I always appreciate recommendations from friends. I still don’t read as much as I would like to, but discovering audio books has helped me significantly. Here are my top 3 books of the last several months:
- Your Blue Flame by Jennifer Fulwiler. I mentioned Jennifer on another post of mine. She recently came out with her book about following your passion. There are probably a thousand books on pursuing your passion/finding self-fulfillment. Hers is exceptional. She starts with the premise that your passion is a gift i.e. it doesn’t come from you! Because it is a gift, you have a sacred duty to share it with others- it’s not actually about you. I find this premise so freeing and I really believe it changes everything. She also shares a lot of practical ways to cultivate your “blue flame” whatever you’ve got going on in your life. Oh, and she makes me laugh… a lot.
- Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren. This book is written by an Anglican priest, but I really think she would speak to any Christian familiar with liturgical tradition or, really, any Christian. She had me in tears (the good kind) in almost every chapter! The way she describes our ordinary days with such accuracy, yet transcends each moment to the level of the sacred resonated deeply with me. I have to remind myself repeatedly, that if I value as worthless all my simple, little actions of daily life, then eventually the majority of my life will be valued as worthless. If I compartmentalize my spiritual actions from my daily actions, I fragment myself. Read this book!
- Boundaries by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Our culture has serious boundary issues. I did not even realize the amount of boundary lies I believed until I read this book. These two psychologists do an amazing job of explaining, clarifying, and defending ways to practically create healthy, loving boundaries. ALL relationships need to have boundaries. The amazing take-away is that having healthy boundaries is actually a win-win relationship. Both parties need to learn boundaries and letting others cross those boundaries is not the loving response. I recommend this book for anyone and everyone. They do include a lot of Biblical references (which I did not know they were going to do and actually made me look into who these authors were, in fear they were some nuts trying to “psychologize” the Bible) but they are definitely psychologists first, who have found some scripture that, more or less, supports their methods. Even if you are not a Christian, I think this book is amazing as a counseling book.
We’ve watched a few good movies recently that I’d highly recommend, as well: Just Mercy, Selma, 13th all very well done. Dead Man Walking is an old one, but also very well done. A few other books that are also very good, but just didn’t make my top 3: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, River of Fire by Helen Prejean, and everything I’ve read by Brene Brown and Jesuit James Martin have been very good.
Since I’m recommending things, I downloaded the app “Pray as you Go” which was recommended to me by a wise friend. It’s ok if you’re laughing at me for recommending something related to technology-yes I’m still about a decade behind the times on most things tech related. However, I’m really appreciating this app. It follows one reading from the readings of the day, includes music, reflection and silence for a total of around 12 minutes of time. It’s created by Jesuits. I learned a lot more about Jesuit spirituality this year, which includes contemplation, imagination, repetition and way more than one sentence can explain, but I’d highly recommend!
Thanks and I’d love to hear your recommendations.