over the summer i read a number of books. i hope i can find the time to mention them or review them here over the next few weeks. one was spiritual intelligence by brian draper. brian was one of the people behind the creation of the labyrinth, at least the one that was first introduced to me that later got reworked into the st pauls labyrinth. he is a gifted writer and speaker. several years back he interviewed douglas coupland for third way and has obviously maintained the contact because coupland says in big letters on the front…
this book is inspiring
which is quite a coup (geddit?!). brian works with businesses doing training on spirituality – echosounder – so the book is from a christian perspective but written for a wide audience. i like it that it's spun in that way seeking a language that is widespread and accessible rather than churchy.
it's what i'd call layered in that themes are revisited and taken deeper so it's a book that you can read a section of, ponder and then revisit a while later. each section also follows through the same fourfold development of these icons. a large focus is on identity with sections on the false and true self. the bottom line is that most of us are too busy and are not paying attention – we know that, but slowing down or making space is a constant challenge. brian uses a coupland story of a power failure. when there is a power cut people get candles out, gather round, play games and have a very different experience of being together. coupland suggest he wants to live his life in a 'permanent state of power failure'.
the themes are about intentionality, awareness, slowing down, beauty in the ordinary, paying attention, dealing with your ego and the urge to compete and prove yourself to others, connectivity, discovering that giving away is better than focusing on your self. it's not just nice and fluffy (beauty and quietness and slowing down) but brian does tackle issues of the human heart and the need for facing and turning away from the false self – repentance and discovering who we really are. it's essentially about becoming more fully human.
it's a good read – i recommend it. it reminded me in places of mike riddell's wonderful book sacred journey if you ever came across that…
i think it needs a part two looking at the person of jesus christ in a non churchy way – just an idea bri?!
You know it’s funny, one of the most vivid and quite pleasant memories from my childhood is the power cuts that we had in about 1973. My dad had an old Tilley lamp and we dug out a load of candles. With no TV we had to rediscover the power of conversation and storytelling. Fantastic times! And to think that we weren’t nearly such an overstimulated society as we are now! Yeah – we would all benefit from the odd power cut.
Q&As with brian on the current issue of emergingchurch.info
If only there was a recording of his talk on this very subject from Greenbelt… wait a minute… http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/shop/talks/details/GB09-17
diane zohar (2000) published a book called spiritual intelligence SQ (as the ultimate intelligence which brings intellectual intelligence IQ and emotional intelligence EQ together) based on her work on brain based imaging at oxford – her next book called spiritual capital (2004) is also a very interesting read – she is a physicist, and along with her husband who is a psychiatrist/psychotherapist has a really interesting take on how people use SQ to make meaning out of their experiences and why it is so difficult for humans to transform – she approaches things from a normal, non religious perspective, so her work makes a very interesting contrast with brian’s newer faith based stuff – i have used a lot of her findings to help me look at how it is that Christians are such poor life learners – quite fascinating !