Plough Spiritual Guides: Backpack Classics

How did earliest Christians receive and understand the teaching of Jesus and the apostles? These writings, among the earliest used in training new disciples, show a clear, vibrant, practical faith concerned with all aspects of discipleship in daily life-vocation, morality, family life, social justice, the sacraments, prophesy, citizenship, and leadership. For the most part, these writings have remained buried in academia, analyzed by scholars but seldom used for building up the church community. Now, at a time when Christians of every persuasion are seeking clarity by returning to the roots of their faith, these simple, direct teachings shed light on what it means to be a follower of Christ in any time or place. The Didache, an anonymous work composed in the late first century AD, was lost for centuries before being rediscovered in 1873. The Shepherd was written by a former slave named Hermas in the second century AD or possibly even earlier.

"Clarence Jordan spoke with an unwavering prophetic voice. He firmly rejected materialism, militarism, and racism as obstacles to authentic faith... He was a fearless and innovative defender of human rights."-President Jimmy Carter On 440 depleted acres in Sumter County, Georgia, a young Baptist preacher and farmer named Clarence Jordan gathered a few families and set out to show that Jesus intended more than spiritual fellowship. Like the first Christians, they would share their land, money, and possessions. Working together to rejuvenate the soil and the local economy, they would demonstrate racial and social justice with their lives. Black and white community members eating together at the same table scandalized local Christians, drew the ire of the KKK, and led to drive-by shootings, a firebombing, and an economic boycott. This bold experiment in nonviolence, economic justice, and sustainable agriculture was deeply rooted in Clarence Jordan's understanding of the person and teachings of Jesus, which stood in stark contrast to the hypocrisy of churches that blessed wars, justified wealth disparity, and enforced racial segregation. "You can't put Christianity into practice," Jordan wrote, "You can't make it work. As desperately as it is needed in this poor, broken world, it is not a philosophy of life to be 'tried.' Nor is it a social or ethical ideal which has tantalized humankind with the possibility of attainment. For Christianity is not a system you work—it is a Person who works you." This selection from his talks and writings introduces Clarence Jordan's radically biblical vision to a new generation of peacemakers, community builders, and activists.

Dorothy Day is remembered as one of the great women of our age. Her admirers want to make her a saint, though she often protested. What hidden strength did this woman possess that continues to inspire people today?In clear, simple reflections, this little spiritual guidebook offers insights and wisdom Dorothy Day gained during many decades of seeking to know Jesus and to follow his example and teachings in her own life. Unlike larger collections and biographies, which cover her radical views, exceptional deeds, and amazing life story, this book focuses on an intensely personal dimension of Dorothy Day's life: Where did she receive strength to stay true to her God-given calling? What was the wellspring of her deep faith and her love for all humanity?"The solution proposed in the Gospels is that of voluntary poverty and the works of mercy. It is the little way. It is within the power of all. Everybody can begin here and now. . . . We have the greatest weapons in the world, greater than any hydrogen or atom bomb, and they are the weapons of poverty and prayer, fasting and alms, the reckless spending of ourselves in God's service and for his poor. Without poverty we will not have learned love, and love, at the end, is the measure by which we shall be judged." Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, April 1950

Like the Hebrew prophets before him, the great American rabbi and civil rights leader reveals God's concern for this world and each of us. Abraham Joshua Heschel, descended from a long line of Orthodox rabbis, fled Europe to escape the Nazis. He made the insights of traditional Jewish spirituality come alive for American Jews while speaking out boldly against war and racial injustice. Heschel brought the fervor of the Hebrew prophets to his role as a public intellectual. He challenged the sensibilities of the modern West, which views science and human reason as sufficient. Only by rediscovering wonder and awe before mysteries that transcend knowledge can we hope to find God again. This God, Heschel says, is not distant but passionately concerned about our lives and human affairs, and asks something of us in return. This little book, which brings together Heschel's key insights on a range of topics, will reinvigorate readers of any faith who hunger for wonder and thirst for justice. Plough Spiritual Guides briefly introduce the writings of great spiritual voices of the past to new readers.

Simone Weil, the great mystic and philosopher for our age, shows where anyone can find God.Why is it that Simone Weil, with her short, troubled life and confounding insights into faith and doubt, continues to speak to today's spiritual seekers? Was it her social radicalism, which led her to renounce privilege? Her ambivalence toward institutional religion? Her combination of philosophical rigor with the ardor of a mystic? Albert Camus called Simone Weil "the only great spirit of our time." André Gide found her "the most truly spiritual writer of this century." Her intense life and profound writings have influenced people as diverse as T. S. Eliot, Charles De Gaulle, Pope Paul VI, and Adrienne Rich.The body of work she left-most of it published posthumously-is the fruit of an anguished but ultimately luminous spiritual journey.After her untimely death at age thirty-four, Simone Weil quickly achieved legendary status among a whole generation of thinkers. Her radical idealism offered a corrective to consumer culture. But more importantly, she pointed the way, especially for those outside institutional religion, to encounter the love of God – in love to neighbor, love of beauty, and even in suffering.

How do you stay true to God's call for your life? Amy Carmichael left everything to become a missionary in India. But then seven-year-old Preena, fleeing sexual slavery, threw herself on the newcomer's protection. Could Carmichael relinquish a religious vocation to become a "nursemaid"? A picture of Jesus washing his disciples' feet came to her mind, and "the question answered itself and was not asked again." Joined by a growing team of Indian women, Carmichael founded Dohnavur, a community of households that has provided family for hundreds of girls who might otherwise have been sold into prostitution. A modern-day saint, Amy Carmichael has inspired generations of missionaries and activists. The practical wisdom in these selections, taken from her many books, confirms her as a trustworthy spiritual guide for anyone honestly seeking to follow God's path.

To find out why Pope Francis is making Oscar Romero a saint, read the words that cost him his life. "A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what kind of gospel is that? "Three short years transformed El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero from a defender of the status quo into one of the most outspoken voices of the oppressed. An assassin's bullet ended his life, but his message lives on. In March 2018 Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would canonize Oscar Romero, acknowledging that he is indeed a saint who was martyred for proclaiming the gospel, and that the political and social implications of that message, which so scandalized the powerful, flowed directly from Romero's faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus. These selections from Romero's diaries and radio broadcasts invite each of us to align our own lives with the way of Jesus that lifts up the poor, welcomes the broken, wins over enemies, and transforms the history of entire nations.