Book review: Field of Compassion
How the New Cosmology Is Transforming
Spiritual Life
by: Judy Canato
Judy Canato is a well respected author
and facilitates retreats and also acts as spiritual director to many people. In
this book she examines the connection between science, spirituality, practice
of compassion. She does a masterful job of linking together the universe story,
the traditional faith story, and the kingdom of God. For a long time science
has not been very receptive to the faith story. Many of those who hold the
faith story are suspicious of science. Canato shows how those three stories are
not really in conflict or in opposition to each other but rather can be brought
together in such a creative and beautiful way that they are truly inspiring. All
this leads to a new consciousness which is able to see the unifying dimension
of all of creation. She makes generous use of the theology of Karl Rainer and
his take on salvation. Salvation is not seen as an individual and private
enterprise with the intention of saving one's soul and going to heaven. Rather
salvation is understood as being co-creative in the evolutionary process.
Cannato wrote; salvation is not about me or we but about the cosmos as a
whole. The author brings to light the important role of meditation in order to
help people experience a whole new consciousness with the ability to see all of
creation as one, that all is sacred, and where there is unity and diversity.
I have found this book to be a rich and
informative read. It is help me in my own efforts to bring together the
universe story, the traditional faith story, and the kingdom of God. It is a
very hopeful story which requires those who respond to do so with courage and
intention. I highly recommend this book to you if you feel that you are a
searcher or a seeker on a journey.
Book Reviews By Father Leo Coughlin
Book:: Twelve Steps to a Compassionate
Life by Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong is a well known and
well respected religious scholar who has written many books. She's a former
Roman Catholic nun and has written often around the topic of religion and the
unknowable nature of God. Christians are often told that Jesus was
compassionate and taught His disciples to be compassionate. Yet, we know that
in many instances friends of Jesus are not compassionate, and many others,
courageously, struggle to be compassionate. This book, 12 Steps to a
Compassionate Life arises out of her 2009 Charter for Compassion in which she
called on people around the world to follow the Golden Rule. Not only does the
author write well about compassion but she also provides various exercises
which enable people to live a more compassionate life. In the Gospel, we read
that Jesus said not only to love as he loved but also to love your enemies. To
live a compassionate life is truly challenging for anyone, and the content of
this book, along with the various exercises, can't be very helpful enabling a
person to become very mature and capable of living a compassionate life. I
think we all agree that our world is in need of people who live a compassionate
life.
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book: Eternal Life: a New vision by
John Shelby Spong
beyond religion, beyond theism, beyond
heaven and hell
Down through the centuries people have
often asked the question; is there life after life? When they die is that it?
It seems that people have been searching for the answer to this question for
centuries. Many world religions have come up with answers for this question.
John Shelby Spong in this book, eternal life a new vision, gives his own answer
to the question of life after life, or eternal life. The author is well
qualified to write about this topic. He has done his research, his many years
of pastoral ministry, his own lived experience, have all led him to write about
the topic of eternal life. In this book, the author will write about some ideas
that some people may find unsettling, and these ideas will certainly be
challenging to people who carry a traditional belief system. However, I think
it's well worth while to read the whole book with an open mind and then decide
for oneself what you want to hold as your own personal belief system.
For myself, it was it was as a student
of physics that I came to believe in life after life. We were studying energy,
and I heard the teacher say, that energy can never be destroyed but only
transform. I knew I was an energy field, and of energy can only be transformed,
then a death I will be transformed into some new form which I cannot imagine in
the here and now.
For those who are questing and
searching for some food for thought around the topic of life eternal and I
would highly recommend this book to you. You will find it challenging,
informative, and perhaps it will help you to come to your own idea about your
own death and the death of others.
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Book: From Sand to Solid Ground
by Michael Morwood
Subtitle: Questions of Faith for Modern
Catholics
Michael is a well known writer and
Catholic educator. He has written several books which shed a fresh light on the
belief and practices of Catholics..He has lectured n Australia and in North
America.
It is clear from this book that the
author is an excellent listener. He has listened to Catholics and has responded
clearly and straight forward to their questions. In fact, a reader may find
some personal questions in this book and the answer may be of help to you.
He writes about the question of the God
shift, a God shift from a male God in the sky to the everywhere God, all around
us and dwelling within us. He confronts the notion of God as an
interventionist, a God who sometimes answers prayers and sometimes doesnt.
Michael writes about Martin Luther and
the issues he brought forward, especially the sale of indulgences, and his
excommunication and the beginning of the Lutheran religions. This was followed
by the Council of Trent in the 16th century at which time the
hierarchy attempted to reform the Church.
Michael writes to show how theology,
doctrine, layer after layer has hidden the basic message of Jesus and there
needs to be a rolling back of this doctrine in order to focus on the teachings
of Jesus.
This book is a good read and will
enable you to understand how we arrived at where we are today and some of the
changes that need to be made to help Christians live a more authentic life.
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Book review
title: Let Your Life Speak; subtitle, Listening to the Voice of Vocation
By: Parker J. Palmer
In this book Parker Palmer writes about his own struggle with identity and with the question of how he should be living his life. On the surface, he ha a very successful career however he does experience a deep depression. This depression becomes a blessing for him because he takes the time to listen to his inner voice and discover what it is he really and truly wants to do with his life. Referring to this depression he wrote; once I understood that the problem was in here as well as out there the solution seemed clear. By inhere here he meant that he was not really living out of his true self but rather his false self and the book describes how once he got in touch with his true self and the desires of his true self he found not only is true vocations but he also rediscovered the joy of living.
I suppose it's true to say that some people get caught up in a career that of itself may be very noble and very worthwhile and pay a good salary. But at the same time, there's a kind of an inner uneasiness, a questioning, wondering if this is all there is. The author of this book is able to tell us how important it is to stop, get off the treadmill, and be still ,be silent, and listen to the inner voice and the inner will voice tell us what is our true vocation.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking or searching for their true vocation.
Left to Tell and discovering God amidst
the Rwanda holocaust by Immaculee llibagiza. Immaculee is a young 24-year-old
girl living in Rwanda. She and her family were living a good life, living at
peace with both the Hutu and Tutsi people. Life looks very promising for her
and her future. However, in 1994 the Rwanda holocaust broke out. All of her
family were killed except one brother who was out of the country. Fearing for
her own life she fled to be taken in by a Hutu pastor. She spent the next three
months in a tiny bathroom with seven other women. Time and again that Hutu
people came calling her name threatening to kill her if and when they found
her. Try to imagine yourself shut up in a very small room with seven other
people and the threat of being found and killed. It's in the midst of this kind
of struggle and terror that the author wrestles with God. Here is a quote from
left to tell: I was certain that God had a greater purpose for me, I pray every
day for him to reveal it to me. At first I was expecting God to show me my
entire future all at once maybe with a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder
thrown in for good measure. But I came to learn that God never shows us
something that we aren't ready to understand. Instead, he lets us see what we
need to see, when we need to see it. God waits until our eyes and hearts are
open to him and then when you're ready, God will plant our feet on the path
that is best for us... But it's up to us to do the walking.
Book Reviews By Father Leo Coughlin
The Shack by Wm Paul Young
published by windblown Media ,Los Angeles, California
The Shack is a novel. Having said that ,it is a powerful
story of loss, healing, reconciliation and the lifting of the burden of guilt.
In a sense the shack is a good example of the embodiment of God in all of
creation including humans. In the face of tragedy there is asked the question why?
The answer to that question is very, very interesting. I found this book to be
a very good read and the content certanly spoke to me but the reality of
the divine mystery .I recommend it to you.
Book: Title;
ANCESTRAL GRACE , Meeting God in Our Human Story, by Dairmuid
O'Murchu
publisher: Orbis Press
If it is accurate that the human race,
as a species, is seven million years old,what was God doing during that seven
million years?
Ancestral Grace is
definted as Divine creativity and the Divine creativity has been an ongoing
evolutionary process for many years.The wonderful story of the human species ,
from our beginnings in Africa seven million years ago up to the present time
and into the future mingles history, anthropogy, and spirituality to show that
God has always been with us and has been active. The author has married science
and religion in a way that makes a lot of sense and certainly broadens one's
world view. Also, the author shows us that we are active participants is the evolutionary
process, that we co-create with God.
I found this book to be a
very informative and inspiring read and highly recommend it.
Book review:
The secret message of Jesus: by Brian D. McLaren
W. Publishing group
The author of this book writes about the many over-layers that ha happened to the basic message of Jesus. As a result, while we often speak about Jesus, there is a lack of clarity about the actual message and the vision that he shared with the people of his time. This lack of clarity of clarity can be attributed to the fact that there have been so many interpretations and theories about the message of Jesus. The author peels back all of those overlays and very clearly presents the message of Jesus. He also shows how that message is applicable today in the postmodern world. In the past theology has been defined as faith seeking understanding. But clarity gives a new understanding, which is faith seeking liberation. Thus we're able to see the one of the most important messages of Jesus was liberation, liberation from oppression, liberation from domination and manipulation, liberation from poverty and exaggerated attachment to wealth and power. He also shows that the basic message of Jesus was in many ways revolutionary in his day and can be in our day when we understand clearly the secret message of Jesus. Of course, when we read this book we find that the message of Jesus is no secret at all and as a matter of fact Jesus told his friends then, and his friends today, to proclaim his message to the whole world and by so doing bring liberation and freedom to all.
I found this a very refreshing book to read and moved me to re-read the Gospels again in order to clarify in my mind the real message of Jesus. I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching and seeking to have a better understanding of Jesus vision and his message
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Book review: the Dream of the Earth by Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry has for many years been a writer and a spokesperson for the dream of the Earth. One of the most important points that Berry makes is that all of creation is an Earth community. All other communities fit into this one big Earth Community. For a long time cosmology saw creation as a three-tier universe, flat earth, heaven above, and the underworld. This view creation as a three-tier universe, religions shaped themselves to make sense out of creation and humankind's place in creation. With the notion of the Earth Community then the priority of relationships becomes self-evident. The Earth is a vibrant living organism and in fact gives birth to all other life forms so that all are interconnected and in a related. All is one.
About 10,000 years ago humankind came to see the Earth as a commodity. A commodity that could be bought and sold and very often, as even in our day, a place for war and violence. The new cosmology makes it very clear at the Earth is not a commodity of living dynamic reality. And it is within the Earth Community people are to discover the presence of the Divine Mystery.
Given the amount of pollution of soil, water and air, the author sets an agenda for the ecological age.
First, human technologies should function in an integral relationship with Earth technologies, not a despotic disturbing matter or under the metaphor of conquest.
Second, we must be clear concerning the order of magnitude of the changes that are needed. Probably the biggest change is people to change their mind and come to realize that all of creation is a living organism. all is sacred.
Third, sustainable progress must be progress for the entire Earth community. Not just for humans.
Fourth, our technologies need to be integral. They need to take care of their waste products in order to avoid polluting the earth, water and air.
Fifth, there is a need for a functional cosmology, a cosmology that will provide a mystique needed for this interval earth human presence.
Sixth, nature is violent as well as benign and our technologies have a defensive role to play.
Seventh, our new and healing technologies need to function within a bioregional context, not simply on a national and global scale.
These seven points for his agenda are well-developed in the book and certainly they giving us a greater understanding what it means to be fully human and to realize our place of this Earth community.
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Book Review: Jesus Today. A spirituality of radical freedom.
By: Albert Nolan
Albert Nolan a Dominican priest from South Africa, played a significant role in the church struggle against apartheid. His first book, Jesus before Christianity, has sold 150,000 copies.
In this book Jesus Today the author is not looking so much at the historical Jesus, nor the message of Jesus, or rather the spirituality of Jesus. His theme seems to be that it was Jesus spirituality that gave him a radical freedom to stand against and teaching and the forces that oppressed the people of his time. Jesus was first and foremost a contemplative. His busy public life seems to have started about the age of 30 and perhaps lasting for about three years. The time before this is referred to as he hidden life.This means we really don't know where and how Jesus lived those years. However the author feels that those years were filled with prayer, contemplation, and agonizing discernment. How else would he be able to act with such clarity and competence during a short public life? He was fully human and therefore he had grow and develop over time like any other human being. As Luke puts it, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. Luke 2:52
Chapter 13 is a very challenging chapter. The title is One with God. The author states that Jesus took God seriously and he challenges people to do that today. Then he goes on to write that believers today have to outgrow their images of God and enter into the great mystery known as God The spirituality of Jesus led him into ever deeper connection to the Divine Mystery and the same thing holds true for believers today. He quotes St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote that we do not know what God is, we only don't know what God is not. However, the author goes on to delve into the mystery of God and how we in turn, like Jesus, may enter into an ever deeper oneness with the Divine Mystery.
Down through the centuries it would seem that Jesus has been domesticated and to a great extent his real message has not been adequately proclaimed or known. However, Jesus spirituality set him free to be true to himself, to be true to his understanding of God, and to the people of his time. The same thing holds true for us today. When we include spiritual practices in our life we to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of God and come to experience radical freedom. This radical freedom enables people to act without fear in living in proclaiming the message of Jesus.
Some readers may find some content of this book very challenging and in fact hard for comprehend. Yet, I found it to be a very enlightening read especially the chapter on Oneness with God. For those who are in touch with their own longing for spirituality this book would be excellent read.
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book review: Eternal Life: a New Vision by John Shelby Spong
Over the centuries people have frequently asked question, after this life what is there? Is there life after life? Do we have any reason to hold to life eternal? Again, many answers have been given to this particular question. There's some who say that death is the end of all, that there is no life after life. However, Spong in his book eternal life a new vision gives us reason to hope and believe that there is indeed life after life, there is such a thing as eternal life. In this book the author does not hold many other authors in order to make a point. Rather he talks about his own evolution over many years of his life which included study, Ministry, and all the experiences which he is head which has led him to believe and to hold that there is life after life. Some of this material may be rather shocking to some readers especially when he writes about his ideas about God and religion. I particularly liked the notion that we live in God and we die in God. It reminds me of the Scripture which says; in God we did it and move and have our being.
If you are wondering about the possibility or the reality of life after life, which he called eternal life, then I think this is a great book for you to read. For me, it has confirmed what I've held for a long time that since I am. an energy field, and since energy cannot be destroyed but only transform, that death I will be transformed into some other way of being. The content of this book reinforces what I've held for myself for many many years. If you're questioning if there's life after life than I would highly recommend this book to you.