The Soul's Religion: Spirit And Soul In Alchemy!
Written: Dec 17 '02 (Updated Dec 17 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: very thoughtful, grounded reflection on religion; poetic writing
Cons: nary a one!
The Bottom Line: Anyone with interest in spirituality will benefit from this book.
|
|
|
| jankp's Full Review: Thomas Moore - The Soul's Religion: Cultivating a ... |
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...four calling birds, according to the song, but I think the birds are code for doves as symbolized by the presence of holiness. That’s why I’m reviewing the 2002 book, The Soul’s Religion: Cultivating a Profoundly Spiritual Way of Life, by one of my favorite authors, Thomas Moore, which lyrically inspires us to take flight on a journey that melds spirit and soul into Moore’s and our daily lives.
I have consistently been invigorated in my spiritual thought by his many previous books. Not many books do I reread and copy down passages, but I have with his bestselling Care of the Soul, which Moore considers a companion to The Soul’s Religion, The Soul of Sex and Soul Mates, all very highly recommended for those like me trying to delve beyond traditional religious imagery and thought. I’ve also reviewed them.
Moore has early in life been a monk for twelve years, who on the brink of becoming a priest turned away from that limiting life. He realized he could not promise to have no doubts about his faith and that he did not believe he had all the answers or was chosen and more special than others.
He still is struggling with questions everyday and encourages unbelief as a necessary part of your faith. Doubt is a healthy sign of your humanity, knocking you off the spiritual pedestal so easily erected from a focus on the heights of spirituality (moral purity, God-like identity) rather than its depths (moral weakness, soul identity).
The author then became a pyschotherapist to help him on the journey to revision his spirituality as to be influenced by his soul. Too often, he observes, spiritual people ignore or contain in some way their ‘shameful, embarrassing’ experiences of suffering. This shuts down the ability for our souls to process them into our character and allow wisdom to nourish our lives. We needn’t ask why we suffer, but rather how to incorporate it into our spirituality… or religion.
Moore is certainly better read than me, with discussions on the soul of poets like William Blake, Anne Sexton and Emily Dickinson; in depth commentary on Buddhist, Zen and Taoist masters; extrapolation on Christian mentors or favorites like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton and James Hillman; and a running love affair with the wisdom of C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell. He includes so many spiritual people, but also the likes of Oscar Wilde, Ralph Waldo Emerson, mythology and native folklore with writers.
If you have not had the pleasure of any of his books, many more than I have mentioned, you could start with The Soul’s Religion, especially if you’re interested in his hopeful thoughts on the present and future of Catholicism. He should impress you as a grounded, sensitive man who’s more in tune with what religion is, a romance with the soul, that you can dance to. It’s fascinating, surprising, and poetic, all 287 pages. I love it! Hope you will, too.
Contents
I. Emptiness (essays on A Hole in the Sky, The Empty Self, Holy Ignorance)
II. Mystery (essays: To Believe Is To Love, Unbelief Is As Important As Belief, Keeping the Mysteries, Faith Begins In Ordinary Trust)
III. Alchemy (essays: Flying Lessons, The Fortunate Fall, Down And Within, The Spirit of the Bottoms)
IV. Ordeal (essays: The Way of Disintegration, Sweet Suffering (hates sweetness), Spiritual Anger, Unearthing the Gold, The Beauty of Imperfection, Spirituality by Ordeal, All Human Problems Are Spiritual)
V. God (essays: The Unnameable, Jesus the Imagination, Taking Angels Seriously (or not?), The Hidden God Is A Personal God)
VI. Romance (essays: The Romance of Religion, Eternal Maiden, Venerating Images, Nature Spirituality (paganism misunderstood), Dream Practice, The Sacred Irrational)
VII. A Holy Life (essays: In Every Sacrifice, God Is Born, Ethics: A Way To Spirit, The Inner Life of Rice (spirituality of Indian women), Sensing The Holy, Religious Eroticism
VIII. Practice (essays: Crafting A Soul, An Instinct For Prayer, Finding A Teacher Who Knows Not To Teach, Deepening the Meaning of Church, Transparent Tradition, Secular Holiness, Eternal Life (after life?)
Index
I am advocating an alchemy of the spirit, an honest and imaginative refining of the emotions and life’s complexities to the point of vision. The spirit is squeezed like wine from grapes out of the ugly habits that cause so much pain. By going down into the depths of the soul we find the raw material for a grounded spiritual life, and we discover a different quality of vision, deep forms of prayer and meditation, and a highly individual call to ethics. The spirit that vaporizes from the depths is in tune with the body and in league with desire. Pp. 72
This was my Fourth Day of Christmas entry into Jackai’s Twelve Days of Christmas Write-off. I’m so grateful to Jackai for permitting me to participate.
Please be sure to tune in to the fifth day of Christmas, which will be brought to you by chriswillyv on December 18th.
Click in to http://www.epinions.com/user-jackai
He is posting the links as the days come along. Don’t miss these other writers’ entries – they are bound to be great.
Day 01: Lambchops
Day 02: Granniemose
Day 03: Lorace
Day 04: jankp (me)
Day 05: chriswillyv
Day 06: cletta1201
Day 07: artbyjude
Day 08: dedemw
Day 09: prfstars
Day 10: jackai (the host!)
Day 11: Lynus
Day 12: katybrighteyes
Merry Christmas, everybody! Put this book under the tree to renew someone's faith.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jankp
|
 in Movies, Books |
 - Top 100 |
|
Member: Jan Peregrine
Location: Lincoln, NE
Reviews written: 1578
Trusted by: 501 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.