TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2012

As ever, in no particular order (although if there was a No.1 it would be the Wallace Stegner):

• John Cheever, The Journals of John Cheever
• Wallace Stegner, Crossing to Safety
• Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country
• Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale
• Henri JM Nouwen, The Wounded Healer
• John Flavel, Keeping the Heart
• Jenell Williams Paris, The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is too Important to Define Who We Are
• Andrew Sullivan, Love Undetectable: reflections on friendship, sex and survival
• Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City
• Robert A Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol.4: The Passage of Power

LONELINESS

'The pain of your loneliness may be rooted in your deepest vocation. You might find that your loneliness is linked to your call to live completely for God. Thus your loneliness may be revealed to you as the other side of your unique gift. Once you can experience in your innermost being the truth of this you may find your loneliness not only tolerable but even fruitful. What seemed primarily painful may then become a feeling that, though painful, opens for you the way to an even deeper knowledge of God's love.'

Henri JM Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, p.31.

DEPENDENCE

'Think about yourself as a little seed plated in rich soil. All you have to do is stay there and trust that the soil contains everything you need to grow. This growth takes place even when you do not feel it. Be quiet, acknowledge your powerlessness, and have faith that one day you will know how much you have received.'

Henri JM Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, p.27.

FRIENDSHIP

'The love that came to you in particular human friendships and that awakened your dormant desire to be completely and unconditionally loved was real and authentic. It does not have to be denied as dangerous and idolatrous. A love that comes to you through human beings is true, God-given love and needs to be celebrated as such. When human friendships prove to be unlivable because you demand that your friends love you in ways that are beyond human capacity, you do not have to deny the reality of the love you received. When you try and die to that love in order to find God's love you are doing something God does not want. The task is not to die to life-giving relationships but to realise that the love you received in them is part of a greater love.'

Henri JM Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love, p.24.

RELATIONSHIPS

'No one person can fulfil all your needs. But the community can truly hold you. The community can let you experience the fact that, beyond your anguish, there are human hands that hold you and show you God's faithful love.'

Henri JM Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish To Freedom, p.7.

POWER

'...although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said, but what is equally true, is that power always reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary: to hide traits that might make others reluctant to give him power, to hide also what he wants to do with that power; if men recognized the traits or realized the aims, they might refuse to give him what he wants. But as a man obtains more power, camouflage is less necessary. The curtain begins to rise. The revealing begins.'

Robert A Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4: The Passage of Power, p.xiv. 

BIBLICAL MEDITATION

'Meditation is looking at the Word of God like a thirsty tree looks at water. This shows us that meditation goes beyond the intellectual. It is spiritually "tasting" Scripture - delighting in it, sensing its sweetness, thanking and praising God for what you see. It is also spiritually "digesting" Scripture - applying it, thinking about how it affects you, describes you, and guides you in the most practical way. It is also drawing strength from the Scripture - letting it give you hope, using it to remember how loved you are.'

Timothy Keller, Prayer: The Leader's Guide, p.70.

GOD'S PRESENCE

'Just as a sleeping child can be in her mother's arms and not consciously be aware of the mother's loving presence, so God's presence and love are realities that are not limited to our conscious awareness.'

John Jefferson Davis, Meditation and Communion with God, p.127.

WORD AND SPIRIT

'Words alone without Spirit can dry us up; Spirit alone without the words of Scripture (and the fellowship of the church), can blow us up; but with Word and Spirit in proper balance, we can grow up in our knowledge and experience of the loving presence of God.'

John Jefferson Davis, Meditation and Communion with God, p.99.

THE CHURCH

'The church is joyful community in communion with the joyful community of the triune God.'
John Jefferson Davis, Meditation and Communion with God, p.89.