A Challenge to "Spirituality Lite"

For anyone who regards spirituality as a "me and God" affair that functions in a vacuum untouched by the world in which one is living, Philip Sheldrake's new book, Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology, and Social Practice, will serve as a challenge and a wake-up call. The renowned author on spirituality underlines the essential connection between spirituality, history, theology, and social existence and emphasizes that Christian spirituality is always more than the cultivation of interiority or "spiritual experience"; rather, it necessarily embraces everyday life and social rather than purely personal transformation.

A legacy of some strains of Christianity that emphasize a "personal relationship" with God at the expense of any social dimension is a kind of "spirituality lite" that appears to function as if events like 9/11, devastating natural disasters, or other crises haven't happened; as if we didn't live in a particular time and place that have helped to form the person we are; as if Christianity were a matter of finding a Teddy bear to hug instead of confronting the cross. Philip Sheldrake's Explorations in Spirituality from Paulist Press implicitly reveals the shortcomings of this notion by unlocking the history, theology, and social practice of Christian spirituality in all its depth and richness. While Explorations in Spirituality will be particularly helpful to students and teachers of college, seminary and university courses in Christian spirituality, it will benefit anyone who feels unsatisfied with "spirituality lite" and wants more substantial nourishment.

Philip Sheldrake and Paulist Press academic editor Nancy de Flon meet at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Montreal, November 2009.

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