The Call of the Awe: Rediscovering Christian Profundity in an Interreligious Era

For years I have been embarrassed to affiliate in any way with the category of `Christianity.' The current mainstream of fundamentalism, literalism, sentimentalism, and moralism have robbed me of some of the deepest poetry by which I understand myself.Gene Marshall's, The Call of the Awe, has helped me to reconnect with the center of my being.....the same center that has inspired all of humanity's religious creations over the centuries. Marshall invites us to enter, quite personally, into a never-ending dialogue with the Never Ending. He challenges us to become personally connected with the Infinite Actuality that is present in every moment of our existence. He gives us permission to become encircled and centered in the Awesome Presence that is everywhere present. This book goes a long way toward moving us beyond the obsolete metaphors of transcendence poetry to a transparency metaphor that more clearly reflects the reality of our secular, scientific age and yet connects us powerfully with the Mystery and the Awe at the center of life. Most of all, this book brings a giant sized dose of clarity for all who would seek Truth in our time and who would seek to trust that Truth at their deepest core.I highly recommend this book.

The Call of The AweBy Gene W. MarshallA response by Joe Slicker In these interconnected times, organized religions around the world are spewing out prescriptions of divisiveness, moralisms, hatred and violence that will destroy the world as we know it. Each has its own true God and usually a book to prove its god and its pronouncements are true. Furthermore many say they are willing to defend their prescriptions with their lives. But you may respond that you are not members of one of these religions, or that if you are, you don't agree with their prescriptions. Then why don't we hear this? Does it mean we are part of a silent minority or majority that disagrees? Are not we silent partners just as guilty of letting those prescriptions go unchallenged? Enter a book whose time has come. The Call of the Awe: Rediscovering Christian Profundity in an Interreligious Era by Gene W. Marshall starts from his journey into the Christian faith in this country. This continues in his many years of work in other cultures resulting in his experiential dialogue with Christianity and the world religions. This is not just an intellectual dialogue but a dialogue of one's life covering the last fifty years. ------------------------------ The book is divided into two parts. The first is the journey of the author standing in the Christian religion. It is a radical journey of seriously living in the 21st Century and at the same time digging deep into the Christian faith with ones total being until the profundity of that faith flows through him. The call is for each of us to do the same thing with our lives. This is one half of the book. The subject is looked at from many perspectives and questions, which all of us have in entering such a dialogue. Some of which are God, Christ, resurrection, Holy Spirit; plus a delightful one called `Infinite Awe and Finite Religion'. These are restated so they are existential possibilities for all people. The Call of the Awe is solidly anchored in Part One. Part two moves on. Ones dialogue is finally incomplete unless he enters the dialogue with other religions or traditions that are oriented toward finding and articulating that profundity. One almost wishes there was more on the Tao, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism plus one on Mysticism. But what he shares does the job. This is not the ordinary abstract `How we have different beliefs', but digs down to the basic profundity as articulated by these religions. For example, reading the Buddhist prayer for enemies on page 226 yields enough Awe to carry the reader through the whole section. One sees that other religions are pointing to the activity of the Mystery in surprising and profound ways. The author shares how many misunderstandings can be overcome by realizing this. Also, he presents many of the edges of this dialogue indicating places of disagreement, and those ripe for further understanding and mutual interaction. The Call of the Awe is like a

Although grounded in Christianity, Gene Marshall rejects the idea of dual realms of natural and supernatural. He does not talk about a literal supernatural realm of being. He says: "--if God is a being in a supernatural realm, I cannot believe in God." God is a word he uses to point to an awesome infinite presence that has nothing to do with belief, but is a mystery we experience every day in this ever-present eternity, whether we are aware of it or not. Marshall shows how awe has been at the core of religions down through the centuries and gives a brief and understandable history of how religions develop. He brings meaning to ancient scriptures written centuries ago by interpreting them into our 21st century.Having been on a journey of trying to understand my Christian upbringing and its outdated language in today's world, I found this book hard to put down and a refreshing encouragement. Gene Marshall picks up where such writers as Marcus Borg, Brian Swimme, and John Shelby Spong leave off. I expect their readers will be delighted to find this book. It is a book that will stimulate the renewal of Christianity and increase the common ground for dialogue among all religions.