Asking the Clergy: What is the best summer reading about religious faith?

Vacation reading often involves escapist fare or celebrity tell-alls, but it can be of a more serious nature, exploring or inspiring faith. This week’s clergy propose an alternative reading list for sultry summer days.

The Rev. Mark Genszler

Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church, North Bellmore

Reading about faith is as varied as life itself. World-broadening fiction, the distilled language of poetry, a classic of history or thoughtful essay on evolution or sexuality can reveal the depths of divine presence in the cosmos and within humanity’s struggle and beauty.

Mary Oliver’s poetry is accessible, profound and beautiful, and it often begins with images of what we call the natural world. Thich Nhat Hanh writes at the intersection of Buddhism and Christianity (and spirituality in general). His poem, “Living Buddha, Living Christ” is a good place to start, as is “Peace is Every Step.”

"A People’s History of the United States" (1980), a nonfiction book by the American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn, expanded my spiritual cosmology in ways perhaps unintended by the thoroughly secular author. I saw U.S. history through a new lens, and my empathy grew. The life of faith includes the call to justice and understanding, and historical understanding is a necessary tool in this task. I would also recommend bell hooks’ writing on masculinity and sexuality.

The Bible itself is a compendium of different genres and periods — poetry, narratives, calls for justice, letters, essays. Choose one, rather than the whole, for a beach read! A biblical summer reading list could include the poetry of The Psalms, the scrappy and sage advice of letters like the one to the Ephesians, the wonder of the early Christian community of the Gospel according to Mark.

Nadia Bolz-Weber’s writings ("Pastrix," "Accidental Saints") continue the faithful exploration in a thoroughly contemporary voice. Exploring your inner cosmos through reading itself is a faithful act.

Arvind Vora
Chair, Long Island Multi-Faith Forum

I have been involved with the Shanti Fund, which promotes education, harmony, peace and tolerance, for four decades. The fund commissioned a Gandhi statue in 1998 for Suffolk County's H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge. One reason for renewed interest in Gandhi, who helped liberate India as well as more than half of humanity in Asia, Africa and South America, is the 150th anniversary of his birth, which will be celebrated worldwide from Oct. 2, 2018, to Oct. 2, 2019.

I'll be reading about Gandhi for a special project commemorating this anniversary. One of the questions I will be researching is who Gandhi considered to be his mentor/teacher/guru. Four people who influenced him heavily were the Jain poet and philosopher Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin and Henry David Thoreau.

I plan to read "Gandhi’s Teachers: Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta" (2005) and "Gandhi’s Teachers: Leo Tolstoy "(2009), both by Satish Sharma. In his travels outside of India, Gandhi learned about Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and other faiths. He recited prayers of different faiths in the morning and evening. From Mehta, Gandhi learned about the intricacies of nonviolent resistance. Reading Tolstoy, for whom Gandhi named his farm, contributed to Gandhi’s development as a religious and moral leader. I expect that reading about Gandhi’s mentors will provide insight into my own life as a Jain.

Vito Benenati

Chairman, Bahai Spiritual Assembly of Hempstead Town, Valley Stream

"The Hidden Words," composed by Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i faith, may be considered a celestial divine breeze wafted upon us from heaven or a refreshing dive into a holy ocean. His book contains gems, which when discovered and internalized lead to the transformation of one’s life.

This small booklet was written by Baha’u’llah as he walked along the Tigris River as an exile in Iraq in the mid-1800s. The introduction to "Hidden Words" contains all the spiritual guidance, according to Baha’u’llah, “revealed unto the prophets of old and clothed in the garment of brevity as a token of grace unto the righteous.” Each of the brief passages, containing just a few sentences, speak directly to the soul from the one who created us.

In the more relaxed days of summer, if one is inclined to ponder existence, this small booklet can take you to such heights or lead to depths of discovery that you may have never imagined. For example, the following passage in "Hidden Words" reveals that we don’t discover our spiritual nature, which he compared to a sword, until we overcome our material side, referred to as a sheath: “Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer's knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.”