This excerpt is taken from Relevant Magazine’s latest issue, which is an interview with Eugene Peterson. So classic I think.
How big of an ego-kick was it to hear that Bono was quoting you on U2’s Elevation tour? He quoted your version of Psalm 116 to introduce the song “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
I have to confess that when my students told me that this was happening, I had to ask, “Who’s Bono?” They were astounded because this was the biggest thing that had happened to them. I have since come to realize that he is a person who uses his celebrity status in a committed, compassionate, socially Christian way. We don’t have many people like that. A lot of celebrities do benefits. That’s not what he’s doing. He has a broad strategy for AIDS and does his best to involve world leaders. He’s not afraid of the word Jesus.
Didn’t he invite you to Chicago to hang out with them for a weekend?
Yes. They wanted to do a kind of spiritual retreat with me. I had to turn them down.
Are you kidding? Why would you do such a thing?
I had some deadlines my editor wanted me to finish up.
You may be the only person in the history of the world who would make the decision to please an editor over hanging out with U2.
Perhaps.
Awesome……
