Spiritual Formation

Review: Formed to Lead

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Cover image of "Formed to Lead" by Jason Jensen

Formed to Lead

Formed to Lead, Jason Jensen. InterVarsity Press | Formatio (ISBN:9781514009901) 2025.

Summary: Through reflection on Luke 1-4, proposes a vision of leadership rooted in formation of character and spiritual discernment.

I’ve noticed that for the most part, those who read books on spiritual formation tend not to read books on leadership. Likewise, readers of leadership books are often not big readers of spiritual formation books. Jason Jensen believes there is ample evidence for the error of compartmentalizing these two things. Sometimes, it may be spiritually deep individuals who do not know how to lead others. But more often, it is evident in the moral failures of gifted and prominent Christian leaders. Rarely does their leadership failure for lack of leadership ability or training. More often it is a failure related to pride, a defect of character, or a lack of integrity, thinking lies and deception can accomplish the work of God.

Jensen has reflected deeply on Luke 1-4, the chapters that describe the formative period of Jesus life. He begins with Luke’s vision of leadership integrity, expressed in the Magnificat and the birth narrative. It is a vision of humility and bold faith in response to the Spirit’s initiative. Out of this emerges spiritual discernment. Thus, Jensen introduces us to themes that will recur in his study. Here we see those who surrounded Jesus reflecting these qualities

Having laid this groundwork, Jensen reflects on other formative experiences. In Luke 3, he considers how the word comes in the wilderness. He explores both our wilderness experiences, and how sought solitude to listen to God may form us. Sometimes, the “wilderness” of our context, particularly when we are out of our depth reveals blind spots and self-sufficiency. Wilderness humbles us, making us more aware of those on the margins.

The wilderness is also the site of Jesus baptism. Specifically, God affirms three important things in baptism: identity as God’s son or daughter, affection as the beloved of God, and God’s pleasure upon the baptized. For Jensen, baptism is also associated strongly with rest or sabbath. In sabbath, we cease doing to allow God to remind us of our identity, and his affection and pleasure upon us. Thus, we work and lead on other days out of this rest and restoration. Finally, for Jesus wilderness is the place of testing both in the abstinence from food and in resistance to the adversary’s warfare. His reflections upon and use of scripture confirms the power of the word that came in the wilderness, and the Spirit who filled him as he entered the wilderness. So it is that he emerges in the Spirit’s power to face illness, demons, and opposition.

Thus, the Spirit’s empowering of Jesus tested character results in spiritual authority. Jensen notes that spiritual authority is integrity, not charisma; love, not authoritarianism; and holiness, not pragmatism. As Jesus spoke from Isaiah 61:1-3, he shared prophecy that shaped his sense of call. Jensen likens calling for us to pilgrimage, in which we learn to attend to the markers along the way. We discern through repentance, intimacy with God, character formation, and the everyday journey of faith. He describes discernment as a “roundabout” way, commending the labyrinth as a practice in which we experience that “roundaboutness.”

Finally, leadership is about dependence and dying. Prayer is to leadership as breathing is to life. We both encounter God in devotion and commit those we lead to God in intercession. Leadership is also a rehearsal of our death. The shadow of death was upon the ministries of both John and Jesus. We live in the realization that we have already died in baptism and are not our own and our hope and consolation is in God alone.

Jensen interleaves his reflections with formational practices and group discussion guides. Rather than either an introspective book for individuals or a how to book of leadership, he gives us a book showing the ways God forms the character of Jesus in us so that he might work the ministry and mission of Jesus through us. This is leadership both rooted in godly character and empowered by God’s Spirit. It is leadership marked by integrity, love, and holiness. May God use this book to raise up such leaders!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Common Rule Youth Edition

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Cover image of "The Common Rule Youth Edition" by Justin Whitmel Early

The Common Rule Youth Edition

The Common Rule Youth Edition, Justin Whitmel Early. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514010433) 2025.

Summary: Eight spiritual habits or practices for teens and tweens to help them grow in their faith.

I first trusted my life to Christ at age eleven and seriously began following Christ when I was just short of sixteen. I heard a lot about how to become Christian. Then I went on retreats that encouraged me in my faith in Christ. But no one for a long time shared with me about how I might grow in my faith. So, it is with great pleasure that I welcomed the publication of Justin Whitmel Early’s The Common Rule Youth Edition. In additional to seeing how helpful his earlier The Common Rule was with the young adults with whom I worked, I thought, “this is the book I wish I had as a teen follower of Jesus.”

This book is much like his earlier book. He offers eight habits, four daily and four weekly. Two of each focus on loving God and two on loving neighbor. Also, two of focus on embracing the good in God’s world and two of each on resisting destructive cultural influences. They are:

Daily:

  1. Kneeling Prayer morning, midday, and bedtime (Love God/embrace)
  2. One meal with others. (Love neighbor/embrace)
  3. One hour with phone off (Love neighbor/resist)
  4. Scripture before phone (Love God/resist)

Weekly:

  1. One hour of conversation with a friend (Love neighbor/embrace)
  2. Four hours of physical activity (Love neighbor/resist)
  3. Fast from something for twenty-four hours (Love God/resist)
  4. Sabbath (Love God/embrace)

The one difference from the adult version is substituting four hours of physical activity for “curate media to four hours.” This recognizes the need of teens for intense physical activity for both physical and spiritual health as well as the gift of our bodies which our screen-oriented society encourages us to neglect. Also, it does set some boundaries on social media.

A chapter is devoted to each of the eight habits. Early offers an explanation of each habit and then a practical section at the end with “The Habit at a Glance,” “Three Ways to Start,” and “Three Considerations.”

One of the ideas of a “common rule” is to pursue these practices with others and Early offers suggestions for sharing these practices in a youth ministry in church, or with friends in a school setting. He adapts the practices to the lives of middle and high schoolers. He also recognizes that meals together may need to be negotiated with parents and refraining from food should be cleared with them and never be done by someone with an eating disorder.

Early opens the book discussing the value of habit, including the pattern of destructive habits that brought him to create the Common Rule. But what I thought of even greater help is his concluding chapter on failure, something I often struggled with as a young Christian (and still do!). Early suggests that when we fall, we fall into grace. And so we get up and “keep walking toward beauty.” He observes how a life consists of the small daily decisions to get up and keep embracing these habits of faithfulness.

This is not a “silver bullet.” If there is one, I haven’t found it. But I can see how this might be so helpful in a youth ministry, particularly with supportive adults who are also using the rule. And the practices lend themselves to be fleshed out with scripture and prayer resources. Furthermore, these habits temper or replace destructive habits fostered in our culture, offering another way to live. I hope this book enjoys wide use.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Prayer Takes Us Home

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Cover image of " Prayer Takes Us Home" by Gerhard Lohfink

Prayer Takes Us Home

Prayer Takes Us Home, Gerhard Lohfink, Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Liturgical Press (ISBN: 9780814688069) 2020.

Summary: What Christians believe about prayer and the various ways Christians pray and experience God in prayer.

Last year, I had the chance to review Gerhard Lohfink’s Why I Believe in God, which I named my Best Religious Memoir of 2025. His warm “theological memoir” filled with love for God motivated me to get my hands on other works of his. This is one of those.

The subtitle of this book states it is on the theology and practice of prayer. Lest you fear a dry disquisition on prayer, let me assure you I found the same personal warm of devotion in these pages as in his memoir. Here was someone who thought deeply both about the One he addressed and who clearly had devoted his life to prayer, aided by the structures of Catholicism.

He writes about Christian prayer, and that must begin with who we address. Rather than some generic “God” we address the Father through the Son and by the help of the Holy Spirit. He reminds us that we stand together in worship before the Living God, able to come face to face. We are helped in our prayers by the deep sighs of the Spirit. We do not pray to three gods, though we may address our prayers to each of the persons of the one Godhead, He encourages us that God is active in the world and that his “saving will and our prayers work together.”

Then he turns to the many forms of prayer. He reminds us of the different forms our every day speech takes and suggests that prayer is no different. He writes about petition, including a defense of asking God for things, praise, and lament. This last is a helpful corrective for “happy-clappy” Christianity. He explores the extensive material on lament in the scriptures.

I love how he introduces the Psalms as our home for all seasons, in joy and when beset by woes. They are our shelter, indeed our home, even as we make our way to Zion. He then gives instruction on meditation. This is not emptying one’s mind, but filling it with our story in scripture, in creeds, and the church’s prayers. For Lohfink, all this prayers us for the Eucharist. While this reflects a Catholic understanding, Lohfink’s discussion of the element of thanksgiving for the gift of God in Christ, manifest in the gifts of bread and cup, lifts us out of ritual into real communion.

The final chapter is characteristic Lohfink, in which he relates his personal history of prayer. His intent is not that we would follow his example. Nor does he want us to cram all the experiences of his life into our prayer practice. Rather, he wants to assure us in our own experience in both times of dryness and unspeakable joy. Here, as throughout, I sensed a brother walking alongside, not a superior speaking to novices.

Although I am not a Catholic Christian, I found much that spoke to my own prayer life. My heart was warmed by the greatness of God described on these pages and the awesome wonder of corporate worship and gathering at the Lord’s table. The chapter on Christian meditation is one of the best I’ve read. His encouragements that God is active and works in and through our prayers is truth I can never hear enough. He reminds me that in prayer, God takes us home.

Review: The Sacred Art of Slowing Down

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Cover image of "The Sacred Art of Slowing Down" by A. C. Seiple

The Sacred Art of Slowing Down, A. C. Seiple, foreword by Chuck De Groat. Tyndale | Refresh (ISBN: 9798400506321) 2025.

Summary: Explores ways to become aware of our inner state, to tune into our bodies, and tend our souls.

Dallas Willard often advised his mentees as follows: “Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” But how do we eliminate hurry and slow down? Especially, how do we do so when our mind is racing and our body is tense? Licensed counselor A. C. Seiple combines therapeutic practices and spiritual insights to slow down, tune in to our bodies, and tend to our souls. In fact, those three phrases form the outline of this book. She approaches us as integrated beings woven from cognitive, emotional, somatic and spiritual strands combined with the narrative strands of our life story.

First, she explores how we can slow down. Seiple describes how in her own life she had two gears–go and stop, gas pedal and brake. Mostly, she was go, go, go until she crashed. She was caring for a husband with a traumatic brain injury. She didn’t feel any margin existed for stopping. But she was weary. A counselor helped her understand how her body was geared up to go, a function of her autonomic nervous system’s response to crisis. Often our bodies are trying to tell us things through pain, tension, or weariness. She describes her own experience of learning to listen to those messages and offers exercises for readers to practice the same. She also helps us hear with compassion the embedded beliefs that may be driving or dogging us.

Then she explores how we may tune in with the body. She explains neuroception and the subconscious ways our bodies respond to different situations. We may think our brain is driving, but not always. She helps with exercises to discern who is driving and whether that part is stepping on the gas or the brake, perhaps explaining why we want to slow down but can’t. She identifies three states–safety, stress, and shutdown–and our autonomic responses to each. Then she explores how we may anchor ourselves with God in a sacred space amid each of these states. She helps us reflect on our life story, and how different parts of us have responded in different episodes–how we fight or self-protect or freeze or flee.

Thirdly, she discusses how we use all this to tend to the depths of our souls. She offers help in tending to the forgotten or neglected parts of our lives. Then she turns to the places where we’ve been wounded. Finally, Seiple helps us explore our longings and steps that might be new movements for us.

Seiple illustrates ideas from her own experiences. Each chapter has “Pause and Play” sections where we can explore the concepts she’s shared in our own experience. Throughout, one has the sense that Seiple is a caring counselor, walking alongside and extending compassion, creating the safety to look at different parts of our lives. She invites curiosity rather than judgement or shame. She helps us find rest for every part of us, the place where we both know ourselves and are unafraid to know God. And she translates the “relentless elimination of hurry” from abstract advice to lived experience.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Insane for the Light

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Cover image of "Insane for the Light" by Ronald Rolheiser

Insane for the Light, Ronald Rolheiser. Image (ISBN: 9780593736463) 2025.

Summary: The spiritual journey of our final years, learning not only how to relinquish one’s life but to give away one’s death.

On Saturday, I learned of the passing of an actor whose movies I watched as a young adult. She was eight years older than I am. This is not an uncommon experience when I read of the deaths of famous people, or the obituary page from my high school on Facebook. It reminds me that part of the business of this stage of my life is to live with intention and attention toward my death. How does God want to continue to form me in the way of Christ as my bodily and mental powers wane? And how may I live so that my life, and even my death, may be a gift to those I love?

There are not many guides for this journey. Many of the books about spirituality address our productive years and the transitions of midlife. But what about the years of autumn and winter? In recent years, I’ve come to appreciate the writing of Ronald Rolheiser in his books The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire. I discovered that this new book, Insane for the Light completes this trilogy. In the first, Rolheiser writes about our search for meaning. Then in the second, he speaks to how we give our lives away. Now, in an interesting turn of phrase, he writes about how we give our deaths away. Rolheiser observes:

“Giving our deaths away as a gift to our loved ones means that at some point in our lives, we need to stop focusing on our agenda and begin to focus on our obituary, on what kind of spirit we will leave behind.”

But what does that look like?

Rolheiser begins with anthropologies from aging, considering voices as diverse as Hindu mythology’s sannyasin to Germain Greer’s crone, Richard Rohr’s angry or holy old fools, and David Brooks’ call to scale the second mountain of meaning and love. Then he considers the challenge of transformation in aging. Instead of becoming the same person, only more so, he addresses seven transformations, all summarized in Jesus call to metanoia, the change of mind into creatures more like God. More like Christ. In the end, the image of Christ defenseless on the cross, submitting to death and giving his life, is our model. In our death, how we deal with helplessness, the loss of control are crucial. It is the experience of passivity. We may embrace or bitterly fight this, but if embraced, following Jesus in death is lifegiving to others.

But this journey is sometimes a journey through dark nights. Rolheiser draws upon the wisdom of St. john of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul. He offers wise counsel for how we live through such nights (pp. 80-82) that is worth the price of the book. He proposes that the purpose of the “dark night” is so that “God can flow into our lives and into this world purely, uncontaminated by human projection and self interest, because in our frustrating darkness we are helpless to control the experience.”

Then Rolheiser turns to the image of the “beggars hut.” In fact, that hut is the aging process. a kind of monastic existence with its own order of tasks. Carrying tension for the young. Offering prophecy to the world. Radiating God’s compassion. Rescuing God from narrowness. Blessing the young. Giving up on fear. Preparing for our move to a place beyond the illusion of self sufficiency. Making peace with those in our circle through the words “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you.” Rolheiser synthesizes Henri Nouwen’s ideas of how we give our deaths away into twelve invitations.

In his final chapters Rolheiser addresses his thoughts about the afterlife, including our communion with those who have died. Finally, he outlines St. John of the Cross’s paradigm of spiritual transformation. He includes examples of transformation through prayer and through service. His parting word comes from St. John’s advice:

“We all have made vows: to one another, to God, and to ourselves. John of the Cross simply advises that we stay within these vows and accept the times of disillusionment–and then love, others, maturity, and God will find us,”

It seems to me that the book’s central idea is that our aging is an invitation to die with Christ. What I find most attractive in this is that it suggests that old people can grow! We can be transformed by God through the aging process. We can mellow, become grateful, forgiving, hopeful, and childlike. Then we generously give away the remainder of our lives–and our deaths. And in our dying, we become “insane for the light” of God’s glory. I recall reading of my childhood pastor’s final words: “The glory, the glory!” To read these words was a gift, as is remembering them. He gave his death away to others.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Divine Milieu

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Cover image of "The Divine Milieu" by Teilhard de Chardin.

The Divine Milieu, Teilhard de Chardin. Harper Perennial Modern Classics (ISBN: 9780060937256) 2001 (first published in 1957).

Summary: How we grow into godlikeness in our active work and our passive diminishment, toward the uniting of all things in Christ.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit Priest, geologist, and paleontologist, living between 1881 and 1955. He participated in the discovery of the remains Peking Man and wrote dozens of scientific papers, filling eleven volumes collected. He was also a theologian. His best known works were The Divine Milieu and The Phenomenon of Man. He wrote The Divine Milieu in 1926 and 1927 during a trip to China. Church authorities withheld its publication until 1957, two years after his death.

The basic idea behind The Divine Milieu is that all creation is moving toward a cosmic union with God through Christ’s redemptive work (cf. Colossians 1:15-17). This telos addresses a fundamental challenge and tension in Christian spirituality. For many, holiness involves detachment from the world, viewing secular work of no lasting value. For a scientist-priest like de Chardin, this was untenable.

Rather, he argued that both our activities and our passivities may participate in our “divinisation,” our growth in holiness and union with God in Christ, along with all creation. Part One of the book contends that all our active endeavors co-operate to complete the world in Christ. He writes:

“God, in all that is most living and incarnate in him, is not far away from us, altogether apart from the world we see, touch, hear, smell and taste about us. Rather, he awaits us every instant in our action, in the work of the moment. There is a sense in which he is at the tip of my pen, my spade, my brush, my needle – of my heart and my thought.”

Yet, though we value the material world, we may experience detachment from it because it has no value to us in itself but only in God.

The second part of the book explores how we grow toward holy union with God through our passivities–the things we experience in our lives that are not done by us. Examples of these include both the passivities of growth and diminishment. Not only do we grow bodily but in our experiences. Likewise, we diminish through aging, illness, and finally death. As we offer all of these to God, including our death, we grow in our communion with God. De Chardin prays, “Teach me to treat my death as an act of communion..”

The final part of the book addresses the attributes of what de Chardin calls “the divine milieu” He addresses how it arises and how we progress individually and collectively within this. Finally, though, it is Christ who accomplishes all of this:

“In a real sense only one man will be saved: Christ, the head and living summary of humanity. Each one of the elect is called to see God face to face. But his act of vision will be vitally inseparable from the elevating and illuminating action of Christ. In heaven we ourselves shall contemplate God, but, as it were, through the eyes of Christ.”

There are questions about the orthodoxy of his ideas. To some, the idea of cosmic union with God sounded like pantheistic monism, a denial of distinction between God and creation. Yet there is never a sense that I could find of dissolving the Creator-created distinction in this union. One of the most common expressions used by Paul is “in Christ.” In Part Three, he differentiates his own ideas from pantheistic monism.

De Chardin has also been challenged on the evolutionary element in the world’s progress toward God, both by Christians and evolutionary scientists. These ideas are developed more in The Phenomenon of Man where he develops the idea of orthogenesis. This is the progress of the cosmos to union with God, also referred to as the Omega Point. Evolutionary scientists deny a purpose driving evolution. Christians may object both to the idea of evolution and a force working within the world apart from Christ toward the consummation of all things. However, these ideas are not explicit in this book.

Positively, de Chardin articulates a spirituality of all of life. He encompasses our active work in every field of human endeavor. And he recognizes the passive dimension of life. There is no divorce of sacred and secular. Likewise there is no divorce of individual and corporate. Finally, for de Chardin, science and faith are not at war.

Thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]