Part TWO
Contemplatives in Action The Jesuit Way by William A. Barry S.J. and Robert G. Doherty S.J. I have mentioned before that I participated in the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) in 2020. St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, had a deep understanding of human nature, as well as, God. His spirituality is both contemplative, yet active, as the title suggests. This book is pretty short, but gives a concise and profound glimpse into Jesuit spirituality.
The Wonder of Boys and Saving Our Sons by Michael Gurien. I first heard Gurien speak at a teacher in-service many years ago. He highlighted so many points that I recognized right away as an educator- boys struggle more in school, boys get in trouble more at school etc. As a mother to my son, I remembered him and was so grateful to read his works. Anyone who works with boys in any way would gain helpful insights from his work. He studies neuroscience (which fascinates me in general) and he applies it to the systems we have created, that in many ways set boys up to fail. Our culture wants to overlook how badly boys and men are failing by pointing to the 2% of men who are the CEO’s and leaders, but the majority of boys and men are really struggling- from mental health, to relationships, education, and yes, even career he shows with statistics that we need to start paying attention to boys. And the wonderful thing is- we can pay attention to boy’s needs without neglecting girls at all! It’s a win-win!
Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren. I have thought about theodicy, the problem of how an all-loving God can allow suffering, since college when I changed my major to Religious Studies and wrote my undergrad thesis about this problem. There is no good, satisfying answer to this problem, but Warren does a beautiful job of speaking about suffering and God together. She does not give answers, but rather shares her own experience of suffering and those of others and reminds us that God’s “answer” was to send His son to mourn with us and suffer with us.
The Weight of Glory and Other and The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I admit I listened to these because they were free with my temporary audible membership. However, anything by C.S. Lewis is definitely worth reading.
Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. I read this over a year ago now, but wanted to include it because it so impacted me. It is the fictional story told from the perspective of Jesus’ wife (did I mention it was fiction?) Sue Monk Kidd did extensive research into the time period and culture of her story. Many Biblical stories are included in her novel, and reading this work felt like entering into Jesus’ world. St. Ignatius recommended reading a Bible story from someone’s particular perspective and then using your imagination to really place yourself in the experience. Kidd helped me to do this and I saw many things new- from the beautiful, life-giving friendship Jesus had with Martha and Mary, to the agonizing moments of Jesus’ death and abandonment by most of his apostles, I was able to imagine Jesus’ life in a new way.
David Brooks is the conservative opinion writer for the New York Times. My husband has been reading his weekly column for years and now I do so faithfully, as well. His columns highlight people of character, importance of community, and politics without all the outrage. PBS Newshour also does a weekly 15 minute political news review called “Brooks and Capehart” where Brooks is the conservative voice and Capehart is the liberal voice and both are intelligent, reasonable and give good perspective to the weekly politics and is truly enough to stay informed.
Come from Away is not a book, it’s a Broadway play, but it moved me so much I had to include it. It is the true story of the small town in Newfoundland that took in all the planes that had to be grounded following 9/11. To quote Mr. Rogers, I would say it is a play about “the helpers.” In the midst of the great tragedy, the people in this small town took in literally thousands of strangers and formed friendships that are still strong today. We watched it on Apple+ (we regularly cancel and switch around our monthly subscriptions) and we are looking forward to watching it live when it comes to Spokane this summer.
Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux. I re-read this during Lent last spring. It was my 3rd time reading it and I was still humbled and encouraged. St. Therese is the saint of “the little way.” Mother Teresa chose the name Teresa after this saint. St. Therese lived a quiet, fairly boring life. She became a Carmelite nun very young and died at 23. She is inspiring to so many, I think, because there is not really anything extraordinary about her, yet day after day she tried to love in the smallest of ways. She reminds me, as Mother Teresa said, to “do small things with great love.”