Soul Flowering; Books to Enjoy

A brand new book by Lorie Martin called, Invited, Simple Prayer Exercises for Solitude and Community (Fresh Wind Press, 2010). This book is a terrific compilation of different types of prayers as well as poems, and thoughtful writings on people’s experiences of prayer and healing and community. I was privileged to hear a couple of people’s experiences as reported in the book, in a workshop, in person. There is a simple authenticity about the book that makes it a useful and profound tool for those who open themselves to the messages within.

One of my favorite authors is David G. Benner. He is a psychologist and a spiritual director as well as holding many other roles in his life. One book I am fond of is, The Gift of Being Yourself, the Sacred Call to Self-Discovery. (IVP Books, 2004). The author moves the reader through the transformational journey from Knowing of Self and God, First Steps Toward Knowing Youself, Knowing Yourself As You Really Are, Unmasking Your False Self to Becoming Your True Self. Benner describes the path to self understanding as a way to revitalize our sense of spirituality and to lead us to our own unique God given destiny.

One helpful book that can come with a workbook as well, is the book entitled,  When the Heart Waits  – Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions, by Sue Monk Kidd (Harper San Francisco, 1990). Every page of my book has underlining and it took me a long time to get through the book because of the gems on every page. The book is divided into four parts. They are Waiting and Transformation, Passage of Separation, Passage of Transformation and Passage of Emergence. The book tells the story of the author’s experience in a wonderful writing style where she says, “For me, faith was believing that the God who whirled the darkness in me, would also create the radiance. And so I waited” (p42). After the waiting, she tells of coming to a new emerging part of herself, “that was learning how to play with God, to lace on dancing shoes and skip with God in the pure experience of being alive” (p.187).

Love Poems From God by Daniel Ladinsky