The Spiritual Activist: Practices to Transform Your Life, Your Work, and Your World (Compass)

Horwitz has searched through our churches, schools, and community resources to find those people who live a life of quiet purpose, every day. Their essays, interviews, and questions bring to light the issues that we all struggle with, and the ways in which we can address those struggles without losing sight of our individuality. I think that many social activists reach burnout early in life. They become so overwhelmed with the ugliness and apathy that is present every day, that they are unable to continue the exploration of life in a positive, enlightening way. It requires a strong base to be able to see beyond the magnitude of the hurt, abandonment and loss that is simply a part of life. The exercises and suggestions in this book lead directly onto that path of purposeful building. Horwitz blends the traditions of a number of world religions, and allows the reader to see the similarities in each of them that tie us all together. It underscores the importance of prayer, awareness and ritual, regardless of the tradition from which it springs. With this book it becomes possible to build a spiritual practice that comes directly from the heart, and enables the reader to participate fully in life.

This is a restful, inspiring, fun and easy book for those in the trenches of social justice work, or anyone else with visions of making the world or her/his own life more peaceful and delightful.First, you need to have it just for the graphic design and ease of use. Open to any page, graze, and you will find a tidbit of fine advice, a personal story, an observation, a quote--something to enrich your day. All laid out in big print, with beautiful fonts, plenty of white space, and boxed out parcels. You can read this like a novel, but also play around. Shaded grays jump out at you with excerpts from all the world's major and some minor spiritual traditions--wisdom literature in bite-sized pieces, very digestible.The author's confessional honesty about her challenges to find meaningful rituals for life events, and her creativity in developing them, make this book feel like a good sit-down with a buddy.Even those with years of spiritual reflection and practice will find this book a great refresher, a patchwork quilt to warm and soothe life's hurdles and also a terrific guidebook for making small celebrations. It's fun. It's profound. I find this book ideal for a holiday/birthday/any time gift.