathy Escobar’s book is a welcomed work, especially now when so many good people are overwhelmed with bad things happening in the world. Kathy’s concern for seeing healthy values translated into effective action is evident not only in her own life but also in the lives of the communities she’s associated with. Each chapter is so deep, informative, and helpful. But at the end of each chapter, she helps us render it into everyday living. What a great resource for personal transformation, community development, and world change!”
“Amid the chaos of a deeply divided world, as well as churches that have conflated the good news with the illusion of the American dream, there has risen a heart-wrenching cry for love, dignity, and genuine belonging. Kathy Escobar hears and responds with hard-won wisdom that is pastoral, humble, and refreshingly honest. Drawing deeply from her Christian roots, she teaches practices that are not only well researched but have been well honed through the beautiful ‘everyday’ of real life with real people. If you want to learn more about what love looks like, read this book. If you want to become a lover of human souls, read this book. If you want to create a community of love, read this together. While it will certainly bring some discomfort, I am convinced that what Kathy Escobar offers is the most gospel-oriented, practical book on personal and communal transformation that exists today.”
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