The Naked Now by Richard Rohr
Thomas Merton, in an effort to open up the wisdom of the East, specifically a certain strain of Tao to Western spirituality and thought, published a book in 1965 called The Way of Chuang Tzu. “Tao is obscured when men understand only one of a pair of opposites, or concentrate only on a partial aspect of being.” “The wise man…sees →
April Book Review – A Portrait of Jesus
Jesus: A Portrait by Gerald O’Collins, Dartman, Longman and Todd, 2008. Gerald O’Collins is a Jesuit scripture scholar, but this book is not academic. It is a picture of the Jesus that O’Collins has gotten to know through his lifetime of both study and prayer, and so it is both scholarly and inspiring. His chapters on the Passion and Resurrection are →
Johannes Tauler Sermons: A Book Review
Johannes Tauler was a pupil of Meister Eckhart. Both died in the 1300's in Germany; both were Dominican priests. Eckhart died while being tried for heresy; Tauler escaped being so branded, and he remains a sound and practical spiritual teacher for denizens of the 21st century. This volume of The Classics of Western Spirituality has 23 of the Rhineland mystic's eighty →
Any Bitter Thing: A Novel by Monica Wood
Both the story and the author reside in Maine, my home state. Though the novel delves deeply into the French culture and I’m accustomed to contrasting my own Protestant roots to this tiny but robust Catholic subculture, I’m forced to take a longer and more loving look: we humans are so much more alike than different, though we might honestly →
New Year Book Review
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart by Peter J. Gomes So many of us want to be individuated and make responsible decisions, to become uniquely ourselves, yet to belong to others. We crave community. In our search to realise these desires, what value should we give to the Bible? Peter J. Gomes is a Harvard professor, and an →
Advent Book Recommendation
If you have not read The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander, it’s an excellent choice for Advent. It is a meditation on Mary’s abandonment to the will of God that was a pivotal influence in my life. The most recent book that has influenced me is Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. It is the story of Deogracias, a →
