Richard W. Chilson, an author and Paulist priest, has written 16 books including several titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series. For him, "Change your ways and trust in Love's Domain" is the startling and challenging centerpiece in the teaching ministry of Yeshua (the Hebrew name of Jesus) of Nazareth. The parables offer a window into a new way of seeing for all those who are ready to step into a kingdom of surprises.
Yeshua of Nazareth himself is a demonstration model of the spiritual practices of gratitude (many acts of thanksgiving), hospitality (openness to all strangers), and compassion (a loving concern for those before his eyes). Chilson does a credible job unpeeling Jesus' stories especially those about the late arriving laborers and the prodigal son. He notes: "If we believe we did something worthwhile, we are quick to look for acknowledgment and reward. Like those hired first, or the elder son. Our first cry will be 'where's the justice in this?' " But that cry, alas, is one that emanates from the ego that's always sizing up things and trying to hog center stage.
Yeshua of Nazareth stands outside the world's all-too-familiar machinery of judgment and offers the balm of forgiveness instead. Chilson presents some cogent assessments of anger, fear, and anxiety near the end of this salutary collection of meditations. In the final analysis, he succeeds in presenting Yeshua of Nazareth as a spiritual master of unsurpassable worth.
