Books like Monastic Ecological Wisdom — picked by fans

This is a wise and thoughtful read.

And this is an excellent example of why so many spiritual seekers in so many traditions, languages, and cultures are finding grounding and guidance for their lives. Gioia is a great resource for anyone who desires a more authentic relationship with the Divine as Benedict offered in his Rule.

Gioia gifts us with deep and practical wisdom for anyone in any situation, not just monastics. Gioia is realistic about messy human nature and the challenges the human community is facing. He does not separate the sacred from the profane, as ALL of life is sacred. His writing is quite accessible for the "non-specialist" and the book is organized in a way that makes it “user-friendly."

I highly recommend it if you're serious about your inner spiritual journey.

This is so creative. I loved it.

Carmel uses her knowledge of women in early Christianity to create a life (“biography”) of St Benedict’s twin sister, Scholastica. Carmel uses the format for Pope Gregory’s Life of Benedict in a way that is quite plausible.

She begins by imaging, from the history we do have, a childhood for the two of them—and her teacher is called Sophia. Scholastica comes across as wise, and courageous, and a leader in her own right.

Meet a saint who confronts warring gang leaders, gives wise counsel (including to her brother), establishes monasteries, and leads an ascetical movement of women. Carmel retells the famous story of the last meeting of Benedict and Scholastica, then reimagines the death and burial of the twins. 

This is a delight.

This is a WOW.

Casey, an Australian Trappist, parses out an exploration of grace, the Holy Spirit in action, in every aspect of our lives and relationships. While he explores grace in community, humanity, and prayer, Casey finds grace in our experiences of temptation and disruption. Spending time with this master will open your eyes and heart to the ways that Spirit is already present in your life.

Savor this one.

This is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to read the Rule of Benedict and appreciate non-scholarly commentary that is still based on solid scholarship.

St Benedict wrote his Rule for a bunch of guys, so it utilizes “guy language.” Most of the Rule can be presented with gender-neutral language, so women see themselves in his teaching.

A tradition among Benedictines is to read the Rule three times throughout the year. Sutera set this up so that anyone who chooses can follow this tradition. With each section of the Rule, she provides some background into the context in which the Rule was written, reflections on its meaning for contemporary life, and a few questions for pondering.

I highly recommend this, especially for those new to the Rule.

I like hugging trees, so this is my kind of book! It’s based on a PhD, but I found it very readable and blew me away! Its basic idea is that the OT sees the whole cosmos—including animals, plants, mountains, stars, rivers, and land—as alive and as “persons” in some sense.

The Bible is brimming with such language, but we always dismiss it as “mere” poetry. Nope, says Joerstad, ancient Israelites were animists. What the flump! That conclusion turns much of the OT scholarship upside down. I was so intrigued with this one that I read it three times.

It's such a novel interpretation, but to my mind, it makes sense! I am still not sure how it should affect the way we see the cosmos today, but the mystic within me likes it.

This book was my gateway into Christian climate action 16 years ago.

When my older brother came home from a semester abroad in New Zealand and told my conservative Christian family that he was now a vegetarian because of his environmental convictions, he handed me this book to help me understand why.

It was the first time that I was given permission to engage pollution, environmental destruction, and climate change because of my faith, rather than in spite of it. Nothing has ever been the same.

So much more than a nonfiction book, Betsy Painter’s All of Creation informs and includes a Biblical perspective and Scripture related to each of the eleven chapters.

Each chapter includes how kids can make a difference and related activities with topics ranging from endangered species to coral reefs to the poles and global climate. The lyrical language emphasizes kindness and care for our planet. For example, the first chapter features water in language kids can understand.

“Imagine waking up during a thunderstorm, as the rain sprays against your window like God is aiming His garden hose at your house.” The chapter defines fresh water, explains clean water challenges, and gives concrete examples that widen a child’s scope related the world and its limitations.

Nearly 200 pages, this book empowers kids ages 8 – 12 to know more and to do more. The subtitle summarizes the book well: Understanding God’s Planet… show more.

What if creativity was not a talent given to a chosen few, but an invitation extended to us all? What if the desire for beauty was not gratuitous in life, but central to our faith? Drawing upon the biblical account of Creation and the witness of a myriad of creative thinkers, this book asserts that all of us—from plumbers to painters and meteorologists to musicians—were made in the image of an imaginative God. In that light, Naming the Animals encourages us to see creativity as an essential part of God’s design for partnership with humanity. This is a great introduction to the Art and Faith conversation.

A thorough look at the origins of Christianity and how the once powerful role of serpent (along with the goddess) was undermined and cast as a tempter and deceiver.

Pagels details how a rigidly-patriarchal interpretation of Genesis perpetuates the myth of separation and disconnection from spirit, nature, and ourselves. While snakes as animals are not covered in any depth, this book does explore why negative perceptions of snake still figure so prominently in Western collective consciousness. 

When I finished this book, I felt I’d just finished a survey class on the history of the most important and consequential intersections between American racism and the American church.

I read it with a handful of other white folks who had no idea any of these specific historical moves had been made to keep white/black people separate in the founding of the major denominations, and it produced great conversation not only about the origins of our modern racial tensions within the church but also how we might move through them to a better place.

If your knowledge about specific events is thin, this book is a crash course in why most congregations became mono-cultural in the first place and—perhaps more importantly—remain so today.