Summer Resources for Spiritual Sustenance

As we move into the long days of summer, some of Shalem’s board and staff have put together a list of books, movies, poetry and other resources that are contemplatively grounding and inspirational.  Enjoy!

BOOKS

Tilden Edwards (Founder and Senior Fellow)

• When Faith Becomes Sight: Opening Your Eyes to God’s Presence All Around You by Beth and David Booram. This book is the fruit of mature life and spiritual experience in helping the reader to recognize, reflect on, and respond to God’s loving and guiding presence.
• Contemplation and Community: A Gathering of Fresh Voices for a Living Tradition Edited by Jessica Smith and Stuart Higginbotham. These are fine articles on contemplation by young contemplative thought and practice leaders.  The Foreword is by Tilden Edwards and the Afterward is by Margaret Benefiel.

Margaret Benefiel (Executive Director)

• How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season by Susan Beaumont.
  Shalem grad Susan Beaumont published this book several months before the pandemic and it proved prescient.  It was (and still is) a huge help to me as we at Shalem were plunged into a liminal season when the pandemic hit.
• Christian Mindfulness: Theology and Practice by Peter Tyler.  In a nutshell, Peter Tyler’s perspective is that “far from a foreign import, mindfulness is not only endemic but essential to the Christian understanding of how the human person relates to the divine.”

Susie Dillon (Interim Development Director)

• A Book of Psalms and The Book of Job – translated and with introductions by Stephen Mitchell.
• The Awakened Heart by Gerald May

Jackson Droney (Director of Operations)

• Embody: Five Keys to Leading with Integrity by Karoline M. Lewis.  Using stories of women leaders in the New Testament, the book explores five essential qualities of Christian leadership.  The author uses poetry and reflection exercises to invite readers to explore these themes more personally in their leadership setting.

Ann Dean (Director of Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program)

• Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic-and Beyond by Matthew Fox.  This book offers transformative spiritual truth and wisdom from the great Christian visionary and anchoress who lived her whole life in the chaos and misery of the pandemic of the Black Plague in the Middle Ages.  Julian’s mystical revelations and prophetic theology of the divine feminine and eco-spirituality come across the centuries to serve us well now.
• Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World by Kathleen Dean Moore. These essays from a brilliant nature writer, philosopher and activist, are an enchanting meditation on the soundscape of creation, awakening the reader to the interweaving of wonder, joy and lamentation.

Liz Ward (Co-Director of Spiritual Guidance Program)

• Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage by Steven Charleston. Steven Charleston has served as an Episcopal bishop and continues to be a justice advocate for Indigenous peoples, a voice for honoring creation, and a leader in spiritual renewal.  In his powerful reflections he shares his personal prayer experiences and gives us important insights into the spiritual resilience of North America’s indigenous peoples.  He offers us deeply grounded hope and wisdom as we move through challenging times.

Ruth Taylor (Director of Technology)

• Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  Before Kimmerer wrote Braiding Sweetgrass, she penned this gem of a story.  Blending personal reflections with scientific knowledge of moss, this book is a delightful meditation of how to live in tune with the natural world.
• Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. Technology is changing fast, yet Turkle’s 2015 book speaks to these times.  Simply having a phone present on the table during a conversation will lessen the depth of conversation and connection.  Turkle explores how we may maintain deep connections in relationships with the current state of technology present in our society.

Leah Rampy (Program Staff)

• Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul by John Philip Newell.  See Leah’s review here.

Sallie Chatfield (Board member)

• Love is the Way by Bishop Michael Curry
• Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change by Pema Chödrön
• The Art of St. John’s Bible by Susan Sink

Westina Matthews (Board member)

• Listening Hearts 30th Anniversary Edition: Discerning Call in Community by Suzanne G. Farnham, Joseph P. Gill, R. Taylor McLean, and Susan M. Ward.
  Thirty years later, this spiritual classic remains a timeless gift for lay people, clergy and congregations who are seeking to discern in community. The revisions and updates are intentionally more inclusive so even those who consider themselves to be more “spiritual than religious” will find it a welcome resource to discern guidance in their lives.
• A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal Edited by Sarah Bessey.
  This little gem of a book is filled with prayers and meditations contributed by a diverse group of women – all prayer warriors whose voices speak to the tired, the angry, the weary, the anxious, and the hopeful. Each prayer is original and includes original narrations from Sarah Bessey.

POETRY

Susie Dillon (Interim Development Director)

• A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

Kiok Cho (Board member)

• Oh my God, Trinity Whom I Adore
  by Elizabeth of the Trinity

O my God,
Help me to forget myself entirely
that I may be established in you
as changeless and calm
as if my soul were already in eternity.
May nothing trouble my peace
or make me leave you,
O my Unchanging One,
but may each minute
carry me further
into the depths of your mystery.
Give peace to my soul;
make it your heaven,
your beloved dwelling
and your resting place.
May I never leave you there alone
but be wholly present, in living faith
wholly vigilant, wholly adoring,
and wholly surrendered
to your creative Action.

MOVIES

Rhett Engelking (Board member)

• A Hidden Life, a film by Terrence Malick. May 20 was the 114th birthday of Franz Jagerstatter, a conscientious objector who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II. The movie was directed by Terence Malick who has done some other contemplative and visually breathtaking movies such as The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, and Days of Heaven.  It is currently free on some streaming services and purchasable on Amazon.
• Grace and Grit.  This movie is based upon an autobiography of the relationship of Treya and Ken Wilber. It is billed as a story of courage, transcendence, and eternal love as chronicled in the globally acclaimed book, Grace and Grit. It will be released June 4.

OTHER

Tilden Edwards (Founder and Senior Fellow)

• Nijana: The Horse of Lindisfarne by Jo Ann Staebler In the spring edition of the Shalem Society’s newsletter, “Caravan.”  This one-page story of a holy encounter with a horse on a Shalem Celtic pilgrimage to Lindisfarne is amazing and inspiring.

Scott Rohr (Board member)

• Richard Rohr’s daily meditations
• Rupert Spira on YouTube