My Spiritual Formation in 14 books

I keep an ongoing journal to collect my thoughts, scribble reflections, prayers, and even poetry that I create or find inspiring from others stunned by the beauty and sophistication of the world. Since I started taking my faith seriously, I mean really seriously, it's been the journaling that has helped me organize my thoughts and give words to reflections and meditations that should be processed or else could get lost amidst so many other priorities. One of the quickest aids to writing, journaling, and especially, in learning to share your thoughts beyond the unedited pages of a handwritten notebook, is the gift of following in the footsteps of a skilled teacher. Reflecting on the pages of my journal can be a difficult task, but revisiting some of the works that inspired my writing, beyond scripture itself, is a rich and rewarding experience that I hope will continue to influence me. Thus I'm compelled to chart this journey of spiritual formation by noting the most influential texts, stories, and authors who have given their gifts to the world, to my mind, heart, and soul. I present them in chronological order to ease the list's organization. I've tried to cover enough ground to give a picture of the streams of thought that have influenced me over the years. Of course, there many others whose voices have stirred me to action or drawn me into deeper reverence for the glory of God. To them, I give thanks. For now, here are the voices that warrant my direct comments.

The Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne

Shane Claiborne was the equivalent of a Christian rockstar when this book was written, coming in at a time when America reeled in the Bush years of post 9/11 terror and two wars that drove us to deeper economic and political alienation. The author, like many young evangelicals, rose from a background of church camps, youth group, and fervent fundamentalism to find a conversion in the face of the poor, outcast, and marginalized. Going from suburban Tennessee to the slums of Calcutta with Mother Teresa and eventually into community in the ghetto of Philadelphia, Claiborne's manifesto is an inspiring, idealistic, vigorous call to action to those who are fed up with American consumerist culture, one that has diluted the Gospel message to mere emotional padding. I'm grateful for the ways that he helped me question my assumptions and drove me to a desire to make my life count for something far greater than myself.

Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell

Before Bell was at the helm of a talk show on Oprah's network, before being dismissed by John Piper as a heretic, there was the pastor, the thinker, the creator of the wonderful Nooma videos that saw Rob spinning thoughts that were both poetic and brimming with thoughtfulness. Bell found a way to take the ordinary, mundane experiences that unite all of us and transform them into sacred spaces where we might encounter the divine. His first book is full of quick, witty, and pithy sentences that never dally about the powerful encounters God yearns for all of us. I'm grateful for the way Bell has shaped me to be more open and hopeful that Jesus can be found all around us, and not just in the trappings of biblicism and dogmatic systems.

The Road to Daybreak - Henri J.M. Nouwen

Nouwen is one of the best known and popular Christian writers, who both Catholics and evangelicals can attest as a great spiritual master. I found this book at a thrift store and paid 25 cents for it, and proceeded to read it while on a mission trip to inner city Fresno. It's not a conventional book like most of his others, but rather a collection of his diary entries that chart his journey from the confines of academia to the ministry of L'Arche, a community that serves severely mentally handicapped patients. I remember being blown away by the raw emotions that Nouwen describes, the intimate ways that he struggled with friendships, his vocation, and the universal human longing to be loved and accepted. It was a deeply moving inspiration to me at a time when I was very much negotiating who I wanted to be and present to the world. Thanks to him, I found that even the vulnerable parts were worth sharing and cherishing.

Theirs is the Kingdom - Robert D. Lupton

When I met him last fall, Bob Lupton told me that this book came together at a point in his ministry where he just couldn't come to fool his supporters anymore. Living and working in the inner city, he saw neighbors come and go, success stories turn into jail time, drug habits, and even death. He shared all of it in an informal, disarming, and chillingly affective voice. The characters he paints in this series of vignettes come alive as desperate, broken, but swelling with life and dignity beyond the statistics that continue to ravage our cities. Through the gloom of this portrait we are confronted by the realities of poverty, but even more affecting is the hope that fills each page. I can only hope that I do justice to my work the way he has shown.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction - Eugene Peterson

Peterson is most famous to us as the translator of the popular Message paraphrase of the Bible, where passages are rendered in ordinary, congenial language. But his most important work for me came not from his popular renditions of the Gospel stories or even in his reworking of the Psalms that crowded my bookshelf through my teenage years. A Long Obedience talks about discipleship that happens beyond the instantaneous gratification that we have come to expect from everything around us. Reading it again reveals that this is not a radical book. It is not filled with complex theological ideas, although he does demonstrate his skill at biblical scholarship. It is refreshing in its simplicity and directness. Although originally written in 1979 before he was a household name for the church, his words ring true today. And that's worth noting.

The Return of the Prodigal Son - Henri J.M. Nouwen

Nouwen earns the distinction of being the only author that appears on this list twice. Rightly so, I've read over a dozen of his works and only grow in admiration for his wisdom with each one. If you even happen upon a copy of Rembrandt's painting that lends the book its title, especially in a church or home, it might be because of this book. Nouwen describes the backstory of the painting, including facts about Rembrandt's life and the times that shaped him. But it's through Nouwen's eyes and love for this art that I was truly moved, inspired to see this, and other art, as keys to the transcendent wonder of God. Again, his trademark transparency is here, along with a powerful command of what it means to move in identity from the younger and older sons into the company and identity of the father in the parable. It's great stuff, and I continue to chew on its implications today.

The Gift of Being Yourself - David G. Benner

This was my formal introduction into the world of True Self and False Self spirituality. As I have delved into the world of contemplatives and mystics there is a thread of uncovering that which our deepest self really is: the Beloved, in total surrender to God. Benner weaves his steady hand of wisdom cultivated from an extensive career in psychology to paint a picture of the human insides --the various ways that we program and prescribe our existence to fit our needs. We build containers to house our own interpretations of reality, ones that God gently calls us to surrender and yield before his invitation to transform. Other authors take his ideas further, but I recommend this one as a great starting place to delve into the rich world that Thomas Merton describes as the surest way to knowing God --knowing yourself.

Surprised by Hope - N.T. Wright

Wright is one of my favorite Bible scholars, and I think this book helped provide a way for me to see his theological views without diving into the dense and comprehensive treatments he's made on Paul and his epistles. Wright famously defended his idea of the Kingdom on media outlets including The Colbert Report, where he introduces the concept of "life after life after death." I've never been particularly taken with the neo-Platonic concept of heaven and the afterlife, but this book really did it for me. Wright tackles our preconceived notions about what lies beyond and talks about what the Bible actually says to us. It's both a helpful clarifier on the picture of the new heavens and the new earth, but also a powerful call to be faithful workers and bringers of the Kingdom here and now.

From Wild Man to Wise Man - Richard Rohr

Rohr continues the theme that Benner introduced when he wrote about his spirituality of the Self. But Rohr delves into the stages of consciousness that shaped civilizations, writing about trends that influenced people for millennia. This book is primarily about male spirituality, and I read it during my last year in college with some other guys my age. In it, Rohr argues that post-Industrial civilization has lost the defining rituals that prepared men for adulthood, those initiation rites that helped teach what to do with power and how to handle pain. This is a road map of sorts that serves to teach wisdom from a perspective that has largely been lost to our culture today. His other works delve deeper into the spirituality of recovery, loss, and the Self, but this was the place that I started to recognize that God could shape me to be more than the idea of a man that I worked so hard to escape. I am still on that journey today.

My Life with the Saints - James Martin

After college I struggled through a difficult breakup, a job that took the life out of me, and stress that reduced me to unhealthy coping mechanisms. I found refuge in James Martin's memoir, the reflections of a Jesuit priest's journey from the corporate ladder of Manhattan to the streets of Kenya and his formal vows as the part of a Catholic religious order. All along he notes the influential models of faith that shaped his world, from the stalwart faith and courage of Joan of Arc to the contemplative pioneer Thomas Merton. The book is refreshing, entertaining, funny, and immensely readable. I thought about my own journey and realized how much I longed for the kind of community that Martin describes. Although there were other steps and voices along the way, my own decision to embrace Roman Catholicism was helped in part by voices like Martin's, encouraging me that there indeed was a great cloud of witnesses to help guide the way.

A Book of Hours - Patricia Colling Egan

I'm painfully aware of the lack of diversity in this list, but I have to hand it to the one female voice here, I'm grateful for her contribution. Along with Phyllis Tickle, the author of the series of prayer companions The Divine Hours, she has helped me see the sacred rhythm of the day. In a series of poetic meditations on the changing hours of the day and the changing seasons, she helps us to step into the sublime recognition that God is present in all things. Coming from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, there is something ancient and reassuring in her words, as if it's truth that has been there all along, just waiting to be uncovered.

Exclusion and Embrace - Miroslav Volf

This is probably the most theologically dense book on this list, but it has shaped my perspective on reconciliation, conflict, and the path to healing more than any other book that I've read recently. Prompted by a question from an audience member on his relationship to the Serbians, Volf, a Croatian, undertook a theological exploration of what separates us and how we define our very identities. Amidst the backdrop of the crisis in the Balkans in the 1990s, the book is taught with urgency and yet doesn't avoid the deep questions and ways that scripture speaks to our condition today. I had to chew on this one over the course of a few months, but patient readers will be rewarded by a rich experience that will challenge their notions of race, gender, class, and conflict.

The Deeper Journey - M. Robert Mulholland Jr.

Where Benner began and Rohr continued, Mulholland continued to probe at my core. His exploration of the true self opened me up to an entirely new definition of prayer, and influences the way that I practice my devotions each day. He uses the framework of pilgrimage and identity to introduce the tried and true concepts of the Self. This invitation is painted as one into the true self, the Christ self, which is "hidden with Christ in God." I realized how much of my prayer practice was self referential, doing more to pad my ego than to get me in touch with the deep abiding presence of the Ground of Being. I recommend this book to those eager to get beyond the thought of prayer as a chore. No longer are we "too busy not to pray" but we are transformed such that our very lives are a prayer. And that's good news!

Poems and Prose - Gerard Manley Hopkins

This is the only entry of poetry on this list, but it was the first collection of poems that I read as a part of my regular quiet times. At first Hopkins' style seems haphazard and unpredictable. But upon reading it repeatedly, and especially aloud, the startling imagery and passion seems to leap from the page anew. Some of my favorite sentences in the English language have been penned by Hopkins, and I won't likely soon forget them. 

Whew! You made it to the end of the list. I hope this encourages you to take measure of the works that have contributed to your own journey. Of course there are many voices, big and small, black and white, male and female, that I couldn't include. But perhaps another day I'll share them. As for you? I'd love to hear about them.