Books are like pastors to me. They teach me, they encourage me, sometimes they convict me, mostly they companion me on my journey. My way of coping with the proliferation of good books out there is to trust that a good book finds me. At just the right time.
David Benner’s book Soulful Spirituality found me this winter. Dr. Benner became my pastor as I slowly absorbed his book. I was reminded that we often describe ourselves as “human beings on a spiritual journey,” but it is “equally true that we are spiritual beings on a human journey.” Yes. I am at my core a spiritual being, currently experiencing my spiritual nature as a human being. Benner’s book spoke to me about the interconnectedness of my human being and my spiritual being.
The book spoke to me about what it means to meet God in the reality of my life – not what I wish it were, or what I think it should be, but what it really is. This means, Benner says, that I will need to let go of some of my pre-suppositions about life in order to embrace mystery, because so much is truly unknowable. There is freedom for me in that perspective. I do not need to know and understand everything.
Perhaps what touched me the most was Benner’s description of surrender. Surrender, he says, does not mean that I need to like what is going on, nor to I need to be passive about my life. I can still have my preferences and opinions. “What you welcome,” Benner says, “is your inner response to the present moment, not the whole set of circumstances that might surround it.” This, he says, is an inner release, not an outer practice.
This kind of surrender is counter-intuitive. “From the perspective of the ego, surrender is the squeal of the pig on its way to slaughter. But from another perspective, we can think of it as a birth scream….” My reading of Soulful Spirituality has affirmed for me that as I grow in surrender, I will indeed be giving birth to a spirituality that will sustain me through the present moments of each day of my life.
Join the Conversation
The language of giving birth to a spirituality is a poignant reminder that we are continually be formed. What does that image bring up in you?
Have you read Soulful Spirituality? In what ways did the book pastor you?
 Alice Fryling is a spiritual director and the author of several books, including The Art of Spiritual Listening: Responding to God’s Voice Amid the Noise of Life (WaterBrook Press) and Seeking God Together: An Introduction to Group Spiritual Direction (InterVarsity Press).
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