5 most important books

I was recently 'over' at Reverend Mommy's place and she asked us what our 5 most important books were so I thought about it and here's my list, in no particular order:

A W Tozer's "Knowledge of the Holy"

I read this book when I was a student.  I could only manage one chapter a night.  It really did blow my mind as I read it.  I had never thought about just how immense our God is.  In the book, Tozer talks about the attributes of God and as I read it my God just got bigger and bigger.  My faith didn't increase, but my God did.  The book has stayed with me since and although it is not an easy read (I needed a dictionary by my side to look up all the difficult words! :-) I would recommend it to any Christian who is at ease with working hard with their reading.

Riane Eisler's "The Chalice and the Blade"

Perhaps the most important academic book that I've read.  Eisler argues that there are two models of relating, a Dominator Model and a Partnership Model.  the Dominator Model is based on the logic of difference and ranking, whilst the Partnership Model is based on a logic of linkage and connection.

Now, I'll do a fuller blog in a day or so to explain the implications of these models, but for now I'll just point out that if we follow the dominator model we will tend to allow ourselves to get into conversations where we accentuate our differences and seek to rank our own position over other people's position. Do you think that the Church has a bit too much of that kind of thinking.  I explored some of the possibilities of a Partnership Model of relating back in an old post on "Breaking the Glass Ceiling" - have a read.

Deborah Tannen's "That's not what I meant"

Tannen lifts some of the same issues as Eisler but within the context of the conduct of conversations.  She is seeking to find out why it is that sometimes we talk past each other and just don't understand what seems perfectly obvious to others.  Tannen's answer is that we all have different conversational styles, and we therefore need to shift our listening so as to recognise a different conversational style and work with it.  I don't fully agree with Tannen, but this delightfully, funny little book set me off into exploring the complexities and potentials of conversations and other forms of relating.  I still haven't got to the bottom of it all and I trust that I will have a happy few more years of a career and life to explore conversations and their potential to create.

The Brother Cadfael Stories

Perhaps a strange choice these; but it was as I read these short detective stories - set in 12th century England, that I started to appreciate that some of the strange things Christians of other traditions do are their way of loving God.  Cadfael, the central character, is a monk and as the stories unfold we learn more of the Benedictine monastery where he is a herbalist.  In many ways these stories not only started a growing understanding of different traditions but also, increasingly, started my journey to benefit and learn from these traditions and add their spirituality to my rather intellectual evangelicalism.

Celtic Daily Prayer.

There are links to the Northumbrian Office from my blogsite (top right hand corner).  I just can't fully put into words the difference that Andy Raine's and John Skinner's compilation of scriptural texts and more modern prayers have made to my Christian life.  Don't expect anything to blow your head off the first day (not like Tozer's book) but gradually, day after day, allow God to speak insistently to you through these words.  Allow Him to emphasise different things in a season, allow the meditations to still your heart, allow the daily readings to confuse you ... oops sorry, spoilt the flow but sometimes they are a bit muddling.  But these are beautiful liturgies that have infected me with a spirituality where previously I had been satisfied with knowledge.  My increasing interest in new monasticism, my ability to start a journey towards more simple living (long way to go there!) and my greater trust in a God who is with me in the hard and good times all grow from this wonderful collection of prayers, poems and readings - try them and may you (in a year or so's time) be as delighted with them as I am.

So, there are my five most important books?  What are yours?  I'd love to read about them on your blog, leave us a link to follow in the comments or trackback (can't work that out myself) and we'll pay you a visit.

Comments

[rev mommy]

You have spent a lot of time contemplating this -- Wow. I love Tozer -- and I am going to investigate The Chalice and the Blade.
cool.

[Bihari]

I am always looking for good books--thanks for these! And thanks for your visits to my site. I'm tickled to find yours.

[Howard]

Brother Cadfael? Hmmm. It takes all sorts I suppose.

[Caroline]

Oh it could have been worse, Howard! My favourite holiday reading is still Maeve Binchy!
Doesn't do my intellectual street cred much good I'm afraid.

[susie albert miller]

caroline, have you seen The Divine Hours, for winter, autumn, springtime & summer (3 different volumes) by Phyllis Tickle. you might really enjoy adding it to your daily office collection. in fact i imagine you would like most of her writings;)
great book list, i can't imagine picking 5!