The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton

Book number 30 for 2024, 3.5/5 stars.

I chose this book as part of my Lenten season reading for this year. I had heard about this book for many years and finally got around to reading it. It seems to be a very popular and famous book.

Thomas Merton was a Trappist Monk, also known as the Cistercian Order, if I understand correctly. But he spent the first part of his life as practically an atheist. This is his story, but, to me, it is more of a memoir than an autobiography. That’s just my opinion, though. 

The star rating that I would eventually give this book changed multiple times, along the way. Early on, I found it very interesting. However, there was a segment of the book nearly did me in. I got really bogged down in that section. His time at Columbia University really got philosophical. But then came the telling of his baptism story, and that was uplifting and fascinating. From that point on, the book held my interest more.

He went through a lot, during all of these phases. He had decided that he wanted to be a priest, and had even got accepted at a monastery. But then he was riddled with guilt over his past sins and felt that he needed to “come clean” with the Father, after which he was eliminated from the possibility of being a priest, at least in the Franciscan Order, which was where he thought he needed to be. In time, though, he eventually wound up in the Cistercian Order, as a Trappist Monk.  And this was a contemplative order, as well.

There are many flashes of inspiration in the book, but there are places that really made me scratch my head, as well. And I suppose this is common in any book or writing of one who might be considered a “mystic.” There are a few quotes that I found worth mentioning.

“The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin, and he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.” (p. 26)

“The love of pleasure is destined by its very nature to defeat itself and end in frustration.” (p. 106)

“It is a kind of pride to insist that none of our prayers should ever be petitions for our own needs; for this is only another subtle way of trying to put ourselves on the same plane as God – acting as if we had no needs, as if we were not creatures, not dependent on Him and dependent, by His will, on material things, too.” (p. 247)

And one of the most beautiful, to me: “What a thing Mass becomes, in hands hardened by gruelling and sacrificial labor, in poverty and abjection and humiliation! ‘See, see,’ said those lights, those shadows in all the chapels. ‘See Who God is! Realize what this Mass is! See Christ here, on the Cross! See His wounds, see His torn hands, see how the King of Glory is crowned with thorns! Do you know what Love is? Here is Love, Here on this Cross, here is Love, suffering these nails, these thorns, that scourge loaded with lead, smashed to pieces, bleeding to death because of your sins and bleeding to death because of people that will never know Him, and never thing of Him and will never remember His Sacrifice. Learn from Him how to love God and how to love men! Learn of this Cross, this Love, how to give your life away to Him.'”

I could easily say that the book went from four stars to three, and back to four, based on which section I was reading. I finally wound up at 3.5 (I left it at 3 on Goodreads, which doesn’t allow half-star ratings). I liked it, and almost “really liked” it, but not quite. I probably won’t keep my copy and probably will never read it again . . . too much other stuff out there for that. Would I recommend it? Not automatically. But it is definitely a good way to get into the head of one who is staunchly Catholic and could be useful in some understanding of that. It would almost be better to find someone who had summarized some of the more inspirational parts of the story.

TTFN, y’all!

Epiphany: The Season of Glory, by Fleming Rutledge

Book number 9 for 2024; 5/5 stars.

This is another volume in the Fullness of Time series from Intervarsity Press. I’m not 100% sure of the order that they are supposed to go in, but I figure, since they are following the Church calendar, Advent should be first, followed by Christmas, and then this one, Epiphany. And that’s the order I have read them in. It is my humble opinion that Fleming Rutledge has done a magnificent job of presenting “the season of glory.”

All of these books, so far, have blessed me tremendously. At this point, I am hard-pressed to pick a favorite between Epiphany and Advent. Each book has been organized differently, which is fine, considering they are all by different authors. I would say that I probably have learned the most from this one. For most of my life (at least the part where I even knew about Epiphany), I pretty much just thought of Epiphany as the day the wise men showed up at the house of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. And while that day is the basis for the event, there is much more to it than that.

Many people don’t consider Epiphany a “season,” but I have come to think of it that way, myself, and Ms. Rutledge presents it in that way, as well. She highlights so much more, though, than the Magi visit. Included in this book are chapters about the baptism of Jesus, the transfiguration of Jesus, His first miracle, and the Sermon on the Mount (as well as the lesser known Sermon on the Plain). There are ten chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion, but the book finishes up at only 167 pages, so it’s not a long read. I basically read a portion of a chapter (sometimes the whole chapter) during my morning devotionals, beginning on January 6.

The last chapter takes us to what Fleming Rutledge calls “The Mission,” which is, of course, Jesus’s instructions to His disciples shortly before His Ascension. And conclusion, which she calls a “Coda,” consists of “Doxology,” which is fitting, because “doxa” is a word that occurs numerous times throughout the book. It is the Greek word for “glory,” and “doxology,” literally means “to speak glory.”

Extremely well-written, with plenty of research and notes, I highly recommend this little book for anyone looking to delve deeper into the mystery and beauty of the Church calendar and Epiphany.

TTFN, y’all!

God’s Message for Each Day, by Eugene H. Peterson

Book number 119 for 2023; 4/5 stars

Just a brief review of this devotional. It is  365-day devotional that is curated from many of the writings of the late Eugene H. Peterson, from Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer to Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of St John & The Praying Imagination to Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best. Each devotional takes barely a page, features a verse of Scripture, usually (but not always) from The Message version. The excerpts are quoted directly from the various sources and each source is noted at the bottom of the reading.

It’s a delightful collection of Peterson’s writing, and good food for thought for each day.

TTFN, y’all!

Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer

Book number 100 for 2023!! 4/5 stars.

A book like this is not easy to review. Heck, just about any non-fiction book by C.S. Lewis is not easy to review. Sometimes, they are not easy to comprehend.

In Letters to Malcolm, Lewis invents a fictional person named Malcolm, and pretends that he has exchanged letters with him, “chiefly on prayer.” It’s a little strange, because we only see Lewis’s end of this “conversation.” All we get from Malcolm’s end are little snippets at the beginning of most of the twenty-two letters. And are they, indeed, “chiefly on prayer?” I suppose one could say that prayer is the most prevalent topic. There are other topics that sneak in, and the first letter barely mentions prayer at all. But I suppose it is setting up the scenario for us.

I have been reading this book as part of a book discussion group at my church, that has been meeting on Sunday nights. It has been an invigorating discussion, and we have the privilege of having as our leader a person who has attended the C.S. Lewis Institute. She probably knows more about Lewis than anyone I know.

Suffice it to say that this book is deep and dense, even being written as letters. There is even one point where Lewis admits that he and his mythical friend might be making it more complex than it needs to be (as evidenced by a complaint from Malcolm’s wife, “Betty.” The thing is, if I am not mistaken, Lewis never wrote a book on prayer, other than this one. He claims that he didn’t feel qualified to do so. This was also the last book he wrote before his death.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. But there are a few chapters that get into so much physics and psychology that they almost go over my head. There are also a few opinions that he has that I do not agree with. For example, Lewis believed in Purgatory. I won’t go into my feelings on that here, though, as that isn’t the purpose of this writing.

I may not have learned much new in this book, but what I did get out of it was a lot of food for thought, which is what I can always depend on when reading C.S. Lewis. One of my favorite things about him is that he will readily admit that he doesn’t have all the answers, and that his opinion on something might very well be wrong. We need more people like that in this world don’t we?

TTFN, y’all!

Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, by Anne Lamott

Book number 58 for the year. 5/5 Goodreads stars.

This is the Anne Lamott book that I have been most looking forward to. The title drew me in quite some time ago, and I finally got a copy of the book for Father’s Day, this year.

In spite of what several other reviewers have said about this book, I really loved it. The more I read of Ms. Lamott, the more I love her.

One reviewer said that there was nothing new in this book. I won’t argue with that, but her simple way of expressing prayer in this book is, in my opinion, helpful. I confess that I’m never quite sure of her actual stand on God or her relationship with Him, but then little spots of brightness come out which leave me no doubt. Or maybe they aren’t so little.

This is a very short book (102 pages), and I am a little baffled that someone would take a lesser view of the book because of that. I don’t pay any attention to the length of a book, unless it is way too long for the amount of good information it brings to the table.

I love the idea of “Help Thanks Wow,” three simple one-word prayers, that can be rephrased in a lot of ways. Essentially, the basic prayer of most of us is just that. “Help.” We run into problems with health, relationships, finances, or whatever. “Help.” We express it in different ways, but it is still a cry for help, of which the Psalms are full of.

One way that she defines prayer is “communication from the heart to that which surpasses understanding.” To many of us, that is God. To some folks, it’s not. That doesn’t make it any less “prayer.” It might affect the results, though.

Other people mention her honesty. That is, indeed, one of the things that I love about Ms. Lamott. Her brutal honesty, and about herself! There is rarely, if ever, any pretentiousness in her writing, because she is fully aware of her brokenness (as am I, at most times). But she says this, “God can handle honesty, and prayer begins an honest conversation.” Frankly, if you aren’t being honest, maybe it isn’t prayer.

Another favorite quote, “We don’t have to figure out how this all works–‘Figure it out’ is not a good slogan. It’s enough to know it does.” This is brilliant, and I wish more people would grasp this concept. There are too many volumes that have been written in attempts to figure out why or how prayer works, and to come up with silly formulas that will make God answer our prayers. There is no such thing. Not A.C.T.S, not P.R.A.Y., not any of those. Now, if you are a person who finds any of those helpful, that’s fine. No judgment, here. Just know that they don’t “bind” God to answer anything the way you want Him to. We absolutely do not need to figure anything out.

When she gets to the “thanks” part, she is expressing how importance gratitude is. “Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior.” Seriously, if your “gratitude” does not affect your behavior, it’s not really gratitude. “You breathe in gratitude, and you breathe it out, too.” I have long discovered the truth of that concept. I have been expressing gratitude, daily, for a number of years, now, and it truly has had an impact on my behavior. That may not be visible every single day, but none of us is perfect.

She talks of a nun who asked God repeatedly to take away her character defects. The nun finally heard God to say to her, “I’m not going to take anything away from you, you have to give it to Me.” Boom.

The really great thing is that, when saying, “Thanks,” it’s not just about when good things happen, or when the prayers get answered the way she wants them to. She expresses gratitude even when they don’t, because she knows that there is a reason, and a deeper thing that she needs to hear or learn. Another reason I love her so much.

Heh. I also got a real kick out of this line: “Jethro Tull sang that the same God who made kittens also made snakes in the grass.” I was, like, “WHAAAAAT?” (I saw Jethro Tull on that concert tour, by the way!)

The expression of “Wow,” that comes after “Thanks,” is dutiful amazement at everything. I’ve had plenty of “wows” in my life. They aren’t always “good wows.” Sometimes, they were “Wow, I’m glad that’s over.” Or, “Wow, I can’t believe this just happened.”

One of the things she added to “Help” was “Enter this mess.” I like that. Because life is messy, and we really need God to jump into it with us. And He will. That’s one of the reasons Jesus came.

Another important thing to remember is that we don’t have to get it together before we show up. Following Christ has ALWAYS been, “Come as you are.”

She did bring up a concept that I like and may actually implement, myself. She calls it a “God box.” She writes down troublesome things/people/events on paper, and puts them in the box, signifying that she is handing them over and not going to worry about them anymore. Releasing them.

There’s a whole page devoted to the thought of letting others go first. And that is something that we Westerners REALLY struggle with, even Christ-followers.

I will close this with what she said was actually the “fourth great prayer.”

“Help me not be such an ass.”

This is another book that will stay on my shelf.

TTFN, y’all!

Spiritual Classics, edited by Richard J. Foster and Emilie Griffin

3/5 Goodreads stars

I wanted to like this book more than I wound up liking it. The best thing about it was that it introduced me to some authors that I have already begun reading and will explore even more, going forward.

The format of this book, which is not really what one would call a “devotional” book, even though I kind of read it that way, is that there is a major heading that consists of one of the twelve “classic” spiritual disciplines. Those are the inward disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, the outward disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, and the corporate disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. The book also includes four extra readings at the end, for months that have a fifth week.

One could easily jump around from topic to topic, if one so desired, but I read it straight through, except for those four “fifth week” readings, which I inserted when there was, in fact, a fifth week in the month.

I was introduced to some authors whose work I have never read, and plan to read more of. Agnes Sanford is one of those, and I already have her book, The Healing Light, in my TBR. Catherine Marshall was part of the fasting month, and I picked up her book, A Closer Walk. I also enjoyed the writings of John Henry Newman, featured twice in this volume.

There were plenty of other authors with whom I am familiar, and plan to read more of, in the future. Then there were some readings that I just didn’t get or didn’t resonate with me at all. Hence the three-star rating. There were even a few that made me wonder why they were included.

At the end of each author’s section, Richard J. Foster included some of his own thoughts. At some point, I was wondering why Emilie Griffin’s name was included as editor, but perhaps she was involved more with choosing the selections, as I didn’t see any writing by her. By the way, I have read two of her books on prayer that are wonderful.

So, to sum up, it was a book that had some value to me, and it may stay on my shelf for future reference. I’m still pondering that.

TTFN, y’all!

Worship, by Evelyn Underhill

4/5 Goodreads stars

Originally published in 1936, I have to say that this book is pretty hard to read. Hard in the sense of digesting it, taking it in. It is dense. There are paragraphs that are longer than a single page, and the print is not large.

For that reason, I will definitely be reading this book again, much more slowly, maybe even a page at a time. I pushed on through it, for this reading, and, even though I don’t feel that I comprehended even half of it, I got some positive things from it.

There are two parts to the book. Part I is a general discussion of the nature and parts of worship, as well as some principles of worship, both corporate and individual, as the author believes both to be important.

In part II, she discusses aspects of different organizations/denominations, in regard to worship. Jewish Worship, Catholic worship, reformed worship, free worship, and Anglican worship.

To her credit, she finds redeeming qualities in each of the organizations that she talks about.

Some takeaways for me:
P. 62, “To worship well is to live well.”
There is also the constant idea of how “Other” the object of our worship is. “We in our worshipping action are compelled to move within the devotional sphere, with all its symbolic furniture, its archaic survivals, its pitfalls, its risks of sentimentalism, hard-suggestion, and disguised self-regard. But the mighty Object of our worship stands beyond and over against all this in His utter freedom and distinctness. ‘Can’ and ‘cannot,’ ‘is’ and ‘is not’ must not be predicated of Him, without a virtual remembrance that these words merely refer to our limited experience and not to God as He is in Himself.” (P. 5) This particular quote almost sums up the book for me.

And then, on the first page of the text, “Worship, in all its grades and kinds, is the response of the creature to the Eternal.” (P. 3)

The depth of this book is both stunning and stirring, hence the definitive need to read it multiple times. I will likely begin to go through it slowly, beginning next year (which is just under two weeks away), perhaps even as slowly as a page a day. Whatever it takes to fully digest this wonderful treatise on the thing that should occupy most of the believer’s life.

TTFN, y’all!

Renovation of the Heart, by Dallas Willard

Let me start out by saying this is a tough read. John Ortberg once described Dallas’s writing as being “dense.” Well, this book is certainly “dense.” It took me just over a month to finish it, and I will read it again, even more slowly, right after I finish my re-reading of Practice Resurrection, by Eugene H. Peterson.

In this book, Willard introduces the concept of “spiritual formation,” and goes through all of the various parts of the human being that need to be renovated, or transformed: the mind, the will, the body, the soul, and even the social dimension of the person. He tackles each of these dimensions individually in one or two chapters each.

He finishes the work with talking about how we need to be children of light, and then goes into a final chapter about how this all should play out in the local congregation.

There are many moments in this book that caused me to stop and think about what he had written, most especially what he wrote concerning being and making disciples, from Matthew 28:18-20. I’ll end this with a quote from Ray Stedman, that Dallas quoted in the last chapter.

“God’s first concern is not what the church does, it is what the church is. Being must always precede doing, for what we do will be according to what we are. To understand the moral character of God’s people is a primary essential in understanding the nature of the church. As Christians we are to be a moral example to the world, reflecting the character of Jesus Christ.” (From Ray Stedman’s book, Body Life: The Church Comes Alive)

For anyone interested in spiritual formation, this is a must read.

TTFN, y’all!