What book, holy books aside, has most profoundly influenced your life?

Rabbi REUVEN BULKA, head of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa, hosts Sunday Night with Rabbi Bulka on 580 CFRA.

For a long time, going back to my early 20s, the relationship between psychology and religion was a topic of keen interest to me, perhaps even an obsession. I grew up in a time when religion was deeply suspicious of psychology, and psychology in general was dismissive of, if not hostile to, religion.

Deep in my gut, I felt that this tension and mutual disdain was unfortunate, and that religion could greatly benefit from psychology and vice versa. I found religious nuggets that contained psychological wisdom, and psychological insights that were very useful to religion. But I could not find a psychological system that religion in general, and Judaism in particular, could embrace.

Then, there appeared on the horizon a book that became a gamechanger. The Doctor and the Soul by Viktor Frankl. The book articulated so many ideas and principles that are fully consistent with religion, and in many instances came awfully close to Jewish religious principles.

That started me on a path of reading everything by Frankl I could get my hands on, and then moving forward to writing a Masters dissertation on the relation between Frankl’s system, known as logotherapy, and Judaism, followed by a Doctoral dissertation on the relation between logotherapy and religion in general.

Along the way, I met and became a close friend of Frankl, and have written a number of books that are logotherapy-infused. Additionally, because logotherapy (healing through meaning) is so common-sense based, it became a guiding force in much of my daily interaction.

Frankl’s influence is quite farreaching. For example, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who changed the way we look at death and dying, considers Frankl her mentor. Looking back at my life’s trajectory, The Doctor and the Soul was the start of my long involvement in the psychology-religion dialogue.

Rev. GEOFF KERSLAKE is a priest of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Ottawa.

The answer to this question depends on when you ask me because at different times in my life, a particular book has come along that really spoke to me where I was at that moment. I hope you don’t mind if I answer by citing two specific books and then make a few observations.

He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek SJ recounts the true experiences of a Jesuit priest who was imprisoned in post-Second World War Soviet Russia and who spent over 20 years in prison and hard labour prison camps. His message of hope and finding meaning through his faith amid profound suffering really struck me.

Another book I stumbled across is The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Fr. James Martin SJ. It is a well-written, engaging introduction to Jesuit spirituality that is informative, funny and thought-provoking and it reaches a wide audience, making it useful for almost anybody. I have reread parts of it several times.

I also like to read works of fiction and I have often found that a wellwritten science fiction novel or fantasy book has caused me to ponder and reflect on some “big questions” because good writers can reveal truth with fiction.

Perhaps the biggest revelation that came to me recently from reading in general was that there were so many good books to read that I couldn’t possibly read them all. So, I need to concentrate the time I have on reading the most worthwhile material. Because books affect our perceptions, we need to make the right choices that help us grow in positive directions.

Rev. JOHN COUNSELL is discipleship pastor at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Ottawa and host of Late Night Counsell weeknights on 580 CFRA.

Agood indication of a book’s influence is if you keep recommending it to others, and for me there are two that stand out.

The first is The Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness by Gene Edwards. A narrative that retells the story of King Saul, King David and the “wannabe king” Absalom. It’s a book I don’t read, it reads me!

No other work outside of the Bible has so profoundly exposed my arrogance, insecurities, doubt and fear. It has challenged me to trust God when I have felt ignored, abused and forgotten. You could read the entire book in a two-hour sitting and yet it eloquently reveals what distinguishes a real “God-chosen” leader, as opposed to pretenders.

It asks the question and then answers beautifully: “how do you handle authority, and challenges to it, when it is bestowed on you?”

Edwards’ work scared me at first, but its wisdom has changed my life in the process.

The other book I’m constantly recommending is by an author who died only months ago. Raggamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I know of no other extra-biblical work that so beautifully explains the amazing grace of God like this one.

Manning was a Catholic priest who left the priesthood to get married. He loved God profoundly, but struggled with alcoholism, which painfully led to the demise of his marriage. In the book, he never goes into the gory details of his personal life (which I discovered on my own) and yet still communicates what it means to be unconditionally loved by God better than any I’ve read.

If you can get to the place where you understand the implications of God’s love for you, you’ll never be the same. To say it is empowering is a gross understatement.

RADHIKA SEKAR has a PhD in religious studies and taught Hinduism at Carleton University. She is a disciple of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission.

Many books have inspired me over the years: a phrase here, an idea there, but I cannot single out any one as the most influential. Therefore I will tell you about one that I came across recently.

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson (1988) is an allegorical story about coping with change. Four characters: two mice, “Sniff” and “Scurry,” and two little people, “Hem” and “Haw,” live in a maze. They pair off to look for cheese (Happiness), and one day happen upon a cheese-filled corridor at “Cheese Station C”. Hem and Haw establish routines around their daily intake of cheese and gradually settle into complacency.

Soon the cheese is depleted. Sniff and Scurry, who have been noticing the dwindling supply, move on and find more cheese at Station N. However Hem and Haw are angered and feel victimized. But frightened of the unknown they refuse to move on.

It then dawns on Haw that “fear” is holding him back and decides to move on alone. Before he goes, he chisels “If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct” on the wall for his friend to ponder.

Haw then begins a journey of discovery. Heading deeper into the maze, he leaves a trail of writings on the wall to clarify his own thinking, and hoping to help his friend if he finally sets out. Finally, after many ups and downs, he arrives at Cheese Station N, where there is abundant cheese, including varieties that he had not heard off. Realization dawns on him: They Keep Moving The Cheese!

There are, no doubt, an abundance of books that are more profound than this. But it is an easy read for summer and contains a very important message: Change is constant. We should learn to anticipate it, adapt to it and even enjoy it.

Rev. RAY INNEN PARCHELO is a novice Tendai priest and founder of the Red Maple Sangha, the first lay Buddhist community in Eastern Ontario.

As a reader, I have been most influenced by one fiction and one non-fiction title. The City and the City by British speculative fiction writer China Miéville (2010) is a murder mystery set in a fictionalized modern metropolis named Beszel/Ul Quomoa. It is oddly two capitals of two different nations which have intertwined, sharing the same physical space in Asia Minor. Rather than risk elimination by warfare, the two cities have evolved a unique survival solution. The citizens and cultures have learned how to “un-see” each other. Thus, they live side-by-side without ever participating in the other’s world.

This conceit allows the author to examine how modern society has created ways of denying the reality of anything we find objectionable or unpleasant.

My second reading is the social anthropological work titled Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion (2008) by Thomas Tweed. In it, Tweed develops a new and wonderfully useful definition of religions as the process by which we journey away from the familiar in our lives and how we establish new homes or dwelling-places, in a psycho-spiritual sense.

Both of these have rightly been called masterpieces by different readerships for different reasons. I would highly recommend both.

Undoubtedly, the book that has most profoundly influenced my life is the one I just published. Walk Like A Mountain explores the practices of contemplative walking in world religions. I cannot begin to number the ways this project changed my life.

I have discovered a deeply personal and meaning-filled field that will engage me for the rest of my life. It has reopened trails, metaphoric and concrete, where I can explore some familiar and some new paths. It has given me the confidence that my voice is a unique gift that will allow me to serve my faith commitments.