Christmas Reading

What a season it's been so far - been rollercoasting down the spiritual highway with all its ups and downs and scary-heart-in-your-throat moments, but I am grateful for the blessings of His faithfulness and love, even when sometimes you're too tired and weak inside to even smile in acknowledgment. But His love, hope, and forgiveness will always be triumphant in the end.

Here's some of the spiritual reading I've started over the holiday season; next to scripture, these books have served to remind me of the One I serve and love:

The Way of Ecstacy - Praying With Teresa of Avila, by Peter Tyler. "The Way of Ecstasy is a clear and accessible introduction to Teresa of Avila, as well as a beginner's guide to prayer. Using Teresa's book The Interior Castle as a guide, Peter Tyler escorts readers through the basics of a well-grounded prayer life. Teresa's image of the castle with its seven mansions and Christ himself waiting at the center form a perfect analogy of the journey of the human soul toward God, the states of spiritual growth through which we will reach our goal, and the difficulties we will encounter along the way."

The Simple Path, by Mother Teresa. "We have all been created for greater things -- to love and to be loved. Love is love -- to love a person without any conditions, without any expectations. Works of love are works of peace and purity. Works of love are always a means of Becoming closer to God, so the more we help each other, the more we really love God better by loving each other. Jesus very clearly said, 'Love one another as I have loved you,' Love in action is what gives us grace. We pray and, if we are able to love with a whole heart, then we will see the need. Those who are unwanted, unloved, and uncared for become just a throwaway of society -that's why we must really make everybody feel wanted." (Finished 27 December 2005)

Just Enough Light For The Step I'm On, by Stormie Omartian. "Learning to walk with God is a journey. The questions and directions in this prayer and study guide will help you to examine your walk with God and do what is necessary to strengthen, deepen, and enhance it. As you walk in faith through difficult times, this prayerful workbook will help you see how faithfully God’s light attends each step and moment of your life."