One curse of the twenty-something (and I can say this candidly because I still have three months till I’m thirty) is that we have strong opinions about life (well, about almost everything really), but we lack the experiences that truly test the realities we assert. We make great claims (often based on things we’ve read or heard other people say), but we often don’t know if our ideas actually ‘work’ in real life.

When my most significant loss is having had my heart broken at twenty-two, or when my biggest struggle in a week is trying to order my days so I have a decent balance between work, play, family and friends,…it doesn’t take much reflection to realize there are others who have lived a lot more life than I have—people who have weathered fiercer storms, pushed through more pain, and who can speak from the valleys and mountaintops about the cost of discipleship, showing more than a few calluses from the rugged climbs and descents.

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It bears repeating that the CCO’s annual Jubilee conference draws its name from the important sabbath theme in Deuteronomy and, most clearly, Leviticus 25, where every fifty years—on the day of atonement, when sins are forgiven—the Jewish people were to enact social legislation that created a vastly renewed social order. From prison reform to debt relief, environmental care of land and animals to economic justice for the poor or oppressed, there was a radical restoration built into the culture. God cares about all areas of life and the details of what we call the Old Testament law speak to the Creator’s good desire for folk to live well, in a blessed flourishing often called shalom. The Year of Jubilee captures that God-given shalom beautifully—a built-in, regular social restoration where all of life is renewed in ways than can only be called gracious.

Nearly 1000 years later, give or take a century, the prophet, poet, and politico Isaiah spoke of this nearly forgotten Year of Jubilee, “the year of the Lord’s favor” or the “acceptable year of the Lord” as some put it. This “good news for the poor,” (Isaiah 61) is a call for a reformation of public policy and social practices. It is good news for all who believe and receive the great grace of a merciful God who stands by His covenant to people and planet.

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Derek’s recent post on reading was not only spot-on, but it dealt with a topic that I’m musing on in preparation for a workshop at Jubilee in a few weeks. I wrote a piece for the March issue of Comment (coming soon!) on the same topic recently, and talked to a number of people about why they read.

Derek gave some great reasons for reading. Here’s a few more that I think about:

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In high school I read a novel to impress a girl. It worked, I think. We’ve been married for almost nine years. The novel was A Time to Kill by John Grisham. I was never much of a reader growing up, but then I was given a new motivation: a beautiful girl mentioned that A Time to Kill was one of her favorite books. What was I to do? Rent the movie? That’s not a bad idea, but I didn’t want to blow this one. So I began to read.

Here’s what happened: the girl and I began dating, yada, yada, and I fell in love with reading! From the last page of A Time To Kill my senior year of high school until now, I have been a reader. All I needed was a book that I liked, that kept my interest, that was meaningful. I didn’t know books like that existed! Or, just maybe, could it be that my new found love had more to do with, well, my new found love?

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Writers like to talk about writing. It’s sublime; it’s a creative struggle; it’s the way to find yourself; it’s the way to change the world; it’s devastating. Shelves are filled with books on writing and the writing life. Writers claim a special place in society, fancying themselves prophets, priests, or possibly just misunderstood.

My outlook is a little different. My “writing life” isn’t full of epiphanies or grand struggles to break through writer’s block (I have come to believe that “writer’s block” is a fancy euphemism for “fear of failure”). I’d like to say I have a quiet desk with pithy quotes hung over it for inspiration. Sometimes I’d like to couple my writerly-ness with corduroy jackets and a pipe and an unusually literary outlook on life.

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For the past two years, I’ve enjoyed getting to know the folks at High Calling Blogs. First, because, well, I just like them. And second, because their mission aligns so well with the mission of the CCO: We both equip and encourage people to live out their Christian faith in every area of life.

High Calling Blogs is an online community that cares about vocation and calling. Most of the writing falls within one of the following three categories, and I’ve included an example of each.

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I met with a college student earlier this week who shared her struggle about an important decision she has to make on Friday night: should she drink with friends before going to the music concert, should she hang out and have one drink, should she spend time with everyone beforehand but not drink at all, or should she just plan to meet them at the show, sober? Swirling these scenarios in her head, Sara* says she’s just not sure what to what to do.

In the last year, Sara has made significant changes in her lifestyle choices. Moving from the binge drinking scene to deepening her spiritual life with Christ and others, she is not the same Sara she was twelve months ago. Earlier this month, she had a compelling experience at a three day leadership conference that challenged her to further consider her beliefs (especially regarding her relationship to alcohol) and her behavior.

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Jubilee 2010 is only a few weeks away, and we’re excited to launch a new website that will help you get ready – http://Jubilee.TV! We’ve posted video of past Jubilee talks and will keep updating it with more videos. Check it out!