Sparks of the Divine: Finding Inspiration in Our Everyday World

Rating:
Summary: ...breath of fresh air
Review: "Sparks of the Divine: Finding Inspiration in Our Everyday World" is a breathe of fresh air. In my role as pastoral associate, I often find myself in conversation with those who are seeking to deepen their relationship with God and asking for ways to establish a deeper prayer life. I readily recommended this book to a friend who claimed to be having difficulty finding God in the everydayness of his workaday world.

Leder's very welcome volume points students of prayer of all ages toward finding God in the seemingly insignificant of things, events, places, and situations of life. It is said that St. Francis "became prayer" because his profound relationship with God caused him to see God in all peoples, events, and things. Francis would have loved this book of reflections.

Who, for example, would have considered ducks, frogs, windshield wipers, pajamas, throwing things away and speed bumps to be a source for mediation and reflection? Drew Leder has done this in a most appealing and attractive way, leaving the reader asking "Why didn't I see God goodness and presence there before?" In a world where over stimulation of our senses often times leaves us deaf, dumb, and blind to the signs of God's presence around us, this well written series of reflections makes us pause to reconnect with the traces of God's goodness and presence all around us. In this regard, Leder quotes Paul Tournier in The Adventure of Living: "In the biblical perspective there are not two distinct worlds, the profane and sacred. Everything is sacred."

Each of the one hundred reflections is followed by a series of questions which make it easy for the reader to enter even more deeply into the art of "seeing" God in all that is Each of these meditations help the reader personalize the meditation. As Leder says: "We don't need to go to Tibet to find a sacred space and saintly guru. The teachings we need are right here and now if we but know how to see."

The reflection are also punctuated by fifteen "shape shifts", guided meditations, which assist the reader to enter into the heart of another being by calling us to movement or a different reflective position. Each is designed to help us to enter more deeply into a oneness with our environment and what it tells us about God by involvement of more than one of the senses. I am finding that learning how to remove the "mind-rain" that impedes our life journey with my "spiritual windshield wipers" is a wonderful exercise to remove the feelings, sensations and things that life rains on us. What a creative insight!

Also helpful are the wonderful quotations from various faith traditions which offer valuable insights into the God-directed life. They punctuate the format of the book and are little fountains of spiritual insight from Islamic, Jewish, and Christian authors of all ages.

This book is a gem!
Pastoral Associate, St. Matthew Cathedral