Summary: Short introductions to a variety of spiritual practices.
This book is good for what it is, concise introductions to spiritual practices. But the problem is that I am not sure who should read it. When most people are interested in doing many of these spiritual practices, they want more than a cursory introduction.
And before the desire to practice many of these spiritual practices, people are not all that interested in a vast selection of spiritual practices. So I am not sure who should read this.
I purchased this both because I try to read about other Christian spiritual practices and theology pretty regularly, but even more, because NT Wright is listed as one of the authors. (And because it was on sale.) Wright is one of the authors, but he only wrote a concise section on the Lord’s prayer.
There are 28 chapters in 180 pages. So on average, each spiritual discipline is only given about 5 to 6 pages. There are several books I would recommend before this one.
I am a Protestant and more familiar with Protestant writing on spiritual practices, but if you are looking for a good in-depth look at spritual practices, either Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth or Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Foster’s is more wide-ranging and dense and my first recommendation. The other is a bit easier to read and covers fewer topics but is more particularly reformed in outlook. Well worth reading, but I think Foster’s is the better of the two. If you are looking for a lighter introduction to the idea of spiritual practices, I would recommend John Ortberg’s The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People.
Catholic Spiritual Practices Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition