Book List for a Spiritual Director Certificate Program

A week ago, I placed my order for the first 2 books on the reading list for the spiritual director certificate program.

I confess that when I first looked at this list, I felt a bit of a panic.  Could I really do this program while also working both as a full-time administrator and an adjunct English faculty member?  I worried that I might not be able to be able to read this much--and then I had to laugh at myself.  It's not like I'm being asked to master ancient Greek or Hebrew.  Of course I can read a book a month and write a report.

I worried I might not be able to find the books, but in our modern age, that's not likely to be a problem.  I did feel a bit of relief to discover that they're available and affordable.

I wondered, as I always do, if I should just get them from the library.  I already have so many books.  But I want to be able to mark in them if I feel so inclined.  I don't want to have to keep track of when library books are due.

If one of these books turns out to be ghastly expensive, I might change my mind.  Of course, my public library might not carry that kind of book.  Right now, I don't have access to an academic library.

I'm lucky--right now I have the resources to buy the books I need.  So I went ahead and purchased the first two books on the list.

In case you are interested, here's the whole list:

2020-2121 Reading List

Report Due	Title	Author
02/10/20	The Practice of Spiritual Direction	Wm Berry & Wm Connolly
03/10/20	Open Mind, Open Heart	Thomas Keating
04/10/20	Healing the Soul Wound	Eduardo Duran
05/10/20	Primary Speech	Ann Ulanov & Barry Ulanov
06/10/20	Silence	Thich Nhat Hanh
07/10/20	Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church.	Barbara Holmes
08/10/20	The Orthodox Church[1] or The Orthodox Way[2]	Timothy Ware Or Kallistos Ware
09/10/20	Holy Listening	Margaret Guenther
10/10/20	God's Voice Within	Mark Thibodeaux
11/10/20	Soul Feast	Marjorie Thompson
12/10/20	Spiritual Friend	Tilden Edwards
01/10/21	Celebration of Discipline	Richard Foster
02/10/21	Seeds of Contemplation	Thomas Merton
03/10/21	Confessions or Revelations of Divine Love[3]	St. Augustine or Julian of Norwich
04/10/21	Reaching Out	Henri Nouwen
05/10/21	The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective	Richard Rohr
06/10/21	Take the MBTI online; no report.	http://www.16personalities.com/
	Spiritual Pilgrims: Carl Jung &Teresa of Avila	Welch

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[1] This version includes a detailed and helpful history of the Orthodox church; for those of you who love history, we would suggest this one.

[2] This version omits the history portion and focuses solely on the practices of the Orthodox tradition.

[3] A really good edition of Julien of Norwich is The Sayings, translated by Mirabeau Starr.