The spiritual journey of a second generation legend – Jo Swinney sits down for a chat with Nathan Foster
Richard Foster wrote his seminal book, Celebration of Discipline, in 1978 at the tender age of 36. On the cover of my own battered and coffee stained edition, Eugene Peterson says Foster ‘has “found” the spiritual disciplines that the modern world stored away and forgot’. His influence is hard to quantify, but I for one can testify to the profound impact he has had on the shape of my own spiritual life.
In the process of rediscovering all this great spiritual treasure however, Foster was in danger of forgetting his children. The last line of the acknowledgements is poignant: ‘My children, Joel and Nathan, were incredibly patient in allowing their daddy to cut short games and stories more than once.’ These well-crafted words hint at a far from ideal family life.
Nathan, the younger son, has written about the process of coming to know his father as an adult in his book Wisdom Chaser. They spent a decade climbing Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks; arduous climbs that gave them opportunity to mend what had gone wrong between them. With searing honesty, Nathan writes, ‘At first I think I accepted that God was using my Dad to help people. Later I felt mildly ambivalent about the fact that God seemed to need my Dad. Somewhere along the way, my feelings shifted to embarrassment and anger that Dad had “holier” work to do. By thirteen I was filled
