2006 reads...a record year!

Just finished compiling my list of books read this past year. This has to be a record breaking year in number of books! These books have shaped this season of sabbath and discernment. I know they will play a valuable part in shaping all that is to come in 2007!

The List...

Thirteen Cents by K. Sello Duiker
A book about a 13-year old boy on the streets of Cape Town. Really shows the sad, desperate, and ugly realities of the "other Cape Town." A tough and graphic book to read, but gave me new eyes for Cape Town and the kids on the streets I saw.

Under the Unpredictable Plant by Eugene Peterson
A book that seeks to reclaim the spiritual dimensions of pastoral call and vocational holiness, using the example of Jonah.

Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives you Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, & Matthew Linn
European refugee children during WWII were given a piece of bread to hold at bedtime, so they could sleep in peace and not fear homelessness and starvation again. This book takes this example and applies it to the Ignition prayer of Examen, where we ask ourselves what we are grateful for and what gives us life, as well as what we are not grateful for and what sucks life out of us.

More then Equals by Spencer Perkins & Chris Rice
The story of friendship and racial reconciliation between a white man and black man in the South. An important book for me to read in South Africa, as I examine my own heart and racism at home.

History of South Africa by Leonard Thompson
A great book on the history of South Africa and the racism that has existed from the beginning. Now I just need a book that picks up recent history and issues, post-2000.

Sacred Rhythms by Christine Sine, MD
I'll finish this one on the plane ride home. An excellent book that focuses on taking our spiritual pulse and finding a spiritual rhythm to our lives.

The Gift of Being Yourself by David Brenner
A book that reminds us that ultimately our vocation and call is grounded in relationship with God and who we are in Him.

A Sacred Sorrow by Michael Card
A book that opened my eyes and heart to the prayer language of lament in scripture and for today.

Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
Reread this small and important book that speaks of discernment as it relates to call and vocation.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
A classic! A story in which Christianity and Colonialism destroyed the stability and integrity of African traditional life and culture.

Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius
Since I have read a lot about Ignatius, I thought I better read him in his own words.

School(s) of Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism edited by: The Rubta House
Identifies the key marks of Christian communities living and serving in the abandoned and forgotten places in the U.S. and our world.

Friend of the Bridegroom by Thomas Green
A good introduction to spiritual direction.

Listening to the Music of the Spirit: The Art of Discernment by David Lonsdale
Most impactful book this year on discernment using Ignatius’ examen questions of consolation and desolation.

The God of Life by Gustavo Gutierrez
Great read in the context of living in a favela in Rio and spending time with children and youth on the streets.

Catch Your Breath: God’s Invitation to Sabbath Rest by Don Postema
Just what I needed this year of sabbatical!

The New Friars by Scott Bessenecker
Highlights five incarnational mission communities that are living and serving among the poorest of poor around the world.

Next Up in 2007…
- Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson
- Companion to the Poor: Christ in the Urban Slums by Viv Grigg
- The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
- God of the Empty-Handed: Poverty, Power & the Kingdom of God by Jayakumar Christian
- Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace by Miroslav Volf
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
- The Pilgrimage Way of the Cross by Edward Hayes
- The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson