Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, a Protestant pastor of spiritual formation, who has put together this impressive collection of 62 spiritual disciplines for Christian communities. Some are inwardly focused, others emphasize outward activity, and a number of then put the accent on relationships with others. But the thing that unites them all is that they "open us to God." Calhoun probes the movement from desire to discipline and believes that we can choose the practice that most suits us at the moment.
The practices are divided into seven sections:
• Worship
• Open Myself to God
• Relinquish the False Self
• Share My Life with Others
• Hear God's Word
• Incarnate the Love of Christ
• Pray
We were delighted to see that Calhoun chose six of the 37 practices in our Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy: compassion, gratitude, hospitality, justice, silence, and unity. We were also glad to see the inclusion of the following: Rule for Life, Journaling, Self-Care, Simplicity, Solitude, Spiritual Friendship, Care of the Earth, Control of the Tongue, and Mentoring. Calhoun gives us added value with indexes and a glossary.
