Mentoring: Biblical, Theological, and Practical Perspectives

When a friend mentioned this book, I bought it shortly after it came out last May. I thought I would sit down and read it straight through, but I quickly discovered that there’s too much to chew on here that a quick read could not satisfy. The most appealing way for me to approach it turned out to be with a cafeteria pick-and-choose style.It’s obvious from the title that it’s a religious-oriented book, but I am neither a pastor nor a theologian. I am an author, editor, and journalist and a publishing entrepreneur. Regardless, I quickly saw that what is supposedly directed at a “religious” audience can without much effort be transferred to other fields, such as mine.Many books in this category are "self-help" guides, which I try to avoid. "Mentoring" is not one of these. It provokes thought and insight rather than a 1-2-3 menu for easy ways to improve, which rarely endure per my experience."Mentoring" is a collection of essays from 21 contributors. I recognize four of them, including Walter Brueggemann and Martin Marty. But a quick reference in the back gave me a short bio on each. Admittedly, the majority of contributors come from a reformed Protestant tradition, but there’s enough diversity here to keep my appetite whetted. Topics that immediately captured my interest include the building of intentional relationships with youth; cross-generational mentoring; mentoring in diverse national and international communities, such as African American men and women, East Asia, younger generations of Latino leaders, and the evolution of the Roman Catholic tradition.These essayists have challenged my traditional view of mentoring, which had been the young novice sitting at the feet of the wise and experienced teacher. And in doing so, these essays make me realize how much I missed in my own career development. I had some good teachers along the way through elementary and high school and into college and graduate school. But I’m not sure I could call any a “mentor.” My formal education was more of an individualistic, sink-or-swim approach.However, over the past two decades (I’m now 73), I can point to several men and women who served as significant mentors—either briefly or over an extended time—as my family and I trekked for 17 years through the most serious crisis of our lives. Briefly, my wife Martha—smart, passionate, and full of energy—was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1997. She’d just turned 50 three weeks before. I was 52, and our three children were still in high school and college. Our world wasn’t turned upside down by this news; it was imploding before us. My mentors, either personally or via reading, included a Catholic nun, a few Trappist and Benedictine monks, a Presbyterian minister, and an Anglican canon. But that’s enough about us and our family’s crisis.Without referencing each essayist, here are some of the insights that stand out to me in "Mentoring":• “Learning from a mentor is a gift that does so much more than credential a skill. Such a gift rather shapes the direction of a life and makes of a vocation a joyful service.”• “Mentors are not always skilled and inspiring teachers who train students (in a particular field). Just as often, good mentors … help apprentices discover the questions … which contradict or baffle assumptions picked up in their earlier training.” In other words, they are good at helping a protégé “unlearn” things in order to progress. I hadn’t thought in such terms before: In order to learn you may have to unlearn, which indeed can be a hard endeavor. Thomas Currie in one essay offers a perfect religious example for many of us who grew up with a fearful viewpoint of God despite being told that we are loved: The theologian Karl Barth “was remembered by a student … as a theologian whose thinking and living were the collaborative attempt to indicate that ‘God’ is a delightful word.”• “Heaven knows, we all need mentors, especially in a time when the public markers along the narrow way of wisdom have faded and it seems that our society has a clearer picture of what constitutes 'the good life' than what 'makes for a good life.'”• Barbara Brown Taylor is quoted from "The Preaching Life": “If my own experience can be trusted, then God does not call us once but many times. There are calls to faith and calls to ordination, but in between there are calls to particular communities and calls to particular tasks within them.” Her viewpoint seems applicable to any field of endeavor.• “Professor Chap Clark in his book 'Hurt 2.0' makes the bold argument that for most adolescents in the 21st century, their experience of adults is one of abandonment: ‘There at least two consequences of parental and adult abandonment. First, the adolescent journey is lengthened because no one is available to help move the development process along. Second, adolescents know that they are essentially on their own.’” Whew. I say "whew" as I reflect back on my own childhood and as I reflect back on the formative years of my children.• “The Confucian tradition emphasizes teaching and mentoring by example. In 'The Courage to Teach', Parker Palmer argues that it is the inner life and the integrity of the teacher—rather than teaching techniques or skills—that make teaching effective.”In a culture that becomes so dazzled by the newest shiny object, these kinds of insights in "Mentoring" are rare jewels indeed. They should give you a taste of what lies in store if you decide to open this book. You would do well not to speed read "Mentoring", but to slow down and digest it a bite at a time.Carlen Maddux is author of "A Path Revealed: How Hope, Love, and Joy Found Us Deep in a Maze Called Alzheimer's."

Important Theological book edited by a friend Dr. Dean Thompson!

Good book