A Jesuit Guide To Almost Everything A Spirituality For Real (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is a life-changer. It has given me answers to questions that has been bothering me since. Reading it also came at an opportune time for me because I was also making a conscious effort to deepen my relationship with God and the Ignatian spirituality is what I really want to practice. It is so light and easy to read. This book has given clarity and direction to my spiritual life. It will definitely be on my 'favorite books' shelf. Insightful, intriguing, and engagingly written. Particularly interesting for the light it might shed on the perspective of the present Pope, who is a Jesuit. In a nutshell, Jesuits posit that God can and does communicate with man through our thoughts, feelings, desires, and imagination. On this premise, Jesuits practice a variety of introspective exercises intended to help them discern God's intentions for them. One prominent exercise involves imagining oneself inside a scene from scripture and then meditating on how one might feel, what all of the characters might be doing or saying, etc. In sum, one takes from the book a much richer and more nuanced picture of what religious folks might be up to psychologically. Along the way, Martin presents bits of his own life story, which led him from being an HR manager at GE to the Jesuits. He introduces a number of fascinating characters from Jesuit history (for example, the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, who I just tracked down a free e-book of). There's even a handful of Jesuit jokes. In terms of readers who might enjoy this book, it seems broadly similar to other books on spirituality geared towards our skeptical and consumerist culture, such as the books on Zen Buddhism by Brad Warner and Noah Levine, or Michael Muhammed Knight's books on American Islam, and readers who enjoy that sort of book will also enjoy this.
What do You think about A Jesuit Guide To Almost Everything A Spirituality For Real (2010)?
Pretty good primer on Jesuit spirituality and its applications in everyday life.
—potatocanon
Don't like to read about religion but this book is pretty good
—vgffb
Father Martin's insights will definitely make you reflective!
—saad
