Book Review: Spiritual Direction: Wisdom For The Long Walk of Faith

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Spiritual Guides. The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Spiritual Guides is Bess S. Permut. Spiritual Guides are people who have attained a high level of spiritual awareness and use their knowledge to guide people on their own paths toward spiritual awakening.nnSpiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith is a valuable resource for people interested in Spiritual Guides, and it is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.nnFrom Publishers WeeklynStarred Review. It's a little jarring to see a new book from an author who's been dead for 10 years. Yet these clearly are the words and teachings of Nouwen, prepared by two people close to him when he was alive (Rebecca Laird and Michael Christensen). Much like Nouwen's Making All Things New, this is by a spiritual master for everyday people longing to be closer to God. It is not about how to become a spiritual friend, mentor or director, but focuses on ways individuals can find their spiritual direction in the broadest possible sense. Although there is an essay on what a spiritual director does, there is much more about how to pray, practice solitude and overcome the fears that keep us from knowing ourselves as God's beloved. Many Christians who struggle with the image of a punishing God will appreciate the section on becoming attentive to and working with our image of God. Following each chapter there is a recommended spiritual practice and questions to ponder. This is a brilliant addition to Nouwen's canon of work as a writer and will enrich both longtime Nouwen fans and newcomers to his wisdom. (June) nCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.