Pastor Allen Harris’s Spirituality Bibliography

Good Books From My Life (With Spiritual Themes)

Celebrate The Temporary by Clyde H. Reid, HarperOne 1974

“This is a book that helps one slow down, panic less and celebrate more!!” “I would agree 100%! I kept this book next to my Living Bible as a teenager and read them both together. I’m still trying to live out its vision of life in the here and now.” AVH



 

The Leaning Tree, by Patrick Miles Overton, 1975, Bethany Press
“This was one of the most influential books of my teen years. I actually have an autographed copy of the book. There has been no more powerful image of faith I’ve ever heard than the one he has offered in the poem copied below.” AVH

Excerpt: “Faith”
When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly.

Guerillas Of Grace: Prayers For The Battle, by Ted Loder, 1984, Innisfree Press (or 2004 – 20th Anniversary Edition, Augsburg Books)

“This book was given to me by one of the Minister Elders of Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City, the Rev. Sally Bailey, and it gave me a new, more authentic voice, not only for prayer, but for all of my language in the church and in my own spiritual journey.” AVH

“How does one pray when there are no words for the pain of life? The Rev. Loder offers the reader an extraordinary collection of tough, beautiful, and earthy prayers that will feed the mind, lighten the heart, and dare the spirit to soar.”


How Good Do We Have to Be?: A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness
by Harold S Kushner, 1996, Little Brown & Co.

“This amazing book is the best source of hope for the human race I’ve ever found. It reimagines the foundational story of our relationship with God and one another in such a way as to bring life and strength and reason to our existence. Thank God for Rabbi Kushner!” AVH

From Library Journal
“Jewish and Christian religions reinforce feelings of guilt and inadequacy by using the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve to teach that humankind's spiritual inadequacies are inherent. Rabbi Kushner (When Bad Things Happen to Good People, 1981) here retells the Genesis story of the primeval couple to demonstrate that the imperfections of humankind do not merit the loss of God's love, nor should they foster the guilt and anxiety that they often do in a society driven by a misguided attachment to perfection. Combining psychology and spirituality, Kushner invokes the power of acceptance and forgiveness as a means of overcoming the insidious consequences of a preoccupation with perfection.”

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott, Random House/Anchor Books: February 2000
“Anne Lamott” has given progressive people of faith hope that the Church might actually have a purpose in the 21st century! Her bold but loving images about God-embodied in life are breath-taking and life-giving. No one can leave Anne’s world without being changed, and without a thirst for the divine.” AVH

From The Random House website: A chronicle of faith and spirituality that is at once tough, personal, affectionate, wise, and very funny. Anne Lamott claims the best two prayers she knows are "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Despite — or because of — her irreverence and wit, faith is a natural subject for Lamott. With an exuberant mix of passion, insight, and humor, in Traveling Mercies she takes us on a journey through her often troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith. In a narrative spiced with stories and scripture, with diatribes, laughter, and tears, Lamott tells how, against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself.
Whether writing about her family or her dreadlocks, sick children or old friends, the most religious women of her church or the men she's dated, she shows us the myriad ways her faith sustains and guides her, shining light on the darkest part of ordinary life and exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope.
For some discussion questions about Anne Lamott’s “Traveling Mercies,” go to: http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385496094&view=rg

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran, ed.s
(New York: IPM/Warner Books,1998)

“Acknowledging that sometimes the image of great people grows larger than life, there is still nothing more inspiring and awesome than to read the actual words of this great preacher. Even in print, they are some of the most compelling and timely sermons for today.” AVH

Publisher Comments:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, was first a preacher, and then an advocate for civil rights. This is a selection of King's most spiritual words, the sermons he delivered from his pulpit at Ebenezer and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and in churches around the country.
Many of the sermons are new versions, uncovered by Clayborne Carson at The King Paper Project at Stanford University. They include moving meditations on a variety of universal topics, including rediscovering lost values, the redemptive power of love, and making moral advancement as much a part of our lives as technological advancement. The emphasis is on individual improvement and growth that can result in mountain-moving strength.

In "Loving Your Enemies" Dr. King tells the story of the man who berated Abraham Lincoln publicly before his election...and how Lincoln made him Secretary of War once he became President despite. When Lincoln died, that same man was his biggest supporter.

In "The Three Dimensions of a Life" Dr. King warns not to try to be a Cadillac if you're really a Ford. If you do, you won't be able to get into those small parking spaces that a Cadillac will never get into.

Each sermon will include an introduction from one of the great ministers and theologians of the world, reflecting on the present day relevance of King's words and remembrances of Dr. King's delivery of the sermons.

Synopsis:
This extraordinary collection of sermons by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--many never before published--features introductions and commentary by the world's leading ministers and theologians, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, evangelist Billy Graham, and Congressman Floyd Flake.