Customer Reviews

Still Listening: New Horizons in Spiritual Direction (Spiritual Directors International Books)

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4 star:		(1)
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Norvene Vest is an experienced spiritual director, author, workshop leader, Episcopal laywoman, oblate of a Roman Catholic monastery, and graduate of a Protestant seminary, who is especially known for her books on Benedictine spirituality for the common life. In Still Listening: New Horizons In Spiritual Direction, Vest dons the role of editor to compile engaging, thought-provoking essays by seasoned spiritual directors from a variety of faith traditions to address issues of concern on the subjects of abused persons, the poor, church drop-outs, homosexualality, the congregational setting, the corporate arena, general issues, the addicted, the dying, the sue of art in spiritual directions, and social justice. Still Listening is very highly recommend reading for both the pastoral community and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in spiritual approaches to life issues, circumstances, and challenges.

While it's true that a collection of essays may be uneven in quality, the depth of insights in Still Listening makes it a must-have for my library. As a seeker and student, I find myself challenged by many of the essays, lifted to hope by others. The final essay, The Graph of Spirituality: Understanding Where We Are Going by Knowing Where We Have Been by Steven Charleston, is worth the price of the book and leaves me wishing this 56-year-old were going to be around long enough to see the new horizons in spirituality that the 21st Century will bring.

There's no major flaw with this book, it is just that she should have cut some the writing by one-third. Spiritual direction is one of those trendy things in spirituality right now that has actually been around a very long time. This is a good book about it with solid information. I found many of the the writing styles a little distracting, some of it seems like the writers are a little impressed with themselves.