Diana's Book Blog

Primary Speech: A psychology of prayer
by Ann & Barry Ulanov
ISBN: 0-8042-1134-5
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky

A tremendously enlightening book if you would allow yourself to listen deeply as you read it. In brief, the authors' premise is that prayer is a “confession” of self to self. Before verbal prayers are breathed, something is happening inside us. It is this something that causes us to pray. It is this something that makes prayer primary speech. This something also tells us our deepest longings, desires, dreams, hopes, fears, and more. As we pray and as we listen to our prayers we find God in the midst of our being. We are transformed.

This book also calls our attention to our "shadows" - the parts of us that we hide from God, from others, and even deny ourselves. “So we must bring to prayer the excitements, the wonders, the confusions, and the bruises that make up our lives in this area, just as much as we bring the issues and problems of spirit and soul.” (page 76). Truly liberating!

I recognize an irony as I read. Prayer is “verbal”, once “said”, it is out there, yet I am called to listen to that babble that first came out of my being. Within and from me, it returns to me – this calls for deep listening and understanding. I am liberated and empowered since coming to this awareness.

If you want to find out how prayer reveals you to you, read this book. Personally I had an awesome spiritual journey through this book.

Spiritual Director, Spiritual Companion: Guide to Tending the Soul
By Tilden Edwards
ISBN: 978-0809140114
Publisher: Paulist Press

The book offers a bird eye’s view of what spiritual direction is about, what to look out for in spiritual direction, in directees and in spiritual directors. Beyond its history, the basics and nature of this helping relationship, the author also discusses the evolving future of spiritual direction and how more lay people are now getting involved, and being trained, in this ministry.

The author also tackles why spiritual direction is to be taken seriously and gives insightful and helpful suggestions to deal with some issues that may crop up in spiritual direction sessions.

The author also talks about the ministry as a collaboration between God and man. Tildens’ summation, “Let go and let God” (page 34), is an apt observation and call to allow God to deal with His creatures.

Silent Music: The Science of Meditation
By William Johnston
ISBN: 978-0823217755
Publisher: Fordham University Press; 2 Revised edition (January 1, 1997)

The author writes about lab experiments and studies that show the benefits of meditation. He mentions different forms of meditative practices from various traditions, chiefly, Buddhist and Christian meditative practices and how science have proven that meditation is beneficial to health and being. The author distinguishes between religious meditation and meditational therapy.

For people who need scientific proof that meditation is good for the soul I would recommend this book although I am not sure if they would be able to plow through the whole book at one reading. Personally I was not very enthusiastic about all the pages that I was reading so I am not expecting everyone, especially new seekers of the faith and beginner meditators to be transfixed on it.

Soul Making: The Desert Way of Spirituality
By Alan W. Jones
ISBN: 978-0060641795
Publisher: HarperOne

Soul making is about the converted life (pg 173) and about paying attention to the Things Invisible (pg 135). Before coming to the converted life, a seeker first has to know self. The self, an image and likeness of God, allows the seeker to come to experience and to know who God is. Jones says conversion requires a lifetime process of psychological and spiritual formation (pg 164). Through prayer in the ancient desert tradition one can come to the converted life. Conversion undergoes a three-fold path: purgation, illumination and union.

Desert spirituality is a place of revelation, conversion and transformation (pg 6). In the desert of silence, waiting and temptation one learns important and insightful lessons and experience transformation (metanoia). A deep commitment to the faith and to God takes place when a believer understands and experiences God’s unconditional love. Then he, working alongside other people, goes out to spread this God-love in communities and societies.

I like Jones’ use of the “wild card” to symbolize God’s unconditional love for man. The inclusion of Anne Sexton’s poem “The Awful Rowing Toward God” (pg 124) is excellent. The book was not easily digestible at first but from pages 130 onwards I became engrossed with the ideas of change and transformation, of dealing first with self before attempting to do the service of God and of coming into relationship with not only God, but the Holy Trinity. I appreciate Jones’ explanation of the Rublev Trinity because this icon has special meaning for me in my personal search for God’s Will. The icon of Rublev’s Trinity has for me been a calling to share self in the Eucharist and in this book I am affirmed of the meaning behind its image.

Jones’ treatment of the three conversions (pgs 170-182) with biblical background gives me another perspective of seeing the bible stories – the calling, the denial and betrayal by the disciples and the life of contemplation.

Living your unlived life: Coping with unrealized dreams and fulfilling your purpose in the second half of life
by Robert A. Johnson and Jerry M. Ruhl
ISBN: 1585425869
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin

Robert A. Johnson is said to be among the most influential interpreters of Jungian psychology. Johnson studied with Carl Jung himself. Jerry M. Ruhl is a clinical psychologist who has studied spiritual traditions in Japan, Bali, Thailand, Nepal and India. He made friends with Johnson at one Jungian workshop and they have teamed up on several occasions to co-author books.

Living your unlived life makes Jungian psychology easy to understand. The shadow that Jung talked about becomes easier to understand in Johnson and Ruhl's book. Here in this book the co-authors say that the unlived parts of us that are hidden in our unconscious should be allowed to surface in some form. Beyond unrealized dreams there are unrealized behaviours that are kept concealed in our being because the latter are not acceptable by society or they may cause tension and split between friends or among families and many other reasons following. Though we may not act these "hidden" behaviours out, the authors suggest that we must acknowledge them and find some ways to "live" them out. They gave a few exercises in their book.

Once I laid my hands on this book, I could not stop. I'm enthralled by what I learned. I'm excited by the clarity with which the shadow (in Jungian terms) is treated in this book. In fact, I'm planning to read more of their books. What I like about the book is that it is written in such a way that the stuff that constitutes "Jungian psychology" becomes an easy read. The ideas of Jung are explained in simple terms that everyone can relate to. There are no high brow academic theories or sacred geometries about how to live out the unlived parts of our being. Definitely an enlightening read for me.

ISBN: 978-0-141-03222-1
Publisher: Penguin





The first picture above is the jacket of this really small book. As the title goes, it could be read within a span of a taxi ride of 15-30 minutes, depending on how fast a reader you are and if you stop to engage with the simply drawn illustrations.

The second picture is one page off the book. If it piques your interest, go get a copy.

In case you fear being brainwashed into accepting God, don't worry. Arden, the author, did not have the ability to condense the bible so effectively into this book of minimal words and drawings. However, he sure makes his faith known to all at the end of the book.

Second dawn: A journey of faith
ISBN: 9789814193245
Publisher: Melbourne, Tye & English

Death, where is thy sting? Tye writes about his son's (Kevin) fight with a very rare form of cancer.

Autumn 2005 - it was five months before his wedding and at age 28, Kevin faced impending death. All his dreams and hopes and all that he had accomplished was ending, all too soon and so unexpectedly.

I could not put the book down after I started and for two nights afterwards I sat on my bed to finish it. I cried as I read, especially during those parts where Kevin was said to stand steadfastly firm in his Christian faith and how he had encouraging words for members of his family, relatives and friends. It was Kevin who brought his parents into the Christian faith as well. On one occasion, Tye spoke to Kevin about a friend of his who turned his back on God after encountering a setback, Kevin 'replied with an air of finality: "No, you must not do the same. God does not always answer our prayers. And there is a reason..."'

Tye and family migrated to Melbourne, Australia from Singapore in the 90's and it was there that the family was converted to the Christian faith. Though a young convert, Kevin displayed tremendous faith and belief in God's graces and providence. As he subjected himself to various experiments to cure his cancer, he remained focused on his sight that he'd be with God. Hence, he cajoled many of his friends to join him in heaven. He said, "I am going to heaven first, and I want to see you again there."

Tye wrote effectively and poignantly about the struggles that Kevin endured. More than this, there was also the descriptive struggles that Kevin and Kevin's loved ones went through as they accompanied him during his final days on earth.

Filled with touching eulogies, exchange of letters and cards between father and son, testimonies from friends and church pastors about Kevin's unwavering faith in God and quotes from Scripture, a book to remember Kevin who lived bravely through his illness would not be complete without photographs - from childhood to when he was laid to rest in a cemetery. If not for everything, this book is a mini-album cum life journal for the family and closed friends to celebrate Kevin's life - one who walked on the face of the earth but who has now gone to meet His Creator whom he believed was waiting for his homecoming.

The description of the pain and the despair that Kevin went through especially during his last moments is so poignant and sharp that I can imagine myself in that hospital room with the family as he gasped "Mummy" and breathed his last. The shout of "Mummy" before he passed away pierced my heart and my thought went to his mother whom I believe will remember forever that final cry.

This is a brilliant and heart-rending write which I hope was cathartic to Tye when he had to "re-live" those moments of despair and pain during the penning of the book. May he and his family find closure in the book that was completed.

April 29, 2006 1.50 am Death lost its sting! Victory and glory to God who raised, and brought home, a son whose great faith in HIM inspires others to remember that "God does not always our prayers. And there is a reason ..."

Creative Journal Writing
The Art and Heart of Reflection
by Stephanie Dowrick
ISBN: 978-1-74175-137-6
Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Dowrick is writer, columnist, public speaker, workshop leader, psycho-therapist and an ordained Interfaith Minister. She resides in Sydney, Australia.

This book carries extracts of journal writing from other people, including some of the author's own. In terms of writing exercises, I personally do not think much of them. If there's any saving grace in it for me, it is Dowrick's marriage of psychotherapy into writing. For example, she writes about exploring feelings and putting a name and a pulse to 'nothing'. That's interesting for me as a spiritual director because in sitting with another in sacred space with the Holy Spirit in between, there are times when directee and director explores more deeply the meaning of "nothing is happening."

Dowrick writes:

Often 'nothing' is a kind of veil: we need to draw it aside and look behind it to find out where 'something' is hiding. Sometimes 'nothing' is also a defence: against feeling or even against thinking. It can even be a kind of passive aggression that shuts other people out or punishes them.

When 'nothing' dulls your mind, take at least as much interest in what's going on as when you are filled with ideas and eager to write. This will give you a dramatic demonstration of how 'thoughts' are really energy forms. And the quality of what we are thinking will always affect us - as well as other people.)

As you write, the energy of 'nothing' will quite inevitably change into something else. You will feel it - not simply perceive it.

Now that's something to think about. Where the intellectual mind perceives that nothing seemingly is happening, our bodies do tell us something. So we have to take notice. And Dowrick encourages the writer to include in her writing the strong emotions or associations that arise.

Further on in her book, she writes:

Sit for a while longer with 'nothing'. Taste it. Get the flavour of this particular experience. Be aware of what's going on in your body. If you notice strong emotions or associations arising as you write, include them in your writing.

To get the pen going, some of her writing prompts in relation to discovering the quality of 'nothing' are:

'"Nothing" right now feels like ...'

'Buried inside "nothing" is ...'

'The best time I ever had doing nothing was when ...'

If you're looking for a serious book with more workable prompts, I'd suggest you look some place else. However, if you're looking to read something with a spiritual and healing element, perhaps this is the book. Personally though (and with due respect for Dowrick), I would spend my money on another book.

Silence on Fire:
Prayer of Awareness
by William Shannon
ISBN: 0824518489
Publisher: Crossroad

One day a lover approached the home of his Beloved. He knocked on the door. A Voice within responded to the knocking: "Who is there?" The Lover answered: "It is I." The Voice within spoke, almost sadly: "There is no room here for me and thee."

The Lover went away and spent much time trying to learn the meaning of the words of his Beloved. Then one day, some time later, he once again approached the home of his Beloved and, as before, he knocked on the door. Once again, as had happened earlier, the Voice within asked: "Who is there?" This time the Lover answered: "It is Thou." And the door opened and he entered the home of his Beloved.

The above is how Shannon started this book. It is Thou. Shannon went on to discuss how God is within each one of us. God is not outside of us. Therefore, it is Thou. By explaining what is wordless prayer, Shannon sets out to let the readers into a world when one is aware of the presence of God, at every given moment in time.

The book takes us from awarenss of God to awareness of people. He also discusses the obstacles to being aware and how, with help, we can let go, wait and accept.

Wonderfully written and easy to understand, there are numerous occasions when a reader will want to pause, wait and allow the Light to stream into consciousness so as to imbibe the deep thought that is expressed by Shannon.