Skip to main content

Reading for Spiritual Formation 2022-23

It's the summer holidays, and I have finished my spiritual formation reading list for the year! I've really enjoyed the process of reading and reflecting, even though I haven't found every book helpful. Of course, one book leads to another, so I was barely halfway through this year before I'd started making a list of what to read next. I've ended up with five books, but last year I managed to fit Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations in as an extra, so I think it will be doable.

 

Interestingly, my list this year has skewed towards British women (Evelyn Underhill, Penelope Wilcock, Chine McDonald) and Catholics (Stephen Bevans, Oscar Romero, Evelyn Underhill). They are also all 20th-21st century authors - Underhill, who was born in 1875, is the earliest. None of that was intentional.

So it's not quite as balanced a list as my previous one. But I'm looking forward to reading them so much that I had a hard time deciding which order to put them in. I wanted to read all of them first! 

Here's the list.

Concerning the Inner Life with The House of the Soul by Evelyn Underhill


On my recent retreat at Launde Abbey, I was browsing the bookshelves and noticed several books by Evelyn Underhill. I'd vaguely heard of her as a 20th century mystic, so I took one of the old-fashioned, blue-bound volumes with her name on and dipped in. I was immediately taken by her practical but profound thoughts on caring for your own soul - and those of others. When I got home, I ordered my own copy; it's got a snazzy new cover, but I'm pretty sure the interior is a facsimile of the 1947 edition I picked up at Launde. It's actually two books in one - hence the odd title - but they're very short.


Equality is Biblical: Lifting the Curse of Eve by Penelope Wilcock

 

OK, I confess I have read this one already. Each chapter finished with some interesting and thought-provoking questions. I wanted to have time to think about those and answer them properly, and the best way to do that was to make this one of my spiritual formation books. So I did.

 

Models of Contextual Theology by Stephen B. Bevans


This wasn't meant to be a spiritual formation book. I bought it for something else. When it arrived, I opened it at random, read two sentences, and went, "Ohhh! Richard Rohr has an anthropological model of theology! (pause) I definitely don't. I wonder what model of theology I have?" Well, I had to read a bit more to find that out, and also to realise that the book isn't really about your personal theological preference (I was so sure there would be an online quiz for that, but I couldn't find one). It's very much about mission, and how culture and faith intersect. I decided that was quite relevant for spiritual formation, so... on to the list it went.

 

God is Not a White Man and Other Revelations by Chine McDonald

 

I can't quite remember how I came across this one, but I was pleased to have it recommended by a friend recently. It was also featured on the wonderful Beer Christianity podcast. So I expect good things. Plus it sounds like it's partly a memoir, which should be a nice change after Bevans' scholarly monograph.

 

The Scandal of Redemption by Oscar Romero


 

Archbishop Oscar Romero is certainly a voice worth hearing from. He was a Catholic priest in El Salvador who stood up for the poor and spoke out against the corrupt government. In 1980, while he was celebrating mass, he was shot dead by an assassin. This book is a collection of excerpts from his letters, sermons, and radio broadcasts.

 

So that's my five books to read between September and July. I'll let you know my thoughts as I go along - and you're most welcome to read with me, or borrow a book afterwards.


Stained glass image by Marybeth from Pixabay
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dove Valley Walk: Going round the bend

Somewhere between Marchington and Uttoxeter, the wiggles of the River Dove stop wiggling west to east, and start wiggling north to south. If it went in straight lines, it would make a right-angled bend. As I'm following the river upstream, this was my last section walking west. After this it's north to the Peak District and Dovedale. here the Dove swings north The main walk of this section was all on the south side of the river. But I also did a separate, shorter walk, to explore the village of Doveridge, and the old Dove Bridge which is tantalisingly glimpsed from the A50. Walk 1: Marchington to Uttoxeter I liked Marchington even more as I arrived there for the second time. I parked opposite the village shop - noting the "ice cream" sign outside for later - and near the brick-built St Peter's Church, with a war memorial built in above the door.  A few streets took me to the other side of the village, where I found a path alongside a stream, then across some hay m
Post a Comment
Read more

Dove Valley Walk: Meeting the Limestone Way

At Uttoxeter my route along the Dove Valley met some official long-distance trails. First the Staffordshire Way north to Rocester, then the Limestone Way continuing up towards Dovedale. Graham joined me on today's walk, which included the Staffordshire Way section and the first part of the Limestone Way. Unusually, it was a one-way hike; we got the bus back.   Uttoxeter to Ellastone Graham and I parked at Uttoxeter train station. It's very cheap for the day if you park after 10am, but I was worried about getting back in time for the school run, so we got there at 9:20 and paid the more expensive rate (still only £3).  We started off across flat fields towards the A50 and Dove Bridge. A group of young cattle gave us hard stares as we walked past. I posted a photo of a wonky gate on the Gate Appreciation Society with the caption "Parallelogate" and it quickly accumulated 200 likes - many more than this post will get!   Passing the old Dove Bridge again , we ploughed t
1 comment
Read more

San Antonio

San Antonio is towards the south of Texas and feels very much more Mexican than American. The balmy evenings, the colourful Mexican market, the architecture of the buildings, and the number of people speaking Spanish around us all added to the impression. The city, in fact, grew out of a Spanish mission and presidio (fort), built in 1718 as part of Spain's attempt to colonize and secure what was then the northern frontier of the colony of Mexico. Texas was then a buffer zone between Mexico and the French-held Louisiana, and Spain was keen to cement her hold on the area by introducing settlers and converting the natives to Catholicism and loyalty to the Spanish government. The missions in general had no great effect, but the San Antonio area was the exception to the rule, growing into an important city with five missions strung out along the San Antonio river. The first of these, San Antonio de Valero, later became well-known as the Alamo, where 182 Texans died in 1836
3 comments
Read more