Great Spiritual Writers to Awaken a Soulful Summer: A Reading List That Can Truly Change Your Heart

It takes only a brief glance to note all the local libraries across America and Canada that encourage summer reading programs. Bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Nobles even offer free books to kids who have completed a prescribed amount of books in a summer on their own. Our trips to the Oregon Coast or the Adirondacks usually include a great collection, if even brief, of books we are eager to get through before the autumn leaves fall again. But before you break open that new Dean Koontz or dive into the meat of a Dickens classic, consider one of these spiritually uplifting reads to awaken the sleepier parts of your soul.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - Lewis is known for his apologetic work, except where this book, the Narnia series, and his science fiction are concerned. I remember picking up a battered copy of this allegorical attack on modernistic/there-is-only-material-and-the-tangible view of life. I was ill with the flu my freshmen year of college, and had to spend Thanksgiving a thousand miles away from home, eating crackers and downing Benadryl. So I did what any good nerd word does, and I read. Lewis has always been one of my absolute favorite writers, but this new take on an old myth will give you new heroines, offer you a starkly individual writing style, and a fresh view of the way your heart moves when a writer challenges it. It is one you will want to buy and read again and again, as the meanings become deeper and more plentiful with each new read.

Crime and Punishment - This truly spiritual novel (of which there are many in the world), will instantly compel you, shock you, and demand that you consider your own faults before judging poor, crazy Raskolnikov or the poor crazy old woman he has done in. This is a tale that describes, so completely, the accessibility of true spiritual freedom even in the midst of a Siberian labor camp - even for a justly convicted murderer.

The Joy in Loving by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta - A day-by-day guide to opening your heart to the greater ability to give and receive love, this simple, easy-to-read, gem is filled with powerfully brief words of encouragement for any heart, in any state of love or lack thereof. You can start it in July and keep reading each day for five minutes until you are back at the beach again next summer. It's the perfect morning solitude companion.

The Journey Toward God by Fr. Benedict Groeschel with Kevin Perrotta - This book attacks all the great questions - eternal life, suffering, prayer, religious experience, etc...in the footsteps of the Great Spiritual Writers of the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox experience. It is compiled so that the reader can check the index in the beginning and begin at any point. All three view points are always included in each subject matter.

The Rhythm of Life - Living Every Day with Purpose and Passion, by Matthew Kelly - The audio version of this book was offered as an Advent gift from a priest at a parish my family I used to attend. Each parish member was urged to take a copy for themselves, and one more person. My husband and I listened to the CD two times or more each, thinking and re-thinking about the words of Christ in the context of our personal lives. The story behind Kelly's own spiritual awakening and the writing and publishing of his books is enough to drag anyone from the depths of their every day boredom. It will always be part of my summer reading collection.

The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross - This short, novella-length collection of diary, essay, and sharply honest poetry, will encourage any person of faith that it is often in the darkness where we learn to love the light. While some authors aim to make the shadows ever more frightening for us, St. John's aim is to show us the way to peace in any circumstance, especially the moments most dimly lit.

This is only a short suggested list. There are so many other writers out there whose words wait to change the direction of your heart into something that beats with a spiritual purpose - Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Amy Carmichael, Pope John Paul the Great, St. Theresa of Avila, etc...Ask your local rabbi, priest, thoughtful librarian, or best friend what spiritually edifying works they have been reading. Something good is bound to fall into your path.