2022 Spiritual Formation in Today’s World

Reading assignments from faculty of Spiritual Formation in Today’s World offered online via Zoom. Books are added when received from faculty presenters. Please check back frequently for new book additions.

Session 1: Meeting God in Our Longing
February 24-26, 2022 (Thurs – Sat)
Faculty: Rabbi Chava Bahle

    1. Laura Duhan Kaplan, The Infinity Inside: Jewish Spiritual Practice through a Multi-faith Lens (Albion Andulus)
    2. Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart (Beacon Press)


Practices:

  1. Watch: “Gratitude” Louie Schwartzberg, TEDxSF https://youtu.be/gXDMoiEkyuQ (10 minutes)
  2. “The Great Bell Chant” (The End Of Suffering), Thich Nhat Hanh, https://youtu.be/F1ZwaEzMtJw (7 minutes)
  3. “Meditation of the Heart,” Ram Das https://bit.ly/meditationoftheheartRamDas (20 minutes)

Videos: 

  1. Backs Against The Wall: The Howard Thurman Story (2019) | You may rent or purchase this film here.
  2. Portraits In Faith: Reb Zalman Schachter Shalomi: https://youtu.be/B2R_9d3iX4M
  3. Seeking God, Seeking Life: The Way of St Benedict – Esther de Waal speaks at St Paul’s Forum  https://youtu.be/tDnY9oQ3Esg

Session 2: Meeting God in Our Healing
May 12-14, 2022 (Thurs – Sat)
Faculty: Lê Xuân Hy

  1. Rolheiser, Ronald – Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity


Practices:

  1. Practice 4-7-8 breathing twice each day between Session 1 and Session 2 of Spiritual Formation in Today’s World. It only takes two minutes to do the practice. Watch these two short videos (less than three minutes each) by Dr. Andrew Weil for an explanation and demonstration of the practice: https://youtu.be/SQf53VLXNsU  and https://youtu.be/p8fjYPC-k2k
  2. Watch this video (twenty-five minutes) of Thich Nhat Hanh teaching about the practice of mindful breathing:  https://youtu.be/O_iDaIAPrGo
  3. Read this brief excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation on the topic of Stopping, Calming, Resting, Healing.
  4. Watch this eight-minute video by Br. David Steindl-Rast called “Reflections” (https://gratefulness.org/reflections/). Explore the Gratefulness website: http://gratefulness.org.

Session 3: Meeting God in Our Reconciling
August 11-13, 2022 (Thurs – Sat)
Faculty: Valerie Bridgeman

  1. Augustine, Jonathan, Called to Reconciliation: How the Church can Model Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion, Baker Academic (ISBN-13: 978-1540965035
  2. Salter McNeill, Brenda, Roadmap to Reconciliations 2.0: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and Justice IVP, 2020 (ISBN-13: 978-0830848126).
  3. Salter McNeill, Brenda, Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now, Brazos Press, 2020 (ISBN-13: 978-1587434471
  4. Walker-Barnes, Chanequa, I Bring the Voices of my People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation, Eardmans, 2019 (ISBN-13: 978-0802877208)

Session 4: Meeting God in Our Justice-Seeking
October 27-29, 2022 (Thurs – Sat)
Faculty: Cláudio Carvalhaes

1) Check the website: https://reimaginingworship.com

2) Read these pages

3) Read the book: Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World (New York: HarperOne, 2021)