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A Scruples Book Review

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DISCIPLINES OF THE HUNGRY HEART

by R. Paul Stevens (Shaw 1993)

Reviewed by Michael McLoughlin for Ministry and Spirituality, December, 1994.

Life in Christ is not just a matter of living for eternity with Jesus but it is also a practical, day to day earthly existence that transcends the mundane to discover God in any and all activity, so says Paul Stevens in his recent book: Disciplines of the Hungry Heart. Dr. Stevens describes seven daily life disciplines ordering them into the seven days of the week. Each discipline focuses on an aspect of daily life: work, family, marriage, church, self, neighbors, and rest. Far from distracting us from higher purposes, we discover purpose and meaning in our everyday life as we practice these disciplines.

Dr. Stevens presents the case that our "Spirituality" as defined by him to be: our intentional response to the seeking Father in any activity; is to be lived at the centre of our lives not at the periphery. We spend most of our waking time in mundane activity (the centre), work, caring for the family, doing errands, etc. God must be present in this time and not just when we go to Sunday Church service (the periphery). To discover him we must "remove the stone" and allow him to come into our lives. Disciplines are not methods of reaching God, they are rather ways of removing the barriers and allowing Him to find us. One of the most serious barriers is the mistaken impression that God is to be found only on "special" occasions and that he is absent from the rest of our life. As we remove this barrier and others that hinder the realization of our relationship with God we will discover the joy of living our life for God in all aspects.

The author's method is to examine mundane daily activity like work and find in that activity the discipline of responding to God. We find God in our work when we exercise faith, practice love and look to our future hope in a new heaven and a new earth. Illustrations are used from daily life such as a week in the life of a mother of young children from which lessons in "the spirituality of everyday life" can be found. Much of what the author states is practical and useful for living. However, there are sections that read more like an academic research paper, e.g. Chapter 7 - Contemplative Sexuality, than a guide on the discipline of everyday life. It is necessary to lay the foundation for these disciplines in the word of God, yet lay people who are most likely to benefit from reading this book will stumble at the point it becomes academic and esoteric.

In summary, R. Paul Stevens has done a masterful job in presenting the case and the call to live our lives for God, in God and with God in all our activity from the mundane to the sublime.

Michael McLoughlin for Ministry and Spirituality, December, 1994