No comments about Some Gave All: Four Stories of Missionary Martyrs (Heroes of the Faith).

2 comments about Two Sisters in the Spirit: Therese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity.

1. This is one of the best books I have read on a saint, and in this case Von Balthasar writes about two saints, not just one. His chapter on Therese's "Little Way" is outstanding (and can be found online...that's how I discovered this wonderful book). I especially enjoyed the chapter entitled "Shadows", in which the author squarely addresses the issue of weaknesses often retained by true saints. This book is not for those who wish to hold on to a plaster image of sanctity, in which holiness is removed from humanity and vulnerability. Highly recommended for everyone else!



2. These combined works of von Balthasar on two Carmelite nuns, St. Therese of Lisieux and Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, offers exceptional insights to their particular spiritualities and their role in the Church. The part focusing on Therese is perhaps best read with an already established knowlege of the saint. Be prepared to totally change the way you think of the "Little Flower"! This is probably not a good book for those just becoming familiar with Therese, but for those who have read nearly all she has written (Story of a Soul, Letters, Poems, etc.) von Balthasar's thoughts will be a fascinating read. This book sheds some very interesting light on other works of Therese when you go back to read them a second time! This is the best book I've read on Therese. The section on Bl. Elizabeth is considerably shorter, but the book is worth buying for it alone. Her simple "way," the praise of the glory of God's grace, is eloquently illuminated by von Balthasar. In a word, beautiful... I highly recommend this book for all lovers of Carmel, and for anyone who has stumbled upon the greatness of these two women.

5 comments about The Dream Maker.

1. After I was done reading this book I had to ask myself what has God called me to do? Why have I not heard it? Why would God call on Patrick to do so much and so many other people so little?
   Patrick Atkinson, is able to do the work he is called to do because he does not fear death. Fear will stop us from doing the most simple things but not Patrick. A moving story about a man who only cares about the poorest of the poor. A story that brings faith and hope to those who doubt that there is pure love for those in our world who have nothing. This book is a definite read. Highly recommended for teens and adults. A wonderful book to read for book clubs.



2. Why does it take a near death experience for one man, Patrick Atkinson, what takes a lifetime for others to realize? Knowing why we exist and what our path is. Follow a modern day spiritual journey, from continent to continent in search of one mission, serving children of the poor.
   
   A sometimes wrenchingly vivid depiction by Monica Hannan of contemporary service to the least of our brothers, The Dream Maker is a heroic read for today's young people. Patrick's life journey challenges the definition of success we hold in the U.S. for our status oriented, college prepped youth. This is a great read for a freshman English class, youth groups prior to service trips, or high school seniors contemplating college. As the book notes, Patrick is now an international speaker. Imagine a speaking engagement (before demand makes it impossible) following a class/group read.
   
   As an educator and parent of four young adults, The Dream Maker offers a real life paradigm shifting account. The book is a rare educational opportunity and couldn't happen in a more compelling and contemporary fashion.



3. Monica Hannan does a wonderful job with a truly inspiring story about a man who genuinely cares for our world's poor and abandoned children. Patrick Atkinson is a man who doesn't just talk about these children, he has done something we all wish we would have done. This story is well written and is most deserving of your time. If you want to feel that there is hope in this world, read this book now. You'll never regret it.



4. A well written, inspiring story. This follows the story of a man who gives his life to helping others, along with the story of one of the little ones that he aids. Atkinson recognizes that he can not change the world, yet he does manage to change the world of the children of the streets in Guatemala. He has found a way to make it possible for these children to dream of what they want to accomplish in life, and to work towards that goal through eduction.
   
   Atkinson's belief is that most people want to help the disadvantaged children of the world. He provides a way for us to do that.
   
   Starting with helping just a few children, Atkinson has seen his work expand to help and encourage thousands. The reader goes along on the journey and realizes that small acts can be like a pebble thrown in a pond. The resulting circle from the pebble can expand and expand.
   
   I loved this book for the hope and inspiration it gives to the reader.



5. Monica Hannan has written the story of one man who has seen the faces of the least of God's children and is doing something. It is a story that takes us behind the headlines and the predigested propaganda that we receive about the poorer nations of our world. It is a story of bitter poverty, horrible misuse of power as well as a story of the power of love and compassion and the changed lives that sometimes result from that care. It is not a rosy picture she gives us, but it is a real story of a man empowered by God to do something about the sorry state of the world in places where most of us would fear to tread. Even as I think about the title of Monica's book, the haunting lament of the man from La Mancha moves through my mind:
   
   To dream the impossible dream
   To fight the unbeatable foe
   To bear with unbearable sorrow
   To run where the brave dare not go
   
   Most of us hunger to make a difference in our world. Patrick Atkinson is facing that hunger by placing his life on the line to meet the "unbearable sorrow" of the children who have no one else.
   
   Read it and weep. And then stand up and join those who are dreaming the dream of a better life for those who have no hope.

5 comments about Turning Toward the Mystery: A Seeker's Journey.

1. In "Turning Toward the Mystery" Stephen Levine shares his own spiritual journey - from heroin "junkie" to ardent spiritual seeker - it's quite a journey indeed!
   
   I found Mr. Levine's writings to be very poetic - sometimes flowing, sometimes disjointed, but always leading the reader to another insight. And, although there were times when I wasn't quite sure what he was saying, I had the feeling that his words were simply planting a seed, and the greater awareness of their meaning will come in time.
   
   Overall, I found this book to be a truly interesting, enjoyable, & insightful read. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in spirituality and/or Buddhist concepts. It has a lot to offer!



2. Levine makes a statement about a third of the way through the book that we have to distinguish between the "action," and the "person." Indeed we have to see "pain" as not personal, but as impersonal so that we don't associate pain with our own little ego struggle, which is filled with fickle judgements, moral values, and fears -- all of which do not qualify as "universal." If pain is "our" pain, then we can't open to the wider Pain and hence cannot feel empathy for the world - which is the ultimate "goal." Our struggle is the world's struggle and our pain can parodoxically open us to the world. James Hillman, in Soul's Code and other writings comes to this through philosophical roots (phomenological) and wrote bestsellars - so there is something striking a chord here.
   This is essential mid-life stuff, and I recommend it hardily. Think about someone in your life you have trouble forgiving. Then ask if you want to go to your grave not forgiving? I don't, but I can't guarantee I won't - or that it will make a difference. But somehow at the stage in my life ( I am 56) I recognize this struggle to forgive as not a moral issue ("should" message), but a basic "life" issue. It isn't about thinking thoughts, but feeling deeply. Levine lays bare the essential stuff that is being indirectly and obscurely and misguidedly being talked about today in the frame of "personal relationships." This is not the place to uncover these issues because, again, personal relationships are small and impoverished if they don't move to the the big relationship between you and the world. Sounds like mumbo-jumbo? The book isn't. This really is essential reading, particularly for those in mid-life who stand at the mid-point between looking back and looking forward. How do we do this? Levine's book demonstrates how.



3. What a delight to read and to savor the messages in this writing. The author clearly reveals his own journey through the somewhat messy process of becoming more fully human and holy. These revelations are minor compared to the wisdom that is distilled in wonderful reflective statements about the entire process of growth. Reading this book is a most useful and prayerful exercise



4. This is an autobiography of the author's spiritual journey to enlightenment - in the end it is not clear to me whether he ever became fully enlightened. He has certainly recounted numerous experiences that naturally lead to enlightenment. I found this book interesting in parts, but not consistently so. I did not like the writing style which seemed disjointed, and so the story did not flow for me. The book is OK, but now that I have read it, I feel my time would have been more productively employed reading something else.



5. "I walked through half my life as if it were a fever dream, barely touching the ground," Stephen Levine writes in his 252-page memoir, "my eyes half open, my heart half closed. Not half knowing who I was, I watched the ghost of me drift from room to room, through friends and lovers, never quite as real as advertised" (p. 37). Levine is a Buddhist meditation teacher who also works with terminal patients. I discovered him through his 1997 book about conscious living, A YEAR TO LIVE. His memoir offers Levine's intimate account of his "wandering awareness gradually drawn toward the light. The process of a long spiritual practice steadily met by a mysterious grace" (p. xii).

   In his memoir, Levine frequently finds himself "up a dark river, but not without a paddle" (p. 90). And that's really the whole point of his book. "No matter how closed the mind or frightened the heart," he tells us, "the mystery is always at play" in our lives (p. 20). Levine was "born a hungry ghost" (p. 3), carried a stolen gun throughout his youth (p. 5), and was arrested four times before he was nineteen (p. 9). After being incarcerated in Rikers Island Penitentiary for drug possession (p. 25), Levine then moved to psychedelic, tie-dyed San Francisco in 1965, where he met Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Ken Kesey, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Timothy Leary, Wavy Gravy, and Neal Cassady, while the Grateful Dead jammed on (pp. 64-5). He was divorced twice before meeting his soulmate, Ondrea, at a Conscious Living, Conscious Dying retreat in 1979. "I write about early internal struugles," Levine says, "not to add to the self-serving drama of a memoir, but for the benefit of any who might find in my confusion some way out of their own" (p. xii).

   Along the way, we find Levine turning inward and embracing "the way of things" through meditation practice. "Turning inward," he observes, "leads to the uncovering and healing of our small self, our personal myth, the mental construct in which we mistakenly believe our true self is housed. And as we look deeper for something yet more real, in sudden wordless understandings, levels of awareness are revealed that direct the pilgrim home" (p. xi). It is Levine's journey inward that transforms mystery into a larger-than-life memoir.

   G. Merritt

5 comments about Baba: Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Yogi.

1. A tour de force spiritual adventure! Rampuri's journey to India and his eventual acceptance into the esoteric tradition of the Naga Babas is extraordinary given the exclusivity of the tradition. In an unprecedented occurrence, a foreigner was allowed into this highly ascetical tradition in which he (Rampuri) undertook a strict discipline( interestingly, part of this "discipline" is the use of ganja) of spiritual practice and study. This lifestyle of a Hindu ascetic is a a radical departure from the affluent lifestyle he knew in his home of origin, Beverly Hills, CA
   Rampuri candidly describes his struggles as a spiritual seeker and Westerner seeking acceptance among these radical Indian sanyansins (renunciates).
   Readers unfamiliar with Hinduism--particularly the Shiva worshiping sects like the Nagas--may struggle a bit with this book.And there are several transliterated Sanskrit terms that may slow an unfamiliar reader down. Still overall, the book is an easy read unencumbered by heavy theorizing or philosophy.
   I highly recommend this book. It's a beautifully told account of spiritual transformation in extraordinary circumstances.



2. I found this at the library, was skeptical, had no notion of what might be lurking between the covers. This is a treasure. Rampuri is not only a unique being with a star-blessed journey that most of us who are interested in such things can only dream about - he also writes beautifully. This unfolds like good novel, and even if only a fraction of it is true (I suspect all of it is), the story is amazing on a host of levels. I have been to India several times, lived in ashrams, studied Yoga there, been with great masters, but this - my God, what an adventure, it makes my pilgrimages seem like they were taken in an armchair. The ending reminds me of one of my favorite books "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - an unexpected, shocking and enlightening BOOM! Great job, Ram Puri-ji, thank you.



3. Rampuri grew up in a moderately affluent Beverly Hill's household and like many well off Americans felt something was lacking. This was also the time when America was experiencing a strong counter-cultural element. Rampuri, the American, decided instead of just being a hippie or preaching free love he wanted the real authentic experience. The only way to get this was to travel to perhaps the most sacred and spiritual land the world has ever known. India.
   
   After arriving in India, Rampuri wanders a bit till he finds his guru Hari Puri Baba. Hari Puri decides to try and initiate Rampuri into the strongly traditional mystical order of yogis. In other words, Rampuri would become a true sadhu. However, during the book there are some obstacles to this initiation. One is that despite other sadhus supposedly being spiritually evolved they tend to be judgmental to a foreigner. Some of these sadhus cannot stand the thought of an American yogi or sadhu. A whole plot of contention and animosity develops between Rampuri's guru and another spiritual guru. This strong tension is what makes this book read somewhat like a story. Elements of evil and suspense linger till the end of the book.
   
   During Rampuri's spiritual discipleship he learns many things. He learns languages like Hindi and Sanskrit and also traditional yogic practices dealing with herbs, medicines, and just a whole different way of looking at the world in general.
   
   For the most part I enjoyed the book minus a few rough areas. One problem is that a lot of the terminology is not very clear. You can, of course, understand many things from context but if a person had no previous exposure to Hinduism or its beliefs they would probably have trouble deciphering some of the text. There is no glossary at the back of the book to help with this problem either. Another problem I had is that sometimes the book seemed to wander a bit without any sense of direction. Lastly, the biggest problem I had was that this book was too brief. I was hoping for something more rich and in-depth. At only a little over two hundred pages Rampuri has only revealed very limited aspects of his experience to make them entertaining to the reader. He admits to having thousands of pages of notes so why skimp? Despite these few drawbacks I believe most people interested in the spiritual side of things (especially concerning Eastern traditions) will enjoy the book.



4. The writing doesn't *seem* bad....but there's definitely something missing here. There are lots of details and interesting stories, and some self-reflection. But in the end, I just don't get it. The connections, the analysis, the context just isn't enough to make this story captivating to a person who hasn't had this sort of experience. Which would be most of us. Perhaps after 30 years as a yogi, the author no longer hs much connection to the boy who left home and moved to India and became naked. But in order to understand his story, we need to be able to understand who that boy was and how he changed. Though the surface story is here, the true inner depth seems gone, maybe erased through spiritual practice or ganja, or maybe just not clarified through careful enough writing. It's hard to put my finger on what's missing in this book, but something just isn't there.



5. If you have been to India you can relive the smells and sights of that phantasmagoria in Baba. If not, welcome to baba-ville where the unusual is likely, the bizarre is commonplace and miracles are found anywhere. You may be possessed as was the author. Ah if only the outcome then would be so precipitious. Having been to Gaumukh, the source of the Ganges, I was transported again and enjoyed a drop of the nectar of that initiation.
   Jai baba!

2 comments about It's More Than the Music: Life Lessons on Friends, Faith, and What Matters Most.

1. One thing leads to another, but it starts with a seed of desire planted by God. Sometimes we have ideas that don't die, no matter what, even though things happen that seem to spell the end. On his own, Bill Gaither would not be where he is today--a humble, wise businessman orchestrating an empire of soul-soothing, spirit elevating songs that infuse personal reality with God. Today's results of Gaithers' work are beyond goal setting or planning--they are God's provision of help and hope to populations of hurting, downtrodden people. The book IT'S MORE THAN THE MUSIC, Bill Gaither's story, is the most inspirational story I've read in a long time.
   
   ". . .I've always felt that there is a profound difference between piety and true spirituality. I've never considered myself to be a pious person, but I hope that in some measure each day, I can live out genuine spirituality in the most honest sense," states Bill Gaither, page 268 in the chapter entitled "Special Moments."
   
   I've had to get through a lot of trauma in my life. Only a realistic faith can carry me on the everyday road to eternity. I remember driving to work knowing that a battle with evil would take place that day in a confrontation with my boss. Of course, I was likely to be on the short end of the stick. I had the radio tuned to Christian radio. I had heard the song "Because He Lives", and it began playing in my mind, giving this fearful, timid soul unexplainable strength. It was years before I learned the names of the composers who had been building my faith by lyrics and melodies that went straight to the heart. My late husband and I listened to Gaithers' eight-track tape "Praise Gathering for Believers" over and over for spiritual sustenance when we felt shut out by the church. (You may read our story in a book I have written called WHAT PRICE PRIESTHOOD. It can be obtained through Amazon.com or through the publisher, XLibris, 1-888-795-4274X479 or [...])
   
   After my recent move to Ohio, I am able to get hour-long Gaither music programs daily on the Christian Television Station, WLMB. This piqued my curiosity to learn more about the individuals who have blessed me so much. One thing leading to another, I stumbled across Bill Gaither's book, IT'S MORE THAN THE MUSIC and was able to learn candid details of the powerful story of the supernatural element which makes their work much more than music. Not only this book, I heartily recommend all of the Gaithers' work for entertainment which sustains a joy-filled, practical faith in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ while going through life's trials.



2. Have you ever sung, "He Touched Me" or "Because He Lives" or "Let's Just Praise the Lord" in church? If you read Bill Gaither's book, you'll find out the stories behind these classic songs which he and his wife Gloria wrote. You'll also find out how Gaither first met and helped launch the careers of Sandi Patty, Michael English, Mark Lowry and many others. The first chapter of "It's More Than the Music" tells how the very popular homecoming videos and concert tours got started.
   This is a book any fan of Christian music should definitely read.

No comments about The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus.

5 comments about In My Father's House: The Years Before "the Hiding Place" (Corrie Ten Boom Library).

1. This quite-amazing book chronicles the half century of Corrie ten Boom's life before being imprisoned for helping to save Jewish people in Holland during World War II. I can't express just how profoundly this book enlightened me to the Christian way people could actually live. I haven't been around many outstanding Christians and the ten Boom family was definitely a Christian family. How blessed I am to know about them!



2. IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE makes an excellent companion to THE HIDING PLACE and TRAMP FOR THE LORD. After discovering all the stories of Corrie ten Boom from the time she went into a German concentration camp during World War II until her death, her early years had always remained a mystery. And now, IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE tells exactly what happened to Corrie during her first 50 years of life.
   
   Starting out with Corrie's great-grandfather, the book tells the story of how the early events in Corrie's life shaped her and prepared her for prison. Some of these stories will make you smile (Corrie was apparently a little rascal at times), and some will make you want to cry. Corrie's life was an amazing tapestry of love for people and her Savior. From Corrie ten Boom's girl clubs to the great halls of St. Bavo's Cathedral, you'll fall in love with Corrie ten Boom all over again with IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE.
   
   The end of the book brings everything full circle up to the point of THE HIDING PLACE, and then is followed by the Golden Tea Party (you'll have to read to find out about that!). All in all, IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE is another great read from the life of Corrie, but I do recommend reading THE HIDING PLACE first. That book makes this one a little easier to understand.
   
   Check it out!



3. She writes with the love and forgiveness that became her trademark after suffering terrible things at the hands of the Nazi's during WWII. I never cease to be encouraged, uplifted, and inspired when reading anything that she writes-this book included. Very few could have forgiven their tormentors the way that Tante Corrie did. She did it by the grace of God and her life was all the better for it.



4. As someone who voraciously gobbles up the writings of Corrie ten Boom, I have to say that _In My Father's House_ is my favorite. Anyone who has read _The Hiding Place_ , _Tramp for the Lord_, _A Prison and Yet_, or other books relating to Corrie's Nazi concentration camp imprisonment and her resulting ministry should do themselves a favor and savor _In My Father's House_. I am so glad this book is back in print and can now reach a new audience. Corrie discusses how the twists and turns of her childhood, teen years, and pre-imprisonment adulthood all came together to prepare her for her WWII and postwar ministry. She shows the evidence of God moving in her life to prepare her for her upcoming adventures. If you don't think so already, _In My Father's House_ may be what convinces you that there's no such thing as coincidence. The simply written, very basic family story of this book holds some deep implications. It may startle you in a pleasant way.

   I particularly recommend this book to parents, especially parents of young children. This book will show how God uses you to raise your child to fulfill God's purpose for his/her life. Corrie writes in a very touching way of how her parents, siblings, and extended family were so responsible for the extraordinary woman she became. This book is a beautiful testimony of how God uses families. It will inspire you to go pick up and cuddle your child while praying fervently. It will also remind you of your need to lean on God and rely on his guidance for this your most important job. _In My Father's House_ is a very powerful book.

   I recommend that you buy a copy of this book rather than borrowing it or checking it out from the library. As your glance flits across your bookshelves, perhaps a slight smile will come to your face as you notice the familiar spine peeking out at you. I return to my copy frequently and have repeatedly drawn from it for Sunday School lessons and devotional topics. _In My Father's House_ would be a valuable addition to your book collection.




5. This book is simple and to the point and beautifully written. It gives the reader the insight of how human Corrie Ten Boom was and yet how much she relied on God for her direction. It is filled with humor and innocence as Corrie recounts her childhood memories, but always making it a point to let the reader know that the main focus is God. The delightful stories will stick in your memory bank. It was a very delightful book which I shall cherish and re-read in years to come.

3 comments about Spiritual Childhood: The Spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux.

1. Vernon Johnson is today one of the least well known of a fabulously gifted circle of English Catholic writers of the 1920s through the 1940s which included G.K. Chesterton, Hillaire Belloc, Ronald Knox, and Abbot Vonier. Johnson was not as prolific as any of those men, but what he did write is choice.
   
   "Spiritual Childhood" is the product of some 20 years of meditation on the subject of St. Therese of Lisieux, whose spiritual legacy inspired Johnson's conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism (as chronicled in his wonderful book One Lord, One Faith, recently reissued by Ignatius Press).
   
   Written in a beautifully lucid and simple style, "Spiritual Childhood" reflects the distilled wisdom gathered over a lifetime by a faithful priest and pastor of souls. Where the book is most helpful and profound is on the question of suffering. Not everyone suffers to the same extent. But some have been given to know all too well what Jeremiah meant when he wrote: "The Lord our God has doomed us; He has made us drink a bitter draft... we looked for relief, but instead there is terror" (9:14-23). Or the words of the Psalmist: "You have crushed us in a place of sorrows, and covered us with the shadow of death... Why do you hide your face and forget our oppression and misery?" (43:20, 25).
   
   To taste of this is to know how crushing, how soul-shattering suffering can be -- and how inviting the option of despair becomes, and how tempting the dark alternative encompassed in Hamlet's question.
   
   It is very hard to find spiritual writing that can provide consolation in the midst of the spiritual desolation brought on by profound suffering... but "Spiritual Childhood" is one such book. Ultimately, the logic of despair can only be escaped by dint of a new perspective. But the power of despair lies in its capacity to destroy such alternative perspectives, to see through them, with a kind of demonic ingenuity, as meaningless charades or sophistry. For the heart, too, turns hard and cold, bitter both towards grace and the Savior who would bring it. One may hear a knocking, but the response is: Go away. Leave me alone. Or worse.
   
   I do not know what Johnson experienced in his life, but this book reflects a very deep and sympathetic understanding of the problem of suffering, and with it a capacity to offer a fresh perspective that can allow one to see one's suffering in a new light, like the sun rising in the darkness. And too, there is some special grace associated with Therese of Lisieux, and her doctrine of spiritual childhood, that has a way of penetrating the heart, even the heart embittered by despair, and allowing grace to enter in.
   
   There is much wisdom in this book for all Christians -- it is very fine, and should be more widely known. Any Catholic book reader will find much to cherish on these pages.
   
   But "Spiritual Childhood" has a special value for those who may happen to be in a state of intense suffering or despair -- for such souls, I truly believe that reading this book can be a form of spiritual therapy, a real channel of healing grace -- a living embodiment of Fr. Johnson's kind, wise, and generous priestly ministry.



2. St. Therese of Lisieux is one of my favorite saints. You will love reading about her life. She is truly inspiring.



3. This book is essential to anyone seeking to follow Christ's call to be like "little children." Vernon Johnson, a convert from the Anglican church, magnificently distills Therese's sublime insights without distorting her.

   One cannot read this book without coming away with a greater understanding of what being a child of God means. Yet, this is not a book about the intellect but rather a book about the heart. It will certainly inspire every reader to want to love God like Therese did.

No comments about Saint Francis of Assisi.