Howard Thurman (1899-1981) was a remarkable spiritual leader and an inspirational preacher and teacher. He was a spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., the first African-American dean of Boston University's Daniel Marsh Chapel, and cofounder of the first multiracial, interdenominational church in the nation. Thurman wrote, "Ultimately there is only one place of refuge on this planet for any person — that is in another person's heart." His call that we each live our life as "an act of faith towards our fellowmen" remains one of profound importance.
Thurman's daughter Anne has selected from his most important writings for this excellent anthology. The material is divided into six thematic categories: concerning the disciplines of the Spirit, Jesus and the disinherited, concerning love, deep river, moments of celebration, and the centering moment. Whether writing about the presence of God, mysticism and the experience of love, or prayer and the search for community, Thurman always is open to new epiphanies. Here is a good example of the vibrant perspective he brings to devotional life:
"Look well to the growing edge. All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new lives, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of the child — life's most dramatic answer to death — this is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge!"
