GroshLink

In Byron's 5 new books to help you grower deeper, journey inward, move outward and move forward (Hearts & Minds Books. 9/14/2011), I came across the excellent video interview of Richard Foster for his new InterVarsity Press book Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey Into Meditative Prayer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU1am7s7VVk). Enjoy :)

Below is part of what Byron shares about Sanctuary of the Soul in his post, just a long teaser to encourage you to visit his post:

The guidance Foster offers is clear as a bell and the material is solidly Biblical, so I commend this to one and all.  Foster is eminently reliable and his wide awareness of the best spiritual classics and devotional literature of the ages make him one of the finest and most important writers in spirituality.  He includes a lot of Bible study, yes, but he tells stories from his life, too.  The stories (including a major chapter at the end of each section where he narrates a particular experience) rang true -- I met Foster once and had a remarkable and memorable episode that blessed me profoundly, so I can imagine that his stories and illustrations are quietly so.  He is gentle, not breathy, but also very profound and serious.

Richard Foster has written a bit about meditative and listening prayer before (in Celebration of Discipline, for instance) and many of us have long wanted more good guidance about this discipline. (Foster, by the way, notes that Dallas Willard's Hearing God is one of his favorite contemporary books on this subject and we agree!).  Of course he draws on older authors like Madame Guyon and even older authors like Theophan the Recluse.  He warns against inappropriate versions of meditation, new age or Eastern, and affirms a keenly Biblical approach.  (There are those who mistrust Foster but we are proud to carry his books, glad to stand with and for him, and eager to commend this book on meditation to you.  I am not a mystic and certainly no master of the sorts of stuff he invites us to.  But I hunger for it.  Don't you?  I love Ruth Haley Barton's good Invitation to Solitude and Silence and perhaps that is a more foundational place to start.  But if you want simple guidance about silent, listening prayer, about Christian meditation, entwined with Foster's telling of his own on-going journey to the "sanctuary of the soul", this book will be a beloved ally for you.  Certainly in these hard days of political controversy, of national sadness, and of the already hectic new season upon us, we need to be still.  This book will help us, and now is a good time to read it.  Highly recommended. -- http://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/booknotes/5_new_books_to_help_you_grower/. Accessed 9/17/2011. 3:20 pm.

In case you were wonding, I received my copy of Sanctuary of the Soul from InterVarsity Press several days ago. Paging through it. If you're interested in reading it along with me, let me know.

PS. As Byron, I really appreciate Ruth Haley Barton's Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence (InterVarsity Press. 2010) and Dallas Willard's Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (InterVarsity Press. 1999). If you'd like to discuss one of these pieces, let me know :) What a joy to serve with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and to have InterVarsity Press as a vital part of the constellation of ministries.