by William Wilson, Birmingham,
AL: Spiritual Life Ministry Foundation, Inc., 2004. 153 pages, US$
20.00 (15.00 for members of Spiritual Directors International)Reviewed by Tony Haas (Note:
This volume not currently available through Amazon.com. The author is
making it available to Spiritual Directors Inernational members for $15
plus $2.50 S&H. Send requests to: Southern Fellowship P.O. Box 530308 Birmingham, AL 35253 Bulk orders of 25 or more copies cost $10 per copy plus bulk shipping. Spiritual
Directors International members who want the book but cannot afford it
are welcome to request a complimentary copy, thanks to William Wilson.) “The
last fifty years have been unprecedented in the United States in both
the burgeoning of cults and the sudden and widespread appearance of
schools of Eastern philosophy and spirituality. These movements speak
of higher knowledge, illumination of consciousness, and metaphysical
union with the transcendent. If we also take into account the sad
historical record of false mysticism within the Christian Church, it is
no wonder that many traditional Christians treat spirituality,
contemplation, and mysticism with doubt and suspicion” (p. 133). It is with this in mind that William Wilson wrote Four Essentials: Classical Disciplines of Christian Spirituality
which focuses on four devotional practices or spiritual disciplines
that can be used in private prayer and, simultaneously, with communal
worship in a Christian community. The book is written in two parts.
Part one focuses on the four essential disciplines of Lectio Divina,
the Jesus Prayer, Discernment of Thoughts, and Spiritual Direction, and
how they can be practiced. The second part of the book explores each
topic in slightly more detail and adds a few additional essays that
include topics such as: God the Word, Therapy and Spiritual Direction,
and a Contemplative Spirituality of Creation. Christians
are the intended audience of Four Essentials, and in particular
Protestants, who may be unfamiliar with some of the larger spiritual
“essentials” of the Christian tradition. Drawing on his own personal
story, which includes many years as a Trappist monk, Wilson leads the
reader into the practice of contemplative spirituality and a life of
union with God. Chapters four and nine will be of particular interest
to spiritual directors. They deal with the goal of spiritual direction
described as “the fullness of union with God in Jesus” (p. 50), the
subject matter of spiritual direction, which is “the manifestation of
the life of the Holy Spirit in us…what God does in us, not what we do
in God” (p. 56), the role of a spiritual director as host of the
directee, and the relationship between spiritual direction and the
social sciences. I
also found chapter ten useful, which focused on creating a personal
rule of life. Drawing on the lives of several saints, Wilson leads the
reader through a process of creating a Rule which focuses on a personal
mission statement, an individual’s primary relationships, personal
gifts, and most heartfelt desires in life. For Christians searching for
a way to integrate personal prayer, communal worship, and a life of
union with God, this book could be a useful tool in making such a
desire a reality. Tony
Haas is a husband, father of three girls, a part time soccer coach, on
the faculty for the Center for Spirituality at Work, and the director
of liturgy at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado,
USA. |
