Justice in the burbs

Just finished Will & Lisa Samson's book, "Justice in the Burbs: being the hands of Jesus wherever you live." It's the most enjoyable book I've read in quite a while; not just thought provoking, but quite pleasant to read: it interweaves a fictional plot with a consistently generous, conversational tone. It even ends with a benediction to the reader -- as though the authors were laying a hand on my head and praying for me. (It sounds odd but they pull it off somehow.) By Ch. 2, I'd been gently drawn into the book's story and argument, and didn't want to put it down. Time and again I felt like it had me pegged -- the Mon.-Fri. paper pusher, Sat. lawn cultivator, Sun. pew warmer; who robs Peter to pay Paul and wonders at night, "is that all there is?" -- until I realized how many others 'round here would squirm just as much. Especially memorable was a chapter on mountaintop removal mining, which showed how going with the flow of American convenience and comfort underwrites grievous insults to God's creation and surprising degrees of greed and human misery. Other chapters discussed less dramatic, but also important concerns, such as alienation and loneliness -- also part of what "living justly" is concerned with. I'll be recommending this book to many; it's a persuasive explanation of how anyone can (and why Christians need to) be involved in tangible efforts to "love your neighbor"... both "over there" in places of obvious injustice or poverty, and "right here" with our literal neighbors, and through the everyday choices we make. Several stars.

My only quibble: in guest author Tony Jones' short "meditation" after Ch. 3, he refers to the Holy Spirit as "she" -- seemingly for no other purpose than to get a rise out of more traditional thinkers than himself. As a result (people being what they are) I have to think twice about whom to recommend this to. I wonder what Tony's like at parties.
[UPDATE Nov. 6: I misread Tony's intent. See his clarification in the comments.]