Giving the Gift of Inspiration for Reading

At Christmas I always promote the best gifts that add meaning to life. I believe books are at the top of the list as they develop the mind, emotions, and spiritual spheres of life. Recently, I came across a book that is wonderful to give to readers. The book is Learn to Love Reading by Alex Wieckowski. What Alex has done in this book is provide 365 quotes on the importance and love of reading. He has chosen a wide away of reader quotes from ancient Greek philosophers, writers throughout the ages, and modern business leaders to name a few categories of readers. One thing that drew me to the book I must say is I love quotes as they are brief ways to capture a person’s thoughts on a subject. Also being a bookhead I love books so putting the two together I could not resist getting a copy. According to his book he is a creator of a book brand, Alex & Books, and hosts a podcast called The Reader’s Journey. In the forward before he begins the quotes he shares, “It’s my sincere hope that this book will ignite your passion for reading, help you become an avid reader and be a better version of yourself.” This is an admirable hope for the readers of this book. The last phrase is so true that books and taking them to heart have an improving effect of us whether we read fiction or nonfiction. Let me just share a couple of quotes listed in the book— “Books have meant to my life what the sun has meant to the planet Earth.” Earl Nightingale, radio personality (on page 33). Like the sun books can add a warmth to our lives and speaking of life books allow us to dig deeper into living our lives to the full. “When I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, a few men that I discovered by accident – I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so I can learn from them.” Vincent Van Gogh, Painter (on page 39). This quote reflects back to Alex’s thought reading helps us be a better version of ourselves. Van Gogh is implying his reading helps him learn to be better. Also in the quote he mentions he found the authors by accident which reminds us don’t be afraid to try out a new writer as you may never know what new point of view you may learn. I am looking on going through the 365 quotes starting on January 1st of 2024. This book provides a quote a day for a full year. What better way to start the day with a reading quote. In his forward Alex also shares it is a good book to keep on the coffee table. That idea is good as well as you can then promote reading to guests as they thumb through the quotes and catch the love of reading. If you have an avid reader in your family or a friend whose passion is reading think of getting a copy of this book to them. Check out Alex’s website -- alexandbooks.com to learn more about him. Reflection: What is the level of your love of reading? How can you increase your reading going into the New Year?

Spirituality and Mental Health

In a couple of recent posts I spoke of someone who’s thoughts were an encouragement to me in getting back to reading spiritual classics, reading as well as being an encouragement of overcoming my doubts and starting back with my blog. I will be sharing thoughts on one of his books he has written, The Integrated Self: A Holistic Approach to Spirituality and Mental Health Practice. He was one professor, Dr. Lou Kavar, at Capella University who was an encouragement to me when I was working on my PhD dissertation. He is retired from teaching but still active as a spiritual life coach and blogger. The book is considered geared to spiritual guides, pastors, counselors, psychologists and others in the mental health field. Yet after reading it I think anyone who wants to grow in their knowledge of life balance and tapping into their spirituality would gain worth from reading and reflecting on his thoughts shared in the book. In the book he points out the difference between spirituality and religion and how they relate to our personal lives. I appreciate how he discusses the variety of religious traditions and how even those who tend towards agnosticism can tap into their own spirituality. Spirituality is a helpful connector to our human purpose and meaning in life that is vital for a well rounded life. The book is full of case studies of people’s spiritual lives and I appreciate how he is transparent in sharing his own spiritual journey as well. I mentioned he was a professor so there is a rich research component to his writing here to back up his concepts on the benefits of spirituality to the human experience. I want to share just a couple items that stood out to me that are helpful. The first is found on page 34 where he shares of building existential congruence in understanding out deepest self. He has a diagram that spoke to me in looking at four areas of life: Compassion for self and others, external limitations, personal abilities and understanding of one’s deepest self. It was insightful for myself in taking some reflection on my life in those areas. In our busy lives we need to take time to reflect on understanding ourselves better. Then the other item on page 54 is his idea of developing a spiritual history. He mentions there are differing ways of doing this. He suggests doing a time line of significant events in our lives on a sheet of paper and then on another sheet do a time line of significant spiritual events that have been part of our lives. What is interesting with this idea a person can them explore timeline connections between life events and spiritual experiences. There is much more to the book, those are just two that stood out to me and ones I especially enjoyed. Of course the great things about books --n100 people can read the same book and receive 100 different insights. This book is a short one so it is a nice weekend read. Dr Kavar also is a blogger and you can find his blog posts at blog.loukavar.com it is called Emerging spirituality weekly. At his blog site you can connect to his Youtube videos. I encourage you to check his blog as you will be encouraged. Reflection: Take some time to do a timeline of significant events in your life and then do a timeline of spiritual experiences. See if there are any unique insights you gain.

Living With The Presence of God

One blog and podcast I recently have been listening to had one posting about Spirituality where reading the spiritual classics from the past was emphasized. A re-reading of the Brother Lawrence classic, The Practice of the Presence of God came to my mind. So I found my copy of it and read it in an afternoon. Reading it made me think of the importance of living with the presence of God in my life each day. In the spiritual journey in this life, being in an awareness of God’s presence is an important part of our spiritual growth. Brother Lawrence was a lay member of a monastery of the Carmelites in Paris in the 1660’s. He lived a simple life doing work in the kitchen and running errands. In reading the conversations in the book and his letters even in the mundane of life he lived with an attitude of worship and wonder of God in all he did. One initial quote that stood out to me was, “Brother Lawrence told me we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence by continually conversing with him. It was a shameful thing to quit conversation with God to think of trifles and fooleries…. We ought to give ourselves up entirely to pure surrender to God with regard to matters both temporal and spiritual and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling of His will, whether he leads us through sufferings or consolations.” Pgs 4-5. He took seriously the Apostle Paul’s admonition to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:16. It is a heart attitude to breath up communication with God throughout the day. He speaks elsewhere of throughout the day having a sense of reverential awe about God. One way to keep our mind mindfully aware of God is presented in one of his letters. “One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer and preserve it more in tranquility is not to let it wander too far at other times. You should keep it strictly in the presence of God. And being accustomed to think of him often you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to recall it from its wanderings.” Page 55. From this quote and the overall text Brother Lawrence was a simple man who enjoyed the presence of God through out his life. One of his last writings a week before he died in a final letter he wrote this, “ God knows what is best what is needful for us, and all that he does is for our good. If we knew how much he loves us, we would always be ready to receive equally and with indifference the sweet and the bitter from his hand.” Page 71. How amazing that he kept a consistent walk with God until the final end of his life. It made me think am I fully aware of God’s love and that He has the best in mind for my life. Too often we think we have a better idea than God but that often leads to trouble. The best spiritual living is living with the awareness of the presence of God in all we do. Reflection: Think about a time in your life you were aware that God was there for you. How can you move deeper in an understanding of God’s presence in your life?