What I’ve Been Reading…

I’m often reading several books at once…not because I’m a particularly avid reader, but rather, because I do my best to finish the entire book and often get interested in another one or five before circling back to finish the first one. In case you are interested in picking up a new book, here are ten that I’ve been reading lately.

What Happened to You? - by Dr. Bruce Perry & Oprah Winfrey

My favorite intro to understanding trauma and the long-term affects it has on the brain and behavior. This book is an essential read if you work or live with anyone who has experienced sustained hardship in their life, including foster care, homelessness, incarceration, poverty, ACEs, etc. If you follow us on social media, you will notice some quotes coming from this book! It is written in an accessible, compelling, conversational format with so many useful tidbits.

The Universal Christ - by Richard Rohr

A multi-faceted exploration of the Spirit of Christ within and around us. It is a heavy-theological read but I found it to be surprisingly thought-provoking. I feel like Rohr speaks a language that I want to learn more deeply, and this book didn’t disappoint. He pulls together many different threads of scripture, tradition, and experience and has even called this his pinnacle work! I’m already planning to reread this one to soak up what I missed in the first pass.

Mindfulness for BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) - by Aguirre & Galen

A helpful tool for those with BPD and people in their relational orbit. I enjoyed gleaning a deeper understanding of BPD and compassion for friends who live with those brain patterns. The authors mapped out dozens of mindfulness practices and self-reflection exercises that would benefit just about anyone, but everything is written with informed compassion and lots of clinical experience with people who are often misunderstood and rejected.

The Cloud of Unknowing - Anonymous

A spiritual classic on contemplative prayer from the 14th century. Though individual sections were often hard to relate to due to its literary age, so many mystics have found it to be insightful and encouraging. I am glad to have read through it, but feel like I will take another pass in a different season of life. Some advocates of centering prayer recommended it, so I decided to take the plunge. This would not be something I recommend to everyone. :)

Pedagogy of the Oppressed - by Paulo Friere

A classic in some circles, this sociological analysis of how oppressed peoples are trained by society to think and act is incredibly enlightening. Not only does it help me better understand what it is like to be in the shoes of marginalized and oppressed peoples, it also gives advice to those who wish to make a positive impact but can often fall into the same oppressive systems & pitfalls. Definitely a challenging read, but a necessary one for me who was born with almost every privilege of our society. It has given me a new lens that, I suspect, will prove to be invaluable as I live in solidarity with people who have been lifetime victims of a society that pushes them to the side and makes disempowering decisions “for them”.

The Critical Journey - by Hagberg & Guelich

One of my favorite and most frequently recommended books, The Critical Journey describes 6 common phases of the spiritual journey as well as a common blockage they call “the wall”. Through reflecting on my own path of following God and evolution of spirituality, I found the book to be amazingly affirming of the different stages I have experienced (faith=learning about God, faith=serving God, faith=living in God’s love, etc). It serves as a modern and digestible guide for anyone wanting to better understand their own journey of faith, and equips those who serve as spiritual companions. Each stage has its own benefits and lasting effects, but the key is to not become stagnant or caged at any stage.

The Ignatian Adventure - by Fr. Kevin O’Brien

During my second year of Spiritual Direction training, our cohort journeyed through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Since he founded the Jesuit tradition five centuries ago, many Christian pilgrims have followed the prayers, passages of scripture, and teachings he compiled and it was a rich experience for me as well. I have been re-reading this modern guide to the Exercises lately as I guide a directee through this 9-month journey and it is bringing back fond memories! If you are sensing a desire to bring more structured devotion to your prayer life or explore an ancient path of discipleship, I’d love to talk more about this with you.

The Art of Community - by Charles Vogl

This interesting exploration of how communities are formed and what keeps them going has many good pointers. It lays out seven key principles of belonging and weaves together stories, best practices, and examples of each. Though much of the book isn’t new to me, I have appreciated the author’s approach and unique spin to some taken-for-granted glue that undergirds voluntary groups of all kinds: from churches & clubs, to neighborhoods & teams, to organizations & small groups. It’s super-relevant to me as I help care for and shape our team of community builders!

Beyond Homelessness - by Walsh & Bouma-Prediger

This multi-disciplinary analysis of what it means to be “home” has some compelling insights and countercultural course corrections to our modern, transient context. It argues that the biblical narrative could be seen as a larger arc of building or breaking a sense of home and goes into 8 distinct “Marks of Home” that our community references frequently. In short, you could have a dwelling (or even a very large house), but if it doesn’t carry the values of permanence (rootedness), hospitality, memories, belonging, and safety…you could be homeless and not even realize it. For Western culture in general, and for our specific community, these values need to be reconsidered and rebuilt.

Guerrillas of Grace - by Ted Loder

I may have saved the best for last! This compilation of written prayers has been such a breath of fresh air for me over the years. I have turned to this book when I wanted to pray but didn’t feel any words of my own, or when a situation came up that had a certain gravity to it that deserved acknowledgment. It is poetic, challenging, heartfelt, and unassuming. I have voiced every one of these prayers to God and felt like I could genuinely pray them from my own vantage point. It has prayers for when you’re searching and discouraged, prayers for new seasons of wonder and adventure, prayers for specific situations and seasons, and prayers of reflection. I would recommend it to just about anyone.

Next up! —>The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness - by Fr. Gregory Boyle

If you’d be interested in reading through this book with me and a small book club, let me know!