This month we present two very readable and inspiring books, both related to our theme.
ALL SAINTS: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and Witnesses for our Time
By Robert Ellsberg(Crossword, 1998)
Ellsberg is not just a good and award-winning writer. He walks the talk. He spent five years working with Dorothy Day among the poor, completed a doctorate at Harvard University, became a Catholic, and found that he learnt the gospel much better from the good people he met than from the study of theology.
In the present work, he presents a “saint” for everyday of the year. The saints include not only well-known canonized Catholic saints, but inspiring witnesses from elsewhere. Thus, we have: Brother Lawrence and Paul the Hermit, but also Galileo Galilei and Takashi Nagai (who survived the Hiroshima bombs), Martin Niemoeller, who challenged Nazi authorities. Thomas Aquinas rubs shoulders with Robert De Nobili and Mahatma Gandhi.
Meet Pedro Arrupe, who led the Jesuits to a faith that does justice; Dom Helder Camara, lover of the poor, whose love for all creation was proverbial; Hans and Sophie Scholl, in their twenties, who paid a heavy price for their courageous opposition to Nazi rule; Karl Rahner, leading theologian of the twentieth century; Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed exquisite music; Meister Eckhart, the well-known mystic and Oscaro Romero, who was shot dead while celebrating Mass.
Ellsberg writes of Martin Luther King, who fought for equal rights for African-Americans; Pandita Ramabhai, scholar and activist; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, hanged at age thirty-nine for his opposition to Nazism; Teilhard de Chardin, scientist and mystic, and Damien, who ministered to leprosy patients in Molokai, and died a leper himself; Oskar Schindler (of the “Schindler’s List” Movie) who saved thousands of Jews from certain death; Thomas a Kempis, who wrote The Imitation of Christ, and Julian of Norwich, who spoke of Christ as a mother.
There is not a dull moment in reading this well-written book. Ellsberg makes the persons come alive, whether it be Anthony De Mello SJ, known for Sadhana, or teenager Anne Frank, whose diary gripped the world.
Fr James Carney, an American Jesuit, became a chaplain to the poor in central America, was caught, tortured and hurled out, alive, from an army helicopter to die on the mountain below.
Dag Hammarskjold, brilliant banker and diplomat, who became the UN Secretary General, and died in a plane crash. Among his belongings was a diary he had kept. It showed that this apparently secular and famous man was a mystic. He had written, “I don’t know Who or what put the question, I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer YES to Someone (or Something) and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.”
Henri Nouwen, author of some forty books, left his academic career in famous universities, and spent the last ten years of his life looking after the physically and mentally challenged people in the communities set up by Jean Vanier.
Some are household names—Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross.
Other names turn up as surprises: Fyodor Dostoevsky, the famous Russian novelist; Raissa Maritain, wife of the great philosopher, Jacques Maritain; Albert Camus (atheist!), who wrote of the loneliness and desperation that many people face; Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, admired by many, who was falsely accused of sexual abuse, and who forgave his accuser. As he lay dying of cancer, he wrote, “As a bishop I have tried…to shape a moral message about the unique value of human life and our common responsibilities for it. As my life slowly ebbs away, as my temporal destiny becomes clearer each hour and each day, I am not anxious, but rather reconfirmed in my conviction about the wonder of human life, a gift that flows from the very being of God and is entrusted to each of us.”
And the extraordinary Etty Hillesum, who died in a Nazi concentration camp at the age of twenty-nine, and who passed from a lonely life of fear and sexual escapades to becoming the source of strength for so many. She told God, “I shall try to spread some of my warmth, of my genuine love for others, wherever I go.” This she wrote in a place which was a human hell, where people went mad from fear.
Then we have Charles de Foucauld and Thomas Merton and Father Bede Griffiths.
A book worth reading and re-reading. Written for the contemporary reader. Ellsberg does make extraordinary men and women come alive in these pages. Meet them.
ONE MONTH TO LIVE: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life
By Kerry and Chris Shook (Waterbook Press, 2008)
How would your life be if you found that you had just thirty days left to live?
This is what this book is about.
It challenges the “someday” syndrome that most people seem to suffer from: “Someday” we will live we really want, but not now.
As Rick Warren (author of the multi-million copy bestseller, A Purpose-Driven Life) writes in the Foreword, “The fear of death paralyzes most people…Kerry and Chris Shook want you to grasp an amazing insight: embracing your mortality sets you free to live a meaningful and satisfying life without regret.”
The thirty chapters of the book are organized into an Introduction (Living the Dash) and four parts: Live Passionately, Love Completely, Learn Humbly, Leave Boldly.
The introduction starts with this striking quote from Alan Sachs: “Death is more universal than life; everyone dies, but not everyone lives.”
It goes on to say: “Your time on earth is limited.” And further, “Embracing our time on earth as a limited resource has incredible power to liberate us.”
The book then goes on to explain how we can live a fuller and happier life, realizing how limited our time is.
Each chapter is meant for one day. Thirty days, thirty chapters.
In the part on “Love Completely,” we are looking at questions, such as: If you only had one month to live, whom would you want to spend the time with? Whom would you need to apologize to? Who needs to be assured today that you love them? What keeps you from spending the time and saying these words now?
Each chapter ends with suggestions on what to do. Example: “Choose someone you have hurt by your words, actions, or silence. Write a letter asking this person’s forgiveness and explaining everything you’d like to say before it is too late. Set the letter aside for a few days, and then re-read it and decide if you should send it.” (p. 70)
The book has suggestions on forgiveness, dealing with difficult people, gratitude, using our gifts, facing change, facing storms, facing loss, living with integrity, creating a lasting legacy, staying the course when life crashes, making a difference.
The main source of the explanations in the book is the Bible. (The authors, a couple, co-pastor a church in the US.). Using striking quotes from various authors and sharing what they learnt form their own life experiences, they provide practical tips on how to live more fully.
Words worth quoting from the last chapter: “You have been given an extraordinary life—your life. You have an exceptional calling—to be the very best you God created you to be. (p.221)
The author summarizes the book as a call to “ignite and restore the passion in your life.” Passion is the fuel that helps us live fully.
To live passionately, we need these four ingredients: Love, integrity, forgiveness and enthusiasm.
Going to the root meaning of “enthusiasm” (en+theos = in God), the authors insist on the need to live in God.
The book ends with looking at Jesus as the example of someone who knew how to live.
One of the authors adds the case of his mother who was diagnosed with cancer in mid-life and told she had one month to live. The beautiful thing is that she had nothing to change!
May your life be equally full and meaningful—a passionate life lived with love, integrity, forgiveness and enthusiasm.
Fr Joe Mannath
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