The Irresistible Revolution

One-sentence summary: This author chronicles his extraordinary experiences in Calcutta with Mother Teresa, in Iraq with the locals, and in urban Philadelphia where he is part of a community that truly seeks to emulate the type of community that loves directly through radical and countercultural actions and lifestyle.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: Probably the best thing about this book, in our opinion, is that while it provides a grim and realistic assessment of Christianity and discipleship in America today, it also remains hopeful that not only is a change possible but even eminent.

Our least favorite thing about it: The footnotes (although we loved the content) were slightly disorienting to some of us as we read and if we are completely honest…this book carries a very challenging message to read and digest.

Main Topics of Discussion: Love, Community, Selflessness, Relationships, Humility, the Church, Spirituality, War

Our favorite quote: “It seems to me that God could surround us with elders as we bring new energy into an aging body, but it will take tremendous courage from old folks to dream new dreams and allow a new generation to make their own mistakes. And it will take great humility from the new generation of the church to listen to the wisdom of our elders and know that we can learn from others’ mistakes.” (354)

Notes: Well, we had a whopper of a discussion on this one. We were all deeply impacted by the message of this book and all felt that it would not soon leave us. In fact, we all remarked that the sentiments in the book are the kind that get under your skin and just won’t leave you alone. As it should be. There were so many things that were brought to our attention that some of us had been thinking about but not heard articulated so well before. And there were things that we had not thought about in this particular way before. There are too many of these things to list here, but we agreed with all of them. We really appreciated the unbiased tone of the book despite the fact that the material is made up of religion and politics – both separately and together. And we really appreciated that, despite the author’s radical lifestyle and thoughts, he specifically cautions the younger generation against “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” when discussing leaving the church, which he believes has roots and wisdom too beneficial to discard. Ultimately, we were left wondering where we go now and how our lives and actions should be impacted by the things that were brought to light and simply cannot be ignored, in our opinion. This was a very powerful book and we believe that we all benefited greatly by reading it.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Lindsay’s Thai cuisine was a huge hit, Stephanie received her birthday books and we decided to read a 800-page book next , for which we will allow TWO months to read!