In an offhand way, a friend referenced the top 10 books that have influenced him spiritually. I challenged him to send them to me, interested in how they would illuminate someone I know in another way. It got me to thinking about mine. So, for whatever it is worth, here’s my list. Valid only for today, for I suspect it changes , at least at the edges, from day to day. Asking me for a favorite book is like asking a mother about her favorite child. Not really possible.
I exclude here the Bible, which is a library and not a book, the Catechism, and any of the official documents of the Church. Here goes, in no particular order:
Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, Bp. John Shelby Spong. I read this probably twenty years ago and I have never forgotten it. It’s an odd choice to be on the list of a fairly conventional Catholic, but it opened my idea to a couple of possibilities: that questions are important and that I need not agree with everything in a book to find something of great and lasting value in it. I didn’t agree with all of it when I first read it; still less now, but I pick it up now and again just to touch base with the questions.
I and Thou, Martin Buber. Still important in my understanding of God and each other.
The Sabbath, Abram Joshua Heschel. A marvelous explanation of sacred time and, in its own way, a great explanation of the mass that was to come out of the Jewish faith.
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl. Right up there with The Book of Job when it comes to exploring suffering and meaning.
The Splendor of the Church, Henri de Lubac. I’ve marked this slim volume up so much I need a new one. Every time I read it I see something different and special.
Happy Are You Poor, Thomas Dubay. This has given me more sleepless nights than I can count. The concept of evangelical poverty is not a comfortable one.
Blessed Are They Who Have Questions, Ladislas Orsy. The older I get, the more I am interested in questions rather than answers.
Beginning to Pray, Anthony Bloom. A small book with a great deal of weight. My first introduction to Eastern Christian spirituality and one I return to again and again.
The Divine Mileau, Teilhard de Chardin. Sometimes it’s nice to read a spiritual book by a scientist.
The Screwtape Letters. C.S. Lewis More properly, the version read by John Cleese. I can only take Lewis in small doses and these are small does. It’s just brilliant.
That’s my ten for the day. What’s on your list?
I exclude here the Bible, which is a library and not a book, the Catechism, and any of the official documents of the Church. Here goes, in no particular order:
Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, Bp. John Shelby Spong. I read this probably twenty years ago and I have never forgotten it. It’s an odd choice to be on the list of a fairly conventional Catholic, but it opened my idea to a couple of possibilities: that questions are important and that I need not agree with everything in a book to find something of great and lasting value in it. I didn’t agree with all of it when I first read it; still less now, but I pick it up now and again just to touch base with the questions.
I and Thou, Martin Buber. Still important in my understanding of God and each other.
The Sabbath, Abram Joshua Heschel. A marvelous explanation of sacred time and, in its own way, a great explanation of the mass that was to come out of the Jewish faith.
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl. Right up there with The Book of Job when it comes to exploring suffering and meaning.
The Splendor of the Church, Henri de Lubac. I’ve marked this slim volume up so much I need a new one. Every time I read it I see something different and special.
Happy Are You Poor, Thomas Dubay. This has given me more sleepless nights than I can count. The concept of evangelical poverty is not a comfortable one.
Blessed Are They Who Have Questions, Ladislas Orsy. The older I get, the more I am interested in questions rather than answers.
Beginning to Pray, Anthony Bloom. A small book with a great deal of weight. My first introduction to Eastern Christian spirituality and one I return to again and again.
The Divine Mileau, Teilhard de Chardin. Sometimes it’s nice to read a spiritual book by a scientist.
The Screwtape Letters. C.S. Lewis More properly, the version read by John Cleese. I can only take Lewis in small doses and these are small does. It’s just brilliant.
That’s my ten for the day. What’s on your list?