What are YOUR favorite spiritually inspiring books?

[DemBones DemBones]

Please list several favorites!

Don't feel confined to listing only Catholic or other Christian books -- or shy away from listing those, either. I'll start by listing some of my favorites, by order of first letter of author's last name:


"Holy Daring (An outrageous gift to modern spirituality from Saint Teresa the grand wild woman of Avila)" by Tessa Bielecki

"Through the Year with Francis of Assisi: Daily Meditations from His Words and Life"
by Murray Bodo, O.F.M.

"How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill

"Women Who Run With the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"Creating Mandalas (For Insight, Healing, and Self-Expression)" by Susanne F. Fincher

"Care of the Soul" by Thomas Moore

"Leap" by Terry Tempest Williams


Looking back over my list, which is made up of books I've acquired and read more than once since 1990, the above do happen to be by people who are at least nominally Catholic (except one Episcopalian and one Mormon), but they all know their Jung, Plato, and Buddhism as well as their Aquinas, Augustine, or "Acts."

A couple of old favorites first read in the mid-Sixties are:

"The Way of Zen" by Alan Watts

"Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism" by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy


Your turn now. . . O8)

[CBHagman]

1. The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander.

I haven't re-read it lately, but this particular book sustained me through years. It's essentially an extended essay on the Blessed Mother, but not necessarily the way you've seen her depicted in other texts. Houselander apparently had a mystical gift to see Jesus in everyone, meaning that in some she saw the suffering Christ; in others, the dead Christ; and so forth.

Her Mary is a woman who was a refugee, who was a bereaved mother. It's hard to do justice to her language and concepts (and be warned that her language is of another era and might not come off as politically correct), but there's much to meditate on there.

[Matilda]

2. The Book of God by Walter Wangerin.

It is my "desert island" book - the book I would choose if I could
only keep one book for the rest of my life.

It is the bible told as a novel by Wangerin, who is a theologian,
a poet and a storyteller. He changes nothing, but the stories are
fleshed out - it makes me laugh, and it makes me cry. The story
of Mary and Joseph's courtship is full of gentle humour, the birth
of Christ is raw and exhilarating, while the first time I read his
story of the Crucifixion I realised that until then I'd understood
nothing. He writes with humor, pathos and a lyrical beauty that
make the stories from the Old and New Testaments alive and relevant
in a way that I think nobody else can.

He's written heaps of books, many unfortunately never released in
Australia, but I also highly recomend "Ragman", a book of short
stories and meditations, and "Reliving the Passion", a book of
meditations for the Lenten and Easter seasons, and The Story of
The Dun Cow, a wonderful animal fable of good and evil.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Thanks for sharing, CB and Matilda. The books you listed sound

very inspirational.

Nobody else has a favorite inspirational book or two? I guess this means we won't be having book discussions anytime soon.

:shrug:

[The Jacobin]

4. The Gospel of Matthew

The sermon on the mount and the 25th chapter are the strongest inspirations for me on how to try to live my daily life.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Certainly a great choice. . . Maybe we need

another thread just about verses and/or books of the Bible that are most spiritually
inspirational.

O8)

[CBHagman]

5. A friend gave me The God of All Comfort.

That's by Hannah Whitall Smith. I found it amazingly nurturing. It's a very gentle yet straightforward spirituality, rooted in the Quaker tradition, I believe.

I used to read C.S. Lewis but mostly for food for thought. I tried to get through The Problem of Pain but just couldn't manage it (no pun intended). The questions regarding the existence of evil are still the most difficult for me.

On edit: How could I forget Grains of Wheat by Kelly B. Kelly? That was my father's favorite. Unfortunately, it was out of print the last time I checked.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. C.S. Lewis's trilogy of sci fi stories made a tremendous impression on

my husband as well as on me when we read it, probably about 1976. Ever read those? Talk about evil! His descriptions of the Un-Man were very frightening; more effective depictions of Satan than anything I ever heard in the Baptist churches I sometimes attended as a kid.

"The Screwtape Letters" is good and so is "Mere Christianity" but I think that's all the Lewis I've read except the Narnia books.

If you get HBO, "Shadowlands" is going to be on at 3:15 pm on HBOS tomorrow (Wed, June 1). If you're not familiar with it, it's the story of C.S. Lewis's friendship and then marriage to poet Joy Gresham, who died after a couple of years of marriage (speaking of pain.) This is the version with Anthony Hopkins as Lewis. About twenty years ago, my daughter and I saw an earlier, British version that must have had limited US release. It was pretty good, I think, but the Hopkins version has better production values (and Anthony Hopkins!)

[CBHagman]

8. That brings up A Grief Observed.

Yes, I've seen both versions of Shadowlands -- the 1980s version with Joss Acklund and Claire Bloom, and the 1990s version with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. Both are worth checking out. You'll find that they took more poetic license with the '90s version (for example, Joy Gresham had two sons, not one), but the musical score, cast, and use of locations are excellent.

But back to A Grief Observed. This was the book that C.S. Lewis published under a pseudonym after his wife died. It's pretty blunt about the battering his faith took after Joy's death (i.e., the worst thing wasn't losing belief in God but in believing such terrible things about Him). I've read that.

And while we're on Lewis, there's also The Four Loves, which was written, one must remember, before his marriage. The section on friendship is one of the stronger ones, as I recall.

I also read Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. The former is good for hashing out doctrinal questions (see the chapter called "The Great Sin").

I understand John Cleese did an audio book version of The Screwtape Letters. Can you imagine? :-)

I haven't gotten to the science fiction, though I do have Perelandra lying around the apartment somewhere.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. I don't know if the older one I saw had Claire Bloom in it.

We saw it on a small screen, bigger than a TV but not much, IIRC. Not ideal viewing conditions, certainly. It was shown along with a talk about Lewis by a religion professor, all in a small lecture hall. I think there were probably about six religion majors in attendance in addition to my daughter and me. :D

You've read more of Lewis's nonfiction than I have, and it's been years since I've read "Mere Christianity" or "Screwtape Letters." I have "Mere Christianity" and the sci-fi trilogy on my shelves so maybe this summer I'll get around to them again. I don't remember where "Perelandra" fits in the trilogy, or whether it matters much what order they're read in, though it probably helps to read them in order. I've never read sci-fi, apart from "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Dune," which some college friends said I must read, and which I thought were okay but didn't live up to the hype. Lewis's sci-fi trilogy is much better, IMO, and I was a dozen years older when I read those novels than when I read the others, and so that much harder to impress.

[Maeve]

7. Haven't been doing much spiritual reading for a while

Too busy--which means I SHOULD make time for it!

I always liked C.S. Lewis, although he seemed to view women as some seperate species (function of his time to some extent) Can't wait for the new movie version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this Christmas.

I absolutely recommend Anam Cara : A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue--I don't usually listen to books on tape, but this one is lovely to hear with his soft lilt of an accent!

[DemBones DemBones]

11. Thanks for the recommendation of Anam Cara; it's one

on my wish list at Amazon.

Life does get in the way of our readfing, spiritual or otherwise, doesn't it?

[4_Legs_Good]

9. The Life of Pi

has been my favorite recently. Great, great book.

david

[DemBones DemBones]

12. I've read a lot of praise for "The Life of Pi". . .

Want to say any more about why you liked it?

:7

(Trying to kickstart a discussion here.)

[4_Legs_Good]

14. It's kinda hard to explain...

I've recommended it to two other people who read it and enjoyed it but didn't have the same reaction I did. I guess it kinda hits me perfectly.

It's about an Indian guy who (in the first 1/3 or so) embraces Hinduism, Catholicism and Islam and can't/doesn't understand why he can't practice all three religions, as there are elements of each that call to him. So it starts out as a great lesson on religious tolerance (which, IMO, is the main theme of the book). It also deals a lot with animals and their sanctity/individualism as well as the reality of them, not just what we fantisize about them.

And the story of what happens to him later is a great adventure as well as a symbolic voyage. And the ending is just so wonderful.

Anyway, it seemed to me as a very progressive book, and very enchanting, but at the same way, very pro-religion, which is such a rarity these days. It's generally very exclusive (e.g. the Left Behind books), or very condemning of religion. This book just seems to present such a positive outlook on so many things.

Plus the animals are fantastic!

Sorry I'm not being more concrete, but there are just so many spoilers I don't want to give away.

:)

david

[Merope215]

15. I think this is my first time posting here

so :hi: to everyone.

I really liked "Women Who Run With the Wolves" too, although it took me an awfully long time to get through it.

I found "The Discarded Image" by C.S. Lewis (it's one of his academic studies, but it's short, and pretty easy reading) really inspiring, and fascinating and brilliant to boot. It's about the Middle Ages and its cultural, philosophical, and religious milieu.

The other books I love are the murder mysteries about Brother Cadfael, a 12th-century Benedictine monk in England. The plotting and pacing are great, the murders themselves are always intricately designed, and the characterization is terrific. The author brings medieval England and the ritual and theology of monastic Catholicism to life, and the books are full of gentle humor, sharp observations of the human condition, and a devotion to serving people. They're wonderful, and there are lots of them, beginning with "A Morbid Taste for Bones," about Cadfael's abbey's attempts to take the relics of a Welsh saint away from her village. They're by Ellis Peters.

And thanks for the thread! The books I haven't read yet look like fascinating suggestions!

[Maeve]

16. and for those who would like a look at 7th century Irish spirituality

the Sister Fidelma stories by Peter Tremayne (actually the Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis).
Check out the webpage at http://www.sisterfidelma.com/

[Merope215]

17. Those are great too!

:toast:

[CBHagman]

18. And Brother Cadfael is such a mensch.

I've only read a couple of the books, but my impression from those (and from Derek Jacobi's portrayal on TV) is that Cadfael has a decidedly enlightened view of women, more like the real-life Bishop Hugh of Lincoln than these types who viewed women as walking, talking occasions of sin.

I'd heard of Sister Fidelma and now must try to seek out that series!

[DemBones DemBones]

19. Nice to have you posting here!

:hi:

I'll have to look for "The Discarded Image" since I'm very interested in things medieval. I've read some of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, too, and always enjoy historically informed fiction.

[DemBones DemBones]

20. Brother Cadfael was a Benedictine monk --

see my new post re: St. Benedict!

(I can't remember if it comes out in the books that Cadfael is Benedictine, though it probably does. I just read it last night in researching Benedict. The same source also mentioned that "The Name of the Rose" is set in a Benedictine Abbey, though the monk-detective -- Sean Connery in the movie -- and his young traveling companion are both Franciscans.)

[lizzieforkerry]

21. I just finished Ahab's Wife and LOVED it

I wanted to be her! In Moby Dick there is one sentence about him being married and this author then wrote a whole book about her life. It is very well written and her journey is incredible. LOVED it!