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The Best Spiritual Writing 2001 (Best Spiritual Writing) by Philip Zaleski  (2)

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The Best Spiritual Writing 1999 (Best Spiritual Writing) by Philip Zaleski  (2)

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With The Best Spiritual Writing 2002, Parbola magazine editor Philip Zaleski continues to deliver an annual anthology worthy of the utmost praise. In his preface to this edition, Zaleski explains his criteria for inclusion in the series: First, the writing must come from careful cultivation and lived experience. Second, it should "bring forth truth, beauty, and goodness." Zaleski has also assembled numerous writings that accomplish yet another lofty feat. Regardless of the reader's spiritual orientation, this collection expands our vision of the divine. Wallis Wilde-Menozzi reminds us that God's voice can be heard in a cello solo. In his poem "Gospel," Philip Levine convinces us that spiritual comfort can be found in the west wind "soughing" through pines. We discover that God's workers can take the form of a football coach (in Gary Smith's "Higher Education"), or even a fisherman's wife (in Susan Pollack's stunning essay, "The Wives of Gloucester").

Not surprisingly, this year's selections also speak to the events of September 11. In "Leap," Brian Doyle writes of two people joining hands as they jumped from one of the burning towers. "Their hands reaching and joining are the most powerful prayer I can imagine, the most eloquent, the most graceful. It is everything we are capable of against horror and loss and death." And when Toni Morrison speaks directly to "The Dead of September 11" we realize that even the most eloquent among us sometimes feels that words are not enough. (Other contributors include Pattiann Rogers, Bill McKibben, Seamus Heaney, Barry Lopez, and Natalie Goldberg.) --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
Zaleski's fifth annual collection of the best spiritual writing achieves something memorable and fresh in a year marked by an upsurge in the sheer quantity of spiritual writing. A number of the essays of course deal with last autumn's terrorist attacks; Vincent Druding's "Ground Zero: A Journal" chronicles the 24-year-old author's first day at work in downtown Manhattan. The day was September 11, and he was coming out of the subway when the World Trade Center was hit. Other essays don't address September 11 specifically, but seem particularly timely in its aftermath: Joseph Epstein analyzes the spectrum of fear and courage in "What Are You Afraid Of?", and Amy Schwartz pays tribute to C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters in "Screwtape Instructs Scrapetooth," a skillful analysis of the banality of evil. As usual, Zaleski's collection is to be applauded for its diversity; there are contributions from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, secular and pan-Hindu perspectives, and various pieces tackle spirituality as it impacts the environment, relationships, politics, creativity and literature. Contributions have been culled from a panoply of periodicals and newspapers, from the tony (New Yorker and Vanity Fair) to the plebeian (there's even a selection from Sports Illustrated). There are some fascinating biographical essays, such as Bill McKibben's "The Muslim Gandhi" and Sarah Davidson's "The Making of an American Swami." Perhaps the wisest, most understated piece is Walter Wangerin's homage to his deceased father-in-law in "One Man on a Tractor Far Away." Fans of Zaleski's series will not be disappointed with the highly literary quality of this anthology.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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For much of the year, the world in which I live is a vast, white canvas. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
welding tips, modern naturalist, spiritual writing Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Winter Music, Ground Zero, Ibn Arabi, Kevin Troyer, Rab Kahana, Martin Bohlmann, Saint Paul, Siddha Yoga, The Interpreter of Desires, Willie Mast, B'nai Jeshurun, Hiland High, Holmes County, John Deere, Sally Kempton, Steve Mullet, United States, Berlin House, Georges Bank, New England, New Year, Swami Durgananda, Brooks Range, Composers Journal New!
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