This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers

Do I review the book only, or do I find a way to express what the lives in it mean to the reader? This is the rare book that pulls the reader into connection with cultures, struggles, and emotions that are not within the confines of our typical modern experience. Marilyn Lacey, a Sister of Mercy, has written a powerful journal about her work with refugees throughout the world. It would easy to dismiss the topic as too far removed from most modern readers to be of any interest, but that would be a huge mistake. Lacey's writing is full of wit and insight, and she is able to draw the reader into her story by opening with honest--and humorous--descriptions of her own headstrong tumble into Catholic relief work with refugees as they arrive in America. The obstacles they face upon arrival--not understanding a toilet, fearing the gunshots heard in TV soundtracks, widely divergent concepts of beauty--make for entertaining reading, but she never reduces her subjects down to mascots or buffoons. She treats them with complete respect, and the humor is drawn from her own process of coming to understand them, rather than turning them into a series of Borat-like anecdotes of foreign misadventure. As the book unfolds, Lacey is careful to lead the reader slowly into a more difficult analysis of the lives of refugees. She lures us in with fascinating descriptions of foods, wildlife, and customs of other cultures, and as we read we also begin to understand the broader point she makes: that refugee status is a result of direct oppression and injustice, not of circumstance, misfortune, or some global "oops!" But Lacey doesn't treat refugees as anthropological study subjects; she loves them. She cherishes them, weeps with them, prays with them, and even angrily battles against God during her crisis of faith in their behalf. At no point does she indulge in sentimental, superficial "inspirational Christian writing"; this is not "A purpose-driven Refugee life." This is not "Chicken Soup for the Refugee soul." What she describes is fascinating, but painful. And maddening. One cannot read her clear-headed writings that directly link refugee poverty, torture, war, and famine with the deliberate actions of nations bent on access to oil, dominance, or just plain ethnic cleansing, and still cling to haphazard politics like we find in most churches. Lacey ends the book with two chapters that explain her theology. And they don't come off preachy. She is refreshing in her understanding of religion as a tool of liberation and justice, rather than the half-hearted "God has a plan!" rhetoric that fails to take seriously the role of faith in social justice. She refuses the easy answer, and instead draws on diverse wellsprings of insight: the poetry of Rumi (and others), teachings of other faiths, and the social gospel. As a book, this is a well-done project. I found only two editorial errors (scholar Andrew Harvey is mis-named "Haney", and a missing period on page 167). But the

This Flowing towards me by Marilyn Lacey, R.S.M. In this text, Marilyn Lacey relates her experiences garnered from more than twenty five years of working with refugees and immigrants from Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The result is a wonderful work of spirituality. Anyone who has considered being a missionary, or been curious about life as a missionary, should read this book. Lacey, through stories of her experiences, makes missionary work come alive, real, vivid, exciting, and for some, the answer to a prayer. This is no ordinary volume. This is a book about spirituality growing through living. Not living in the American sense of increasing status and collecting material objects, this speaks of living as God would teach us to live. We learn this way not through sermons or reading, but through abiding in an environment focused upon people and love. Her experiences with refugees and very poor people challenge our concepts of time, personal space, rank and seniority, and even our food. I will relate just a few of the insights gained from pondering her stories. Possibly the best way to help is not to rescue those I love from their personal difficulties, but to just be with them - walk with them in their journey. The concept of "control" takes on new meaning. She quotes Richard Rohr as saying that the opposite of love is not hate, but control. She suggests we are often impatient. We pray to God repeatedly and wonder why God is not removing the problems we complain to Him about. She counsels that we need to learn more about God and how He acts in creation. But eventually, in our impatience, we consider how we could take the problem and solve it ourselves. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in developing their spirituality. This Flowing towards me inspires my spiritually and my concept of God.

Written in a very simple, flowing manner, this book is an amazing story about a woman who opened her heart and gave her life to loving refugees from around the world. Her story is truly inspiring and spirit-stirring. Having been a missionary in Ecuador, I could relate to many of the experiences she faced in third-world countries. This book makes me want to pack my bags again! Oh, if we all listened to God's calling for our lives the way this woman did! What amazing things would happen around the world in the name of Christ!

This book provided me with an insider's view of the refugee crisis in our world today. Written with compassion, insight, and humor, I found myself immediately drawn into the life of those who have been forced to leave their homelands. Sister Lacey's account of the "true" conditions go beyond any political agendas and instead focuses on the actual conditions that refugees live in and with. The chapter that contains the narrative of one of the "Lost Boys of the Sudan" is one I will never forget as it describes the life of one of these boys. I know this may all sound terribly depressing--but the book isn't. It is one of hope and courage. It is a book that shows what is possible if one person cares enough to help those in need. P.S. The chapter on the different foods she has been served in foreign countries is so humurous I have been reading those portions to my 12-year-old son! I'll never look at an ant (or an ant egg) the same way again!

In This Flowing Towards Me, Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey, former director of refugee services at Catholic Charities in San Jose, CA, has both written her own spiritual journey and brought to vivid life the tortured paths of many of the world's refugees. In her graceful telling, we meet the "lost boys of the Sudan," a Laotian family living in an American convent and many others who are bruised and battered from living in camps all over the world. They become particular people who open our hearts. Marilyn is ablaze with purpose and passion as she works in refugee camps in Thailand and in Kenya, and she brings us with her in exacting detail. As she meets suffering and violence, she struggles to understand how a loving God can exist in the face of such deprivation. In the midst of revealing cruelty, she also manages humor. She has fun with her fear of spiders who share her room and the ease with which locals in Thailand eat locusts and spider eggs. Her spiritual journey is also a wonderful read. She brings us to understand how essential it is for us as individuals and as a culture to "welcome the stranger."