Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions by Gerald May
A Different Christianity by Robin Amis; originally published by State University of New York , Albany1995; currently published by Praxis Institute Press, Chicago 2003
Job and the Mystery of Suffering by Richard Rohr
Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament; Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Powers That Determine Human Existence; Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination by Walter Wink
On the High Road to Surrender by Frances J. Roberts
Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home by Richard Foster
The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on The Soul.s Ascent from the Early Church Fathers; Translated by John Anthony McGugkin; published by Shambala Press2003
The Forgotten Desert Mothers by Laura Swan; published by Paulist Press 2001
The Jesus Sutras by Martin Palmer; The Ballantine Publishing Company 2001
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
The Power of Myth Joseph Campbell
The Road Less Traveled & Further Along the Road Less Traveled & People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck

How have you proceeded to develop your relationship with God and enhance your sense of His presence – is meditation the central method or other means?

This has been a very, very long journey. Having been grounded by a chronic illness (fibromyalgia) I have had a great deal of time and inclination to go deeply into spiritual practice. In addtion, I allowed myself to ask questions of faith and to not be afraid of the answers, nor to be afraid of there not being any answers. I can point to books and spiritual practices (see Resources) However, each person needs to “carry their own cross,” i.e. live one’s own indivitual life with all your own foibles and frustrations.
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Turning ourselves over to God is in reality returning to our original self. As the Christian faith moved across the globe toward the East and toward the West, there developed a theological division in understanding of our true nature in the 11th century. The church to the West, under the authority of the Roman papacy, took the path of emphasizing “original sin” . The church in the east, which we now know as the Orthodox Churches, knew none of this. This church considered the doctrine of original nature, known also as Imago Dei as foundational to understanding our relationship to God.
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I received the following from a friend who has known me for almost 20 years:

Terming your self “The Practical Mystic” is very descriptive. I once described you as being perhaps the most spiritual person I knew and yet grounded in the realities of human life. I certainly have seen evidence of the gifts of the spirit in you.

I do have some questions that might also be of interest to visitors to your web site: I wonder how the spiritual gifts described in the Bible fit in with being a Christian mystic? Are some of them integral to the Christian mystic or are they independent? Also, how have you proceeded to develop your relationship with God and enhance your sense of His presence – is meditation the central method or other means?

I would encourage you to write on the practice of Christian meditation. (Some are practicing transcendental meditation: they open their minds and souls without being specific about the spirit they seek, a practice I consider dangerous.)

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