Spiritual Living

By Graham Christian -- Library Journal, 7/15/2009

Benson, Robert. A Good Neighbor: Benedict's Guide to Community. Paraclete. Aug. 2009. 96p. ISBN 978-1-55725-582-2. pap. $14.99.

We still thirst to know what goes on behind the walls of closed religious communities, even as vocations for those communities dwindle. Sweeney has written an account of his visits to a number of Cistercians and Benedictines, who gradually draw him closer to the experience of contemplation, to "be quiet, sit down, and listen." Benson, a member of an ecumenical lay order, asks us to consider the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia—the founding document of the Benedictines—as an oblique guide to the more loosely knit modern communities we wish to build or of which we are a part. VERDICT Reaching well beyond Catholic readership, these will be valuable to the thoughtful reader, Christian and non-Christian.

We still thirst to know what goes on behind the walls of closed religious communities, even as vocations for those communities dwindle. Sweeney has written an account of his visits to a number of Cistercians and Benedictines, who gradually draw him closer to the experience of contemplation, to "be quiet, sit down, and listen." Benson, a member of an ecumenical lay order, asks us to consider the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia—the founding document of the Benedictines—as an oblique guide to the more loosely knit modern communities we wish to build or of which we are a part. VERDICT Reaching well beyond Catholic readership, these will be valuable to the thoughtful reader, Christian and non-Christian.

Connell, the author of many prior books about Mary, here offers one that, but for the dates of the events and apparitions described, might have been written 100 years ago. A capable and persuasive writer, she takes the conservative and literalist Catholic line, moving swiftly away from the Mary of the Scriptures to the post-Scriptural Mother and comforter. Connell fervently embraces not only medieval and post-medieval Marian mysticism but 19th- through 21st-century apparitions. VERDICT While she may well disappoint readers of China Galland's Longing for Darkness: Black Madonna or Marina Warner's Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary, she will please a now somewhat neglected constituency of traditional Catholic readers.

The gospel according to Greber, an attorney, is that our conventional depiction of Jesus's deepest message is flawed. While casual believers and nonbelievers alike might assert that the Golden Rule ("Do unto others…") is the core ethical statement of the New Testament, Greber insists that Jesus meant to replace it with "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34). VERDICT While Greber's insistence on the "lostness" of the notion moves strangely close to a Gnosticism he would surely disdain, he follows the implications of his idea with sense and piety. Recommended for church groups and pastors.

These two new entries from the authors of Live Intimately and Live Fearlessly are again an intriguing mixture that addresses modern necessity and antique procedure, aimed especially at the American Protestant woman and designed for use in 20-minute increments. Included are both you-are-there visualization—a form of meditation—and comparison to the reader's everyday existence. Live Relationally treats the women of Genesis—not missing a chance for a swipe at gay life in "Lot's Wife"—while Live Deeply deals with the parables of Jesus. VERDICT Many readers will find this series an accessible and methodical way to read through the Bible. Just the thing for conservative Bible study groups and busy but devout women.

Spong, the controversial retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ, may rightly be considered the bellwether of the most advanced opinions in theology that still cling to a nominal Christian identity. With subtlety and complexity, Spong promotes an idea of an ongoing existence beyond our physicality, one that entirely supercedes "religious" notions of Heaven or Hell and even conventional notions of God. For conservative Christians, Spong's views are heretical; for many other readers, Christian and non-Christian, Spong's writing here as elsewhere is intelligent, engaged, comforting, and uplifting. VERDICT Spong's thought and theology are crucial stimulants for every thinking Christian; an important book.

Nashville pastor Wilson sees too strenuous an effort to reduce the Christian message to simple evangelism and too great an identification of church with materialist and consumerist culture. Here, he seeks to retrieve Jesus as the historical and single messenger of the gospel news for the world; each chapter emphasizes an aspect of this single figure (Promise, Forgiver, Shepherd, Sacrifice, and so on). While this amounts to a series of familiar sermons, less jazzy and sexy than the title promises, many readers will derive benefits from Wilson's ideas. VERDICT An invigorating new vision of Christian purpose for conservative Christians.

Dorr (Spirituality of Leadership) addresses two contrasting aspects of spirituality. First, there is the inward-looking spirituality that concerns the search for repose, the engagement with mystery, and the relationship between God and the self; second, there is the outward-looking spirituality that looks for the application of spiritual values to the environment, human rights, self-determination, etc. Dorr represents the best tendencies of the modern Vatican—thoughtfully engaged with the tradition and its theology as well as the most pressing contemporary issues. VERDICT Recommended for the spiritual Catholic with a scholarly bent.

A few hours in the company of Rabbi Goldstein (Gonzo Journalism), an FBI chaplain, is like six weeks with a merciless personal trainer. For Goldstein, the "spiritual warrior" must have mastery of the soul, insight, perspective, and mission. This book draws the reader through Goldstein's eight steps on the way to the strength necessary to address life's challenges. While not all readers will fall in with the notion of life as combat, Goldstein is eloquent and persuasive. VERDICT This book will appeal principally, although not exclusively, to male and Jewish readers.

Gregory (Messy Faith) offers an unusual kind of spirituality, writhing with deathbed scenes, bulimia, and car crashes. In her characteristically open style, she deals with the sort of darkness of soul that has confronted all mystics and, Gregory assures us, confronts all believers—God's apparent absence or indifference when we need God most. Sharing her own moments of doubt and despair and those of many others, she hopes, will show us how God remained and remains present, even if far from an obvious voice or vision in everyday life. VERDICT This work is recommended for the under-40 and nondenominational or churchless Christian.

Like Gregory, Hart (contributing editor, Touchstone magazine) tackles the darker aspects of individual existence; his book seems in part inspired by Mother Teresa's spiritual despairs. He addresses skepticism and the scriptural tangle of cynicism and doubt that seems to underlie Ecclesiastes and Job, also adding an imaginary dialog on the benefits of spiritual friendship even in the deepest darknesses. He persuades us not to mistake faith for hope or orthodoxy but to take it as itself, lived during times of joy and desolation alike. VERDICT Recommended for the Christian or spiritual seeker comfortable with scripture study.

A kind of follow-up to the authors' Six Prayers God Always Answers, this book is apt to make a number of readers all around the spectrum of belief and spirituality nervous, but the bulk of the message expresses a common Christian perception. While many will hesitate about the reality of Joan of Arc's "voices" or the use of the Bible as bullet-proof vest, the broader message has to do with the continuing presence of God in the world, through many guises. VERDICT Taken with a handful of salt, this book is recommended for its target audience: moderate-to-conservative Protestants.

Jinkins (Letters to New Pastors), dean of pastoral theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, uses the familiar letter (in the literal sense, i.e., letters to his family) to help young people, and Christians in general, tackle hard questions such as death, divine justice, doubt, and difficult relationships. It's not possible to know whether these letters were derived from real ones, but the form gives Jinkins the space and freedom for accessible engagement with important issues in contemporary life. VERDICT The innovative format of this work will appeal to Christians, scholarly and otherwise. Highly recommended.

Methodist minister Nixon (I Refuse To Lead a Dying Church!) has written a striking and practical manual for church leaders, especially those in urban settings, that shows how the world that surrounds the church has changed and how Christian pastors and churches can speak to urban churchgoers and youth without losing integrity—and so keep themselves alive. VERDICT Principally for lay and clerical church leaders and builders, Nixon's work may also appeal to students of urban spirituality. Recommended.

Ten Elshof (philosophy, Biola Univ.; Introspection Vindicated) writes here with the subtlety one would expect from his vocation; his methodical and understated book takes on the difficult problem of self-deception (most usually, an artificially elevated sense of self-worth) as both a danger to authentic Christian spirituality and an opportunity for reform, death to self, and true growth. Not all readers will be equal to Ten Elshof's challenge, though one wishes we all were. VERDICT This ultimately uplifting but difficult work is best suited for the mainstream Protestant or Catholic reader and, as such, is strongly recommended.

This book is charming, shocking, and uplifting. Wolfson (The Art of Jewish Living) informs us that our "final exam" questions are not at all what we expect—they include "Were you honest in your business dealings?" and "Did you set a time for Torah?" and others. While both the questions and Wolfson's recommendations for action are deeply rooted in Jewish and rabbinic tradition, the ideas are sound sense for all readers. VERDICT The ethical strengths of this book should appeal to most readers with spiritual or religious interests. Highly recommended.

These brightly colored volumes indicate conscious engagement with the natural world as a means toward spiritual insight or revelation. Dancing Otters, an expanded and updated version of Animal Energies (1992), is a beautifully designed book on Native American ways of understanding 58 animals and the lessons we might learn from their examples. The text is arranged by animal, each with a "behavior and habitat" description, as well as a "message" and a "warning." While the behaviors seem accurate and the messages reasonable, many of the warnings seem strained ("Earthworm's warning: Don't bury your feelings"). Rhoads's personal and idiosyncratic book mixes short essays, poems, and many photographs of beloved animals and nature scenes to help the reader "find the songbird in [the] heart." VERDICT Both of these books, while limited in scope, will find their readers among followers of Native American or Earth-centered spirituality.

This is a rich, complex, and ultimately rewarding smorgasbord of art, culture, philosophy, religion, and psychology. Eversole uses selected works by Jackson Pollock, de Koonig, Mark Rothko, and eight other modern artists to say something about how the arts give voice to the spiritual journey of humankind in the postmodern era through their engagement with ageless archetypes—e.g., the labyrinth, the spiral, and death. While those looking for conventional art history might get frustrated, readers of Joseph Campbell or Carl Jung will discover a large and well-documented resource. VERDICT This visually appealing work will charm artists, students of psychology, and spiritual seekers.

Shapiro's book is far from the first, and will not be the last, to use the 12 steps of recovery as guides into spiritual practice. This one, however, works across faiths to fuse stories of recovery, personal experience, and examples from world religious traditions. Shapiro suggests that the 12 steps can lead to a deepened and more authentic spirituality. He movingly concludes with a reconsideration of the Book of Job, the lesson of which, he suggests is that "We don't submit, we surrender. We don't recant, we become calm. We don't despise, we wonder." Shapiro's book is a fine example of the subtle good works the 12 -step programs can do even after the worst effects of addiction are no longer apparent. VERDICT For the many in recovery, Christian and non-Christian alike.

A kind of conclusion to his Cities of God and Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice, Ward (contextual theology & ethics, Univ. of Manchester) here attempts to reconcile the challenges of a postmodern world with the call to discipleship. First, this rich but densely argued book addresses the postmodern nature and definition of democracy, global culture, and religious practice. The second portion asks how contemporary thinking Christians are to deal with the postmodern world in which they live. Ward's answer seems to be, somewhat shockingly, a renewed embrace of theocracy. VERDICT While this work is apt to be heavy going for many readers, Ward's provocative notions call for a wide readership. In the end, however, his best audience will be seasoned scholars.

Prolific Christian inspirational writer Lucado (Give It All to Him) offers advice on replacing fear with faith. In each chapter, he addresses a common fear, relates it to an incident from the life and teachings of Jesus, and illustrates it with a story or personal anecdote (many of which are well worn or parochial). Fears discussed include disappointing God, failure to protect children, violence, financial troubles, death, and global calamity. Overall, Lucado's advice is positive: stay calm, be courageous, don't be defined by fear, learn from others, focus on the present. Like his previous works, this has its origins in sermons preached at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, TX. VERDICT This book will appeal to Lucada's fans and Christian readers looking for encouragement and inspiration in hard times.—Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA

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