St. Philip's Church: Bookshelf

Interesting reading


		Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality Anthony De Mello ISBN 0-385-24937-3 Using humor, compassion, and insight, the beloved and best-selling Anthony de Mello teaches us to welcome the challenge of knowing ourselves and living the "aware" life.

		Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's R.A. Scotti ISBN: 978-0452288607 In this absorbing story of the construction of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome—the grandest architectural undertaking of the High Renaissance—Scotti shows how the construction fed the ambitions of 30 popes. In 1506, the great architect Donato Bramante envisioned a gigantic central crossing topped by a dome of such daring design that many believed it could not be built. Throughout the 100 years of construction, numerous architects, most of them consumed with pride, lofty ambition and professional jealousy, followed.

		A Brush With God An Icon Workbook Peter Pearson ISBN: 978-0819222039 For more than a thousand years, Eastern Christians have used their hands and hearts to create icons, proclaiming God's reality in a visible—and breathtakingly beautiful—way. This ancient art is enjoying a renewed interest in the West, as people of faith create icons and use them to meditate on mysteries for which there are no words. A Brush With God is a guide to painting icons and using them in prayer. Written from a uniquely Western perspective, the book guides artists-from novices to professionals-through the process of icon painting, using traditional techniques but employing contemporary materials.

		Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith (Paperback) Diana Butler Bass ISBN: 0060859490 For decades the accepted wisdom has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are in decline. Church and religion expert Diana Butler Bass wondered if this was true, and this book is the result of her extensive, three-year study. Butler Bass found that certain consistent practices-such as hospitality, contemplation, diversity, justice, discernment, and worship-were core expressions of congregations seeking to rediscover authentic Christian faith and witness today.

		Deliberate Acts of Kindness: Service as a Spiritual Practice Meredith Gould ISBN: 0385502435 According to the publisher, Deliberate Acts of Kindness by Meredith Gould is for people who are ready to supplement "random acts of kindness" with intentional acts of generosity, decency, and integrity. More than simply a handbook for volunteers, it explores the significance of service as an expression of spirituality and the commitment to something greater than oneself.

		The Glenstal Book of Prayer: A Benedictine Prayer Book Monks of Glenstal Abbey ISBN: 978-0814627679 The Glenstal Book of Prayer is a rich, nourishing resource on the dark, mysterious, but exciting journey that is prayer. It draws on things both old and new: on the wisdom of the Bible, enshrined in Benedictine liturgy, on the experience of modern monks, and on the wisdom of the Christian Church throughout her long and varied history. Coming as it does from an Irish monastery, it reflects in a special way the Celtic tradition.

		Healing a Broken WOrld: Globalization and God Cynthai D. Moe-Lobeda ISBN: 978-0800632502 This book addresses "two vexing theo-ethical questions": How is our moral agency so disabled that we acquiesce to global economic arrangements requiring us to exploit rather than to love both Earth and neighbor, and how might faith in Jesus Christ enable moral agency to resist those arrangements and to forge alternatives?

		The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith Marcus J. Borg ISBN 0060730684 An engaging and inspiring guide to Christian living, this shows that the essential ingredients of a Christian life-faith, being born again, the kingdom of God, the gospel of love-make vital sense today. Marcus Borg presents a renewed way of being Christian for the twenty-first century. Borg reveals that, when properly understood, the vital elements of Christian faith are more compelling than ever. Borg offers a practical guide to thinking about God, Jesus, the Bible, faith, and Christian practice. He shows how faith in God and Jesus has never really been about believing certain propositions but rather about a dynamic relationship.

		Into Great Silence Two-disk set (2005) Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world s most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning lived in the monks' quarters for six months filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions without crew or artificial lighting. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, INTO GREAT SILENCE dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it s a rare, transformative experience for all.

		Inviting Silence: Universal Principles of Meditation Gunilla Norris ISBN: 978-0974240503 A writer, therapist and meditation teacher, Norris pens an invitation and a challenge: be still. She writes for those who begin to experience spiritual yearning, as opposed to those who are already students somewhere along the spiritual path. As such, her instructions on beginning to meditate-becoming acquainted with and comfortable in silence-are simple and gradual. The material is logically organized, covering in friendly and flowing language what a beginner needs to know.

		The Message Remix (Bible in Contemporary Language) Eugene H. Peterson ISBN: 1576834344 God's Word was meant to be read. But more than that, it was meant to be understood. It was first written in the language of the people--of fishermen, shopkeepers, and carpenters. The Message Remix gets back to that: You can read it and understand it. In The Message Remix, there are new verse-numbered paragraphs that will help you study and find favorite passages. Or, you can just read it like a book and let the narrative speak to you. (This is the contemporary language Bible Father Peter sometimes mentions.)

		The Jesus Priorities: 8 Essential Habits Christopher Maricle ISBN: 978-0835899147 What would Jesus do? is a guiding question for living the Christian life, but it presupposes that we know the Bible well enough to come up with the answer. Christopher Maricle helps answer that question by mapping out the main priorities Jesus modeled in his life and ministry. A formal analysis of the Gospels yields 8 priorities to emulate: healing, love, prayer, confidence in the treasures in heaven, oneness with God, spreading the word, innocence, and humility.

		On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom Saint John Chrysostom (Author), Robert Van De Weyer (Compiler) ISBN: 978-0764800566 This outstanding little book contains extracts from the sermons of John Chrysostom, especially on political and social themes. One could hardly imagine how relevant these 1600 year old teachings could be. And at the same time profoundly full of the spirit and teachings of Jesus Christ.

		Opening the Prayer Book Jeffrey Lee ISBN: 1561011665 Opening the Prayer Book introduces us to the history and liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer, and helps us understand why the prayer book is such an important aspect of Anglican self-understanding.

		Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way Of Love Daniel O. S. B. Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt ISBN 1557254419 In an age of terror, it is difficult to look into the eyes of a stranger without cringing. We carefully peruse our fellow passengers before we board a plane. We bolt our doors and feel safest when we are with our close friends and family. It may seem natural, given the devastating recent attacks on our country, but isn't there a better way to live? From the authors who delighted thousands of readers with Benedict's Way: An Ancient Monk's Insights for a Balanced Life comes a new book with a bold challenge: Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love.

		Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60 Being Church for All Generations Edward H. Hammett & James R. Pierce ISBN: 978-0827232549 America's established congregations face a dilemma - how do they reach younger adults without alienating those over 60? The future may lie with this younger cohort, but the financial support and leadership of many congregations is to be found in the older group. Eddie Hammett and James Pierce have attempted to address this dilemma, making it a must read book for anyone involved in leadership in these congregations.

		The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages Sister Joan Chittister OSB ISBN: 978-0824525033 Benedict of Nursia and his famous "Rule" remain the guiding principles for many religious communities today. The Benedictine Way, the author contends, is the spirituality of the twenty-first century because it deals with issues facing us now stewardship, relationships, and spiritual and psychological development.

		Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion Sara Miles ISBN 978-0345495792 Sara Miles was hardly a candidate for Christian conversion. Yet convert she did, wholeheartedly at age 46. For upon her first Communion (in an Episcopal church), everything changed (she still can't fully explain the feelings that arose during her first Communion). The journey from skeptical secularist to devout Christian was long, complicated, and often convoluted (her parents were avid atheists), but the story she makes of it is engaging, funny, and highly entertaining, including many surprises as well as the occasional wrong turn.

		Simply Christian N.T. Wright ISBN: 978-0060507152 Why do we expect justice? Why do we crave spirituality? Why are we attracted to beauty? Why are relationships often so painful? And how will the world be made right? These are not simply perennial questions all generations must struggle with, but, according to N.T. Wright, are the very echoes of a voice we dimly perceive but deeply long to hear. In fact, these questions take us to the heart of who God is and what He wants from us.

		Small Surrenders: A Lenten Journey Emilie Griffin ISBN: 978-1557256423 Lent is a time of year when Christians of all backgrounds open themselves to a deeper relationship with God through prayer, fasting, spiritual reading, and other disciplines. Small Surrenders provides a perfect daily guide to this holy season, with forty-seven meditations. Emilie Griffin uses brief, provocative quotations from ancient and modern sources as starting-points for her warm, conversational meditations, which focus on deepening the spiritual life.

		10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) Oliver Thomas ISBN: 0312363796 "How did it all begin?" "What happens when we die?" These are just two of the questions Reverend Oliver "Buzz" Thomas hears centrist Christians asking as he travels across the U.S. and he knows that their voices are not being heard. In 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: But Can't Because He Needs the Job, Rev. Thomas has written a book that will become the liberal Christian answer to The Purpose Driven Life. He writes sensitively about the reason we were put on this earth, the significance of the Bible and how one pleases God.

		To Pray and to Love: Conversations on Prayer With the Early Church Roberta Bondi ISBN: 978-0800625115 Bondi offers a beautifully simple and profound account of prayer as the desert fathers saw it: integrally connected to love of God and neighbor, but also leading to introspection which facilitates spiritual growth. She discusses how prayer can help develop the image of God within the individual, and addresses current concerns about prayer. She concludes by discussing the desire for God as fostered and fulfilled through prayer by God's grace.

		The Way of a Pilgrim Helen Bacovcin ISBN: 978-0385468145 This classic work of Russian spirituality tells of an anonymous peasant's quest for the secret of prayer. The Pilgrim searches high and low to know what St. Paul meant when he said that Christians should pray always. Each new stop becomes a home for a moment for this happy wanderer who has only a knapsack and a few crusts of bread, but who finds goodness and plenty wherever he goes.

		What Paul Meant Garry Wills ISBN: 978-0670037933 Wills defends Paul from detractors who insist that the apostle corrupted Jesus' radical message. Beginning with a reminder that Paul's letters are older than the gospels and therefore may represent the most authentic approximation of Jesus' teachings, Wills argues that Paul was right in line with Jesus. Both men stressed love of God and love of one's neighbor as the two principal commandments. ... Through a reading of Romans, Wills attempts to acquit Paul of the charges of anti-Semitism. And though Paul is often tarred as a misogynist, Wills shows that he "believed in women's basic equality with men."

		What the Gospels Meant Garry Wills ISBN: 978-0143115120 Wills turns his remarkable gift for biblical analysis to the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He examines the goals, methods, and styles of the evangelists and how these shaped the gospels' messages. Hailed as "one of the most intellectually interesting and doctrinally heterodox Christians writing today"(The New York Times Book Review), Wills guides readers through the maze of meanings within these foundational texts, revealing their essential Christian truths.

		When You Can't Pray: Finding Hope When You're Not Experiencing God Al Truesdale ISBN: 978-0834119307 Among us are Christians who are the 'disenfranchised' faithful. They hear the sermon, they bow their heads in prayer, they know the hymns and praise choruses by heart, but they just don't feel they are connecting with God. They believe. They desire intimacy with the Father. It just isn't happening. When You Can't Pray is written for persons for whom the inherited formulas for prayer have broken down and for those whose prayer life has become either difficult or meaningless, or both.

		A Wing and a Prayer: A Message of Faith and Hope Katharine Jefferts Schori ISBN: 978-0819222718 Jefferts Schori, the oceanographer-turned-priest who was elected in 2006 as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA—the first woman in history to be so honored anywhere in the Anglican Communion—offers musings on faith, diversity, and the church's fight for justice in the world in this collection of micro-sermons grouped thematically around issues like social justice, the deep love of God, and the need for interfaith understanding, and the responsibility of all baptized persons to participate in lay ministry (Publishers Weekly)

		The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom Dean Sluyter ISBN: 1-58542-084-0 Meditation teacher Sluyter draws 10 life "suggestions" from the world's religions, scriptures, philosophers, literature and popular culture. Sluyter's suggestions involve acting with kindness, noticing the moment, keeping things simple, blessing others and remaining devoted. His sources include Jesus and the Dalai Lama, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Bob Dylan, Monty Python and Ramana Maharshi, the Wizard of Oz and the Prajnaparamita Sutra.

		Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and the Planet Joy Manning, Tara Mataraza Desmond ISBN: 978-1580089616 Despite its title, almost every recipe in this book uses meat, fish or eggs. A collaboration between Manning, a former vegan, and Desmond, an unabashed meat lover, the aim is to help Americans, who they believe eat far more meat than is healthy or good for agricultural sustainability, compose meals that are both tasty and filling without having a slab of meat as the overbearing star ingredient. Instead, meat appears in smaller quantities supplemented by "layers of flavor" in the form of additional savory ingredients that should keep people who usually expect lots of meat from noticing the difference.