The Mystic Heart: Discovering A Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions by Wayne Teasdale

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What a wonderful book that describes a universal spirituality, one in which we welcome and accept all religions and spiritual paths. Wayne Teasdale is a monk who combines Christianity and Hinduism. Reading his book makes you feel as if you are in the presence of a wise, holy man. Rarely do I desire to meet an author after reading his work, yet in this case that is exactly what I wanted to do. Alas, he died 2004, and I will have to be content with reading his two more recent books, which I will do.

While there is much in this book that I could discuss, I doubt if I could create the sense of peace and wisdom he conveys. I will focus on his Nine Elements of a Mature Interspirituality, or universal spirituality. You might want to evaluate which values are already strong in your life and which ones you most need to work on.

1) Moral Capacity

Love your neighbor as yourself and be compassionate, loving, kind and other-centered. This moral dimension of life is necessary for spirituality.

2) Solidarity with All Living Beings

This relates to the First Cosmic Principle, "Everything is Connected." All life, the natural world and the universe are interconnected. This understanding of interrelatedness is another requirement for spirituality.

3) Deep Nonviolence

Accept others as yourself and see all life as precious. Gentleness, calm and patience are needed in all aspects of non-harming. Most societies don't understand or practice this, as war and strife abound in the world. Aggressive behavior is learned, however, not innate to human nature. Now is the time to practice and accept nonviolence in all aspects of life.

4) Humility

This is an egoless understanding of one's limitations and the truth of one's self. Be who you are, or "who God intended you to be." Being humble is that simple. One must be modest about oneself and live with a selflessness that includes a lack of boasting, vanity or self-assertiveness.

5) Spiritual Practice

This is necessary for inner growth. Daily practice is important and transformative. There are many forms of spiritual practice, from chanting to reading to prayer. All forms are acceptable; just choose one that works for you.

6) Mature Self-Knowledge

This depends on truth and honesty. We must move beyond denial of our faults and limitations.

7) Simplicity of Life

How we live our lives, how we use earth's resources and how we relate to other humans and animals - all of this is about the simplicity of life. When we grow spiritually and become inward focused, our lives naturally become simpler. Mother Teresa was a good example of this as she insisted that her sisters live among the poorest of the poor. While we don't need to go to those extremes, we should concentrate not on many things but a few things used well, especially in service to others. I like that statement - too often we try to do too much, assuming more is better. Simplicity of life is telling us that less is more. Choose who and what you are -- and be and do that. Simplicity clears away all non-essentials and is the "inner law of spiritual life."

8) Selfless Service and Compassionate Action

What do we do about the suffering of the poor and oppressed, the ecological degradation of the earth, and threats to world peace and stability? The answer is that women and men of spiritual wisdom must make a positive contribution. Each of us must learn to serve in whatever way is appropriate. No one way is right or wrong. We simply need to help those less fortunate.
Our own spiritual growth is one form of selfless service and prayer counts as a way to help the less fortunate. Each of us is called upon to provide service and action in a unique way. Know what is right for you and focus on that.

9) Prophetic Voice

The moral voice needs to be heard. We must acknowledge unjust events and policies: "We have a universal responsibility...whenever we see justice disregarded, threats to world peace, oppression by states against its people or a neighboring nation, or some other danger as yet unforeseen." This same responsibility occurs within our own families or communities.

Authentic spirituality also means that political aims are not above the demands of justice. Have we gone so far being politically correct that we have ignored what is right? We each have a responsibility to be aware and act on these issues.

Cheryl A. Chatfield, Ph.D. invites you to visit her nonprofit organization at http://nottinstitute.org/ to preview the first chapters of her new novel, As The Light of Venus Rose, a spiritual and mystical novel. Receive a free download when you post a comment on the blog about the story.

New Book Offers Simple Biblical Evidence That Bolsters Faith

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Bo Lange has written a simple book about faith and biblical Christianity. A native of Sweden, he wrote this book while living in his own country and being concerned about the growing trend of secularism there. After now living in the United States, Lange sees a similar issue here so he has translated this book into English to provide a message he feels needs to be heard. In a time when many are turning to secularism because they are "turned off" by organized religion, Lange encourages his readers to go back to look at the Bible and the Christianity that first came from it. He is not interested in organized religion but the true Christian faith the Bible teaches. With plenty of biblical support, Lange makes his arguments for the truth of the Bible and Christ as the Messiah and Savior.

I found "Simple Faith" to be an easy book to read. It is not weighted down with theology or historical detail about biblical times. It simply looks at what the Bible says and quotes it extensively to support its arguments. It is divided into four relatively short chapters:

• Through Faith in Jesus Christ You Receive Eternal Life with God
• The Two Natures in the Believer's Life
• Letting God Use You
• You Can Trust the Bible to be God's Word

These chapters progress from helping the reader come to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, to offering a guide for how to be a Christian despite human weaknesses, how to live as a Christian example to others, and finally, biblical evidence for Faith in God and Christ.

I found the second chapter especially to be gentle and reasonable in its discussion of how one can live the Christian life; Lange is not one to pound the reader over the head with rules about what is right and wrong, or one to instill guilt in the reader. Christ would not himself have tried to make people follow rigid guidelines and then want them to be filled with guilt when they failed. Lange advocates simply reading the Bible so its Word will fill your heart; he admits we will all fall back now and then, but by reading the Bible, rather than focusing on struggling against our human weaknesses, we will master those human shortcomings because our focus will be upon God and his work. This concept is the most practical and educational way to come to Christ and follow him that I can imagine.

I also enjoyed reading the final chapter. I have read and studied the Bible numerous times, so I am well aware of all the prophecies concerning Christ as the Messiah and all the other arguments Lange makes with biblical evidence for our faith in Christ. What I admired about this discussion in "Simple Faith," however, was how simply and easily the argument flowed and how clear it was to follow. Lange's organization and presentation is focused, clear, and convincing. And for people unaware of how Christ's coming was predicted in the Bible more than five hundred years before his birth, it will make for fascinating reading.

For non-believers, this book is worth taking a look to see whether perhaps Christianity does offer something you may have overlooked. For people struggling with their faith or seeking to be better people-I hope that includes all of us-this book serves as a simple and friendly guide to living a better life. It is comforting and reassuring, and even if in the end, one chooses not to be a believer, "Simple Faith" offers a Christian perspective one can respect as being close to what Christ himself taught without all the trappings of organized religion.

Tyler R. Tichelaar holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from Northern Michigan University and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. His family's long relationship with Upper Michigan and his avid interest in genealogy inspired Dr. Tichelaar to write his Marquette Trilogy: Iron Pioneers, The Queen City, and Superior Heritage. Dr. Tichelaar is also a professional book reviewer and editor. For more information about Tyler R. Tichelaar, his writing, and his author services, visit: http://www.marquettefiction.com/.

The Art of Leadership, a Review

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Ghanaian author, Evangelist Dr. Dag Heward-Mills, has written other books grouped into seven series. Below is a list of these series with their corresponding books in parentheses: Loyalty Series ('Fathers and Loyalty', 'Leaders and Loyalty', 'Loyalty and Disloyalty', 'Those who Accuse you', 'Those who forget', 'Those who leave you', 'Those who pretend'), Church Building Series ('Church Growth', 'Church Planting', 'The Mega Church'), Anointing Series ('Catch the Anointing', 'Ministering with Signs and Wonders', 'Steps to the Anointing'), Work of Ministry Series ('How You Can Be in the Perfect Will of God', 'Losing, Suffering, Sacrificing', 'Dying', 'Many are Called', 'Proton', 'Rules of Church Work', 'Rules of Full-Time Ministry'), Pastoral Ministry Series ('The Art of Leadership', 'Transform Your Pastoral Ministry'), Success Series ('Why Non-Tithing Christians Become Poor and How Tithing Christians Can Become Rich'), Christian Life Series ('Backsliding', 'Daughter, You Can Make It', 'Demons and How to Deal with Them', 'Model Marriage', 'Name It! Claim it! Take it!', 'Quiet Time', 'Tell Them').

In one hundred and twenty nine (129) chapters contained in five hundred and twelve pages, Heward-Mills holds the reader spell bound with his fluid, time tested physical and spiritual principles that would transform the tyro into the dynamic leader. The title, 'Art of Leadership', implies that the concept must be learned and the book is a very useful guide.

The issue of reading is given considerable and deliberate treatment in the book. This is really as a result of the relative ignorance of spiritual leaders in this information age. A considerable number of church leaders erroneously believe that all they need to do is to widely open their mouths and God would readily fill them. Others say that there is no need for teachers since the Holy Ghost teaches everyone. Though unjustified, this is clearly among the reasons why ministers of the Gospel are normally not treated with respect because there is much to learn.

In chapter 24, he encourages every potential leader to spend any amount of money and time to get a book since the information could well make a difference in one's life. He not only passionately argues that reading is one of the most essential habits of every leader but warns that "if you do not read, please do not try to lead anyone" (p.122) as ignorance is mankind's greatest enemies. Reading is therefore essential for leadership since, among other reasons, it leads to growth (intellectual and spiritual), improves one's vocabulary and develops one's leadership abilities. It is therefore evident that there are dangers of choosing to be an ignoramus in this age.

As one builds a personal library, Heward-Mills reminds the reader that "wisdom comes through reading" (p.343) and also makes an interesting radical departure from some traditional but misleading views. Some leaders narrow-mindedly assume that the Bible is the only book that one should read. The author reasonably suggests one should "read books which expand your imagination and frontiers of knowledge" (p. 347). Though some materials are poisonous to the Christian, there are several non-Christian books worth reading.

The importance of training cannot be overemphasized. In addition to investing in buying and reading books related to one's work, Heward-Mills encourages the reader to actually spend money to be better trained and prepared for the assigned task from God. This reminds one of a very important character included in the text titled '70 Great Christians' written by Geoffrey Hanks and published in Fearn, Ross-shire by Christian Focus Publication in 1992. She is Mary Slessor, the Missionary to the Calabar. It is observed that "she realized she would need to improve her education if she was to become a missionary and started to borrow books from the church library. She also joined an evening class for two nights a week." (Hanks, 1992, p.194).

More than one publisher (Parchment House and Lux Vertbi. BM Ltd.) has been responsible for the production of this book which is a clear display of its importance. The fact that the sixth printing was done in 2008 demonstrates the very high demand of the text and the publication of the second edition in 2011 lends further evidence to this fact.

In the Holy Book, we learn that Jesus and Samuel eventually grew both in wisdom and stature and were favoured by God and man. This underscores the importance of man's recommendation. The foreword of the book under review was written by a household name in Christianity, Yonggi Cho who is incontrovertibly one of the most successful contemporary Christian leader. This implies that he endorses a considerable portion of the credible information in this timely publication. Furthermore, the inclusion of this West African author, Dag Heward-Mills, in the board of Church Growth International Ministry is a testimony to his relevance.

The text is very easy to read due to the length of each chapter, some as short as a page or two, for example, chapters 3 (The Type of Leadership You Must Avoid), 9 (Maintain Personal Integrity), 11 (Never Use Power Without Wisdom or Wisdom Without Power), 12 (Do Not Be a Lifeless Leader...), 91 (Translate Your Vision into Reality), 129 (Constantly Thinking about the Day of Accountability) etc. Further, the font is large enough for the average reader to clearly decipher. Scripture passages clearly stand out since they are in bold print and, except for verification, passages are not merely referred to but are reproduced to avoid laying the book aside to read from the Bible.

The general presentation of women, however, is not well balanced in the text and would give a first impression that women are not being regarded as important in church leadership. Though the writer appeals to the reader not to be angry with him but to direct such to God, he observed that "in its rawest form, the leadership of a woman is a dangerous thing" (p.34). One would have expected a treatment of some fine qualities of biblical women leaders such as Deborah, Esther etc.

The imprint (an umbrella term that comprises city of publication, publisher and date of publication) is incomplete. The missing link or strand on this chain is the city of publication which is not clearly indicated in the text. This is a very important bibliographic information. Instruction is however given to write to P.O.Box 114, Korle-Bu, Accra, Ghana. One wonders if the city here could be used as the place of publication.

Consideration to add an index and bibliography would further enhance the quality of this invaluable text. An index generally facilitates relatively faster retrieval of information. A bibliography, a descriptive list of reading materials consulted, could be very helpful on such an outstanding publication since many insights were given and several readers would be inspired to make further references. Adding a bibliography, an alphabetical list of the authors names (surname followed by other names) and the respective works cited in the next edition which is anticipated, would be quite helpful.

The above notwithstanding, Dag Heward-Mills' text is very easy to read due to the length of each chapter, some as short as a page or two, for example, chapters 3 (The Type of Leadership You Must Avoid), 9 (Maintain Personal Integrity), 11 (Never Use Power Without Wisdom or Wisdom Without Power), 12 (Do Not Be a Lifeless Leader...), 91 (Translate Your Vision into Reality), 129 (Constantly Thinking about the Day of Accountability) etc. Further, the font is large enough for the average reader to clearly decipher. Scripture passages clearly stand out since they are in bold print and, except for verification, passages are not merely referred to but are reproduced for ease of reference.

I unreservedly recommend this classic publication to every potential leader. Every pastor must read this book.

AUTHOR SIGNATURE
Oliver Harding, a product of the Sierra Leone Grammar School and Albert Academy where he obtained his SC GCE O & A Levels respectively, is an Alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) where he participated in a multi-media project, 'American Libraries' in Washington D.C., Seattle (Washington State), Minneapolis (Minnesota), New Orleans (Louisiana) and New York. During this 2011 tour, he also visited New Jersey and Atlanta (Georgia). He has represented Fourah Bay College (FBC) in national and international conferences. As an Information Professional, he is an executive member of the Sierra Leone Library Board (where he has served as Ag. Chairman between May and November 2009), associate of Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP), member of American Library Association (ALA), American Theological Library Association (ATLA), Librarians' Christian Fellowship (LCF) etc. He has served the Sierra Leone Association of Archivists, Librarians & Information Professionals (SLAALIP) as Vice President (2006-2008) and President (2008-2010). In addition to other diplomas, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History, a Post Graduate Diploma and a Masters Degree in Librarianship from FBC, University of Sierra Leone & a second Masters Degree West Africa Theological Seminary, Lagos (an affiliate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka) where he graduated with the best result in Biblical Studies (after serving as Deputy Reference Librarian, Part Time Lecturer and 'Church Music', & Seminary Organist). Oliver, an ordained minister of religion, motivational speaker, music, writer/bibliographer, currently lectures at The Evangelical College of Theology (extension campus) and serves Fourah Bay College as Senior Librarian, A Hall Streetcting College Librarian and Lecturer. He is married (to Francess) with two children (Olivia and Francis). He believes that "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity" (Proverbs 21:5, New Living Translation).
Email: oltharding@yahoo.com
Mobile: +23233460330