As someone who has been serving vocationally in the local church, in one capacity or another, for 14 years, one of the dynamics that I've been burdened for has been the church-hopping mentality that seems so common place in American Christianity. The issue is rooted in a number of factors which, I believe, include cultural conditioning, social and vocational climbing and a society in the throes of rampant consumerism.
I was recently given the opportunity to read and review The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Part autobiography, part sociological study, part theology of community, Wisdom is a very accessible call to deeper commitment to place and relationship
As the title would indicate, Wilson-Hartgrove does an excellent job of establishing how a commitment to place can be of great benefit, especially in a society that always seems to be looking for "the next thing." Our society conditions us to a nomadic lifestyle where opportunities for education and employment early in life establish a pattern of mobility that can make it difficult to feel connected to a particular place.
Wisdom's greatest strength is in Wilson-Hartgrove's call to connect and develop roots in order to connect with the community around you in order to allow depth of relationship to temper us to be more Christlike. Much time is spent reflecting on personal examples and on things that can be learned from monastic tradition to develop an attitude that makes contemplative engagement with God a more present reality. The rooted and timeless topics are such that Wisdom will stand up in content, if not style for years to come
Unfortunately, this timelessness is also probably one of the book's greatest weaknesses as much of the content could have been written fifteen years ago. The world looks remarkably different now and our mobility is no longer just confined to our location, but also in how we interact with each other in light of social media, self help checkouts and pay at the pump gas stations. By the title, one would have expected larger sections devoted to those dynamics and I think the book would have benefitted greatly from having a bit of a forward focus rather than being content with a nostalgic one. The area of social media is an especially glaring omission for a work so concerned with the dynamic of relationship.
The other area where Wisdom falls short is in repetition. A number of ideas continued to be recycled and revisited throughout the text where a broader scope of issues could have been addressed instead. This repetition allowed for more of a storyteller's approach to the topic, but did little more, at times, than pad the book's content. One is left to wonder what could have been accomplished if the themes addressed had only been given half the space in order to dig a little deeper into a broader study of the subject.
Overall, I would recommend Wisdom to people that are wondering why they are feeling disconnected and restless in their current environment as a way of recognizing the potential for long term growth and meaning that can be found by making a conscious decision to engage in the place they are in. However, this book will probably disappoint you If you are looking for a study on the effects of mobility and a hyperactive society on relationship and community.
