"THIS IS BRENNAN MANNING"

A couple years ago I posted comments about Brennan. He remains one of my favorite authors, maybe because he never threw out easy answers and never hid his struggles in life. Here are the comments I posted.....

THE SIGNATURE OF JESUS - a book written by my friend, Brennan Manning, who died in April of 2013. Sounds presumptuous to call this (well-known) author my friend, but let me explain. About 25 years ago our pastor, Bud Reedy, suggested I read a Brennan book titled "Abba's Child".

The book peaked my interest so I checked the internet to see what other books Brennan had written. While searching, I noticed a telephone number so I called and said "I want to get information about Brennan Manning." The guy said, "this is Brennan Manning". How did you get my number?" I was surprised that he answered but we ended up having a great twenty-minute conversation.

About ten years later I attended a retreat where Brennan was the speaker and got to spend more time with him. While there he signed my book "Signature of Jesus", in which he shared one of his prayers. When I was teaching in Sunday School, I shared this prayer with Junior High guys when they were struggling with direction in life. Here is the prayer....

"Dear Jesus, I can't walk away from you. My life has no meaning, direction or purpose if you are not at the center of my personal history. Now that I've experienced the life and heart of you, nothing else in the world can ever again be as beautiful or desirable. You have made me, not a nicer person - but a new creation.

It is my desire to know you intimately, to know your heart and mind so others will see you living through me. Help me to focus, not on what I see - but on the unseen. Help me to realize you have things in store for me that my eyes and ears will never see or hear."