Five Books to Help you Explore Spiritual Practices

Last updated on: August 31, 2015 at 3:34 pm by Teresa Blythe

Five Books to Help you Explore Spiritual Practices 2015-08-31T15:34:16-08:00 Teresa Blythe

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One of the top reasons people give for entering spiritual direction is to find a spiritual practice that fits for them. Many times they ask for book recommendations. Here are five books I think are among the best for exploring a variety of spiritual practices.

The Prayer Book that includes History

Thirsty for God by Bradley Holt, a religion professor from Augsburg College in Minneapolis is an easy to digest quick history of Christian spirituality. At the end of each chapter are discussion questions in case you want to study this book in a group, exercises with explanations of how they connect with the chapter and suggested reading if you want to go deeper. It’s not a lengthy book—more like a tasting fair with suggestions of where to go to dine in more depth. He includes biblical reflections, historical timeline, a glossary and bibliography. This is a great introductory book on Christian spirituality.

The Book that Transcends Traditions

Essential Spirituality by Roger Walsh is an interfaith book on classic spiritual practices. Written without overt religious language, it is both about the usefulness of spiritual practice and seven practices that help awaken your heart and mind. Walsh is a professor of psychiatry, philosophy and anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. He is respectful of all the wisdom paths and pulls from the mystical writings of many traditions to bring you a greater understanding of practices that cultivate kindness, love, joy, peace, wisdom and generosity. This book is highly recommended for seekers who are fearful of too much religious language but want to find practices that deepen their spirituality.

The One I Wrote

50 Ways to Pray by Teresa Blythe is my way of helping people find spiritual practices that fit their personalities. It is exactly as the title suggests—50 prayer practices explained, outlined and prepared for you to use individually or in leading worship, retreats or groups (if you choose to use the leader’s guide in the back). I use the book all the time when I talk to groups about prayer and readers tell me they find it useful as well. It is especially good for the Christian who wants to explore their spiritual longings but doesn’t know where to start.

The Elegant Book on Contemplative Christianity

Soul Feast by Marjorie Thompson is poetic, beautifully written, nicely illustrated and filled with meaningful quotes about the Christian spiritual life. This book is a classic with a foreword by Henri Nouwen (Marjorie’s teacher and mentor). She covers spiritual yearning, how to read sacred texts, various approaches to prayer and meditation, spiritual direction and the spiritual practice of hospitality. There is a group study guide at the end and a nice annotated bibliography. Soul Feast is a spiritual formation textbook at many seminaries.

The Big Handbook for Retreat Leaders

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is the thickest book on the list. It contains many of the same spiritual practices written about in the other books on the list, but it is catalogued by discipline and its corresponding desire. Want to control your tongue to turn the destructive way you use words into authentic, loving and healing speech? Turn to page 186 for an essay, reflection questions and a list of spiritual exercises you can use to fulfill that desire. This book is a must for the library of any church that wants to build a spiritual formation program.

All of these books are easily found at online bookstores.

I’m glad you landed on this blog. If you would like more about spiritual direction as I practice it, please check out my website. Or email me at [email protected].

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