Chase Two Horses: proverbs and sayings for an everyday spirituality
ISBN 978 1909281 59 2
162 pages.
Published 17/1/2018
£6.99 - £12.99
Paperback, Kindle, Epub
The proverb, “chase two horses and you will catch neither,” suggests that we have to focus on an important matter at hand and that we can’t do everything at once. This proverb and the others in this reflective reader, drawn from many cultures, weave a colourful wisdom from the past that can inform present-day thinking and action.
Brought up on proverbs in a Dutch familial home, the author has selected proverbs that evoke humour, philosophical insights and ethical challenges for living with joy, generosity and justice. Here is a wisdom that can shape a spirituality for daily life that promotes human flourishing.
CHARLES RINGMA has taught in universities, colleges and seminaries in Asia, Australia and N.America. And he has worked in urban and overseas mission for several decades. He is Emeritus Professor of Regent College, Vancouver, is a Franciscan Tertiary (tssf) and companion of Northumbria Community, Brisbane. Besides working for justice, he plants rain forest trees, grows vegetables and pens books on Christian spirituality.
TERESA JORDAN is an artist and illustrator working in Brisbane. She delights in illustrating texts that explore spirituality and the struggle of faith in today’s world. She has held many exhibitions and is the illustrator of “Hear the Ancient Wisdom” and “Of Martyr’s, Monks and Mystics.”
Preface vii
Introduction ix
Focus: a spirituality of particularity 2
Commitment: a spirituality of radical engagement 4
A Cross At Home: a spirituality of familial suffering 6
Unknowing: personhood and mystery 8
Beyond Structures: a spirituality of personalism 10
Seeing Again: the silent gift of time 12
Openness: a spirituality of vulnerability 14
Intentionality: putting things to their proper use 16
Heart Matters: attending to the heart’s song 18
Frugality: a spirituality of purposefulness 20
Blindness: the challenging art of seeing 22
Betrayal: healing relational conflict 24
Appearances: beyond an outward image 26
Restoration: giving back what we have taken 28
Love’s Fire: the disruptive ways of love 30
Fruitful Resistance: a spirituality of discernment 32
Effectual Resistance: a spirituality of subversion 34
Accepting Our Giftedness: a spirituality of grateful embrace 36
Mending: a spirituality of restoration 38
Constraints: a spirituality of sober realism 40
Responsible Stewardship: a spirituality of concern 42
Making Way: learning to pass the baton 44
Corruption: the strategies of co-option 46
Generosity: a spirituality of grace 48
Necessary Evil: ambiguity and discernment 50
Dilution: resisting diminishment 52
Persistence: a spirituality of perseverance 54
Contagion: a sociology of association 56
Sensitivity: healing words 58
Desire: a spirituality of longing 60
Wounded: a spirituality of suffering 62
In Reserve: the gentle art of withholding 64
Unity: the power of cooperation 66
Peace: inner and outward dimensions 68
Giving: a spirituality of sharing 70
Unreality: when hope is folly 72
Receptivity: a spirituality of openness 74
Opposition: the reality of conflict 76
Envy: a bitter poison 78
Imagination: a spirituality of seeing 80
Flexibility: overcoming rigidity 82
Fate: living well with mystery 84
Troubling Ourselves: a spirituality of self-reflection 86
Sustainability: a spirituality of substance 88
The Unexpected: a spirituality of surprise 90
Mind Games: a spirituality of resistance 92
Attachment: a spirituality of stability 94
Deflated: a life filled with tears and broken dreams 96
Gender Equality: nurturing women’s wisdom 98
Forgetting: commitments made in crisis 100
Leadership: a spirituality of service 102
Set Up For A Fall: overextending ourselves 104
Exploitation: when the well runs dry 106
Back – To – Front: losing the connection between means and ends 108
Evil: the persistence of wrongdoing 110
Justice: the fading hope of the poor 112
Passion: counterbalancing stagnation and blind enthusiasm 114
Preoccupation: a failure in relevance 116
Worshipful: a spirituality of adoration 118
Singular Solutions: blinkered to complexity 120
Unadventurous: living in a bubble 122
To Pause: the gentle art of disengagement 124
Deflection: the blame game 126
An Ordinary Life: an extraordinary commitment to the common good 128
Inquisitiveness: an ongoing quest for wisdom 130
To Agitate: a spirituality of provocation 132
Work: both beauty and burden 134
Cooperation: the practice of solidarity 136
Reciprocity: ambiguity and paradox 138
Silence: the gift of solitude 140
Index: Proverbs and Sayings 142
Topical Index 145
Endnotes 147