Moving in the Spirit: Becoming a Contemplative in Action

I enjoyed this book but was not overwhelmed by the depth of insight in it. I was looking for a book to assist me with spiritual discernment and a friend of mine recommended it, particularly the chapter on discernment. Overall it's a nice systematic approach to opening one up to spiritual direction. The beginning is more like a textbook discussion on where people are on their spiritual journey and the marks of how the different stages of the journey manifest themselves. The practical element is mostly a description of the author's experience with discernment and is not much different from other outcome evaluation techniques you might read about in non-spiritual works. If you are interested in discernment or in self-guided spiritual direction, you will probably gain something from the book, I think I just came into it with higher expectations that, had they been met, would have warrented a higher rating.

I bought this book as a text for Spring Hill College Summer Institute of Spirituality course...which, sadly, I was unable to take. I kept the book, though. Hauser, an academic, and a Jesuit priest, shows how to make comtemplative prayer not just a part of life--a part of one's day--but how to *integrate* into one's life. He bases his technique on the exercises of St. Ignatius, and at the end of each chapter, includes several questions for reflections. His advice throughout is concrete and practical--this is not a book of esoteric theology. For instance, in the chapter entitled "Obstacles to the Spirit," he identifies bad moods as one obstacle to the Holy Spirit, and describes 5 courses of action the contemplative can take to overcome that obstacle.Overall, well-written, direct, and concrete, with plenty of specific examples.

This book is most useful for any who want a basic introduction to Jesuit spirituality--particularly discernment of spirits. While the author admits his method may seem complicated, the book is well illustrated and clearly written. Perhaps more important than slavishly imitating his method--something the author would hardly recommend--is the opportunity to see how someone else has gone about the nitty-gritty practical components of becoming a contemplative in action and thereby to be inspired to develop one's own method.