mark scandrette‘s soul graffiti just arrived through the post. the subtitle is making a life in the way of jesus which is what mark and family have sought to do in the mission district in san fransisco. i have met mark a few times and think he is wonderful. he is passionate, fun and radical and his book is like him. it’s an inspirational book – it reminded me of reading tony campolo as a teenager and being challenged and inspired in equal measure by his stories. i’m going to pass it on to harry and joel to read as i think and hope they’ll like it.

his take on jesus is that he is a companion, artist, healer and mystic. i was talking with some people the other day about how to describe jesus in a way that spiritual seekers would connect with and this seems to answer that question. his theology is incarnated, embodied, earthy, and lived out in neighbourhoods. the presence of the upside down kingdom where the poor and the broken are welcomed and embraced by god is what inspires mark to seek to follow in the compassionate self giving way of christ bringing healing and transformation to the creation.

the book is woven with stories, reflections and poems that call us to be in communities that take seriously the radical nature of christ’s life and teaching and live it out – simple eh?!