Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
As I stated in Part 1, the title of my book would be The 10 Books That Straightened Out My Life: And the 5 Books the Helped. This post will focus on those 5 books. At the end I will list all 15 so they are in one place for easy reference.
I was not a reader until my conversion. After my conversion I fell in love with books. That's probably why I have a bookstore and have written a couple. One book that helped me to become more of a reader and to grow in my faith was
Through the Year With Fulton Sheen. This book, full of Sheen's wit and wisdom, is arranged with a short reading for each day. Everyday I would start my day with this book. I would read the meditation and think about it all through the day. Much of the insight and teaching contained in that book has stayed with me to this day.
Another book that helped straighten out my life was the
Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West. This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It answers basically every question you could ever imagine in the area of sex and marriage as seen through the eyes of the Catholic Church. It is written in a Q & A format which makes for easy reading. Mr. West's answers and analogies are informative and entertaining. I usually recommend this book if the Church's view on sex and marriage is called into question. It is a great tool for learning the teachings of the faith as well as a great resource.
The third book that I would like to mention helped me to understand who I was as a man and why I acted the way I did. Not only that, it helped me see how I, as a man, as a husband, as a father, was created uniquely in the image and likeness of God. Although it is not a "Catholic" book it was a very powerful instrument in helping me to grow as a man. The book is
Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul by John Eldridge. However, I must state that there are some problems with the book from a Catholic perspective and I usually only recommend it to someone who is firmly rooted in the Faith. Mr. Eldridge's follow-up,
The Way of the Wild Heart, was even better. In this book, he showed the different stages of development, how to grow into them and how to train your boys. These two books are very powerful, but again, I express caution to those who are just starting or returning to the Faith.
I cannot remember the name of the next book I want to mention. I know, that sounds ridiculous given the fact that I am listing books that changed my life. But you must understand that this book did change my life not so much by what it said but by how it inspired me. You see, I was in the Adoration Chapel at our Church when I picked this book up. It was a book by Max
Lucado. I really enjoyed it because each meditation was sprinkled with real life experience. However, much of what he was saying in the area of teaching was contrary to our Faith. I removed the book from the chapel but resolved to write a similar work. I wanted to write something that brought personal experiences to life and used them to illuminate the Faith. This book, in part, was the inspiration for my
meditations on the crucifix book. This goal, to teach and share personal stories, has stayed with me to this day. Although I can't remember the name of that book, it did change my life.
The last book that I will mention is really one of a group of books I have been reading dealing with
Distributism.
Flee to the Fields is a collection of essays dealing with the Catholic Land Movement. This movement proposes that economic life must be rooted in agriculture, property, ownership, and freedom. It is a far cry from our capitalist society and today in 2008 it appears more and more appealing as an alternative to socialism and capitalism.
And so, those are the 10, well actually 15, books that straightened out my life. I am sure that in another ten years I will have a completely different list and I look forward with great anticipation to those books that God will place before my eyes.
The List -
1.
Pierced by a Sword
2.
The Screwtape Letters
3.
The Perfect Joy of Saint Francis
4.
Abandonment to Divine Providence
5.
The Golden Thread
6.
On The Most Holy Rosary
7.
The Chronicles of Narnia
8.
A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind
9.
Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom
10.
The Bible
11.
Through the Year With Fulton Sheen
12.
Good News About Sex and Marriage
13.
Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
14.
The Way of the Wild Heart,
15.
Flee to the Fields
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