Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning |
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| Title: | Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning |
| Author: | Scotty McLennan |
| Publisher: | HarperOne |
| Type: | Book / Paperback |
| Publication Date: | 01 January, 2001 |
| ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0060653469 / 9780060653460 |
| List Price: | $14.00 |
| You Save: | $2.03 |
| Amazon Price: | $11.97 |
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This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon.com, from $7.95.
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
An Indispensable Guidebook for Those Seeking a New Spiritual Path, or Wishing to Reconnect to the Religion of Their Youth
Amazon.com Review
Finding Your Religion is a guidebook for the perplexed--those who have lost faith in the religion of their youth and are not sure how to continue their spiritual lives. The book's author, the Rev. Scotty McLennan, has plenty of experience with the perplexed; he is a Unitarian minister and the chaplain at Tufts University. (He has also inspired and entertained millions of people indirectly, as the model for the freewheeling character Reverend Scott Sloan in Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury.) McLennan has structured Finding Your Religion on a model of six stages of faith--Magic, Reality, Dependence, Interdependence, and Unity. The book describes each of these stages in detail, drawing on McLennan's experience with students' spiritual searches and on his own search (which led him, among other places, to Harvard Law School and to ashrams in the Far East). McLennan's prose is clear and direct; he is very open to exploration, and very tough on laziness. "Pick a religious path and start walking," he writes. "Even if it turns out not to be the right way later on, you won't get anywhere spiritually without starting." --Michael Joseph Gross
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Customer Reviews:
• Compassionate Reminders Of How One's Spiritual Life Can Grow
19 April, 2008
Perhaps only someone who has had extensive experience with a religously diverse population over time, as Scotty McLennan has had as a university chaplain, could write such a book. Also, as a Unitarian Universalist, McLennan might be more receptive to people being on spiritual journeys that meaningfully lead them from one religion to another [ to another...].
The chapter on Suffering was especially meaningful to me. The story of Jonas and his family's tragedy was heart-breaking but it was personally helpful to me to read how he was able to benefit from both his Christian and Buddhist understandings and practices.
The presentation on faith stages, which McLennan refers to throughout the book, although it might seem simplistic, does provide a framework for understanding the many people whose stories McLennan tells. Nevertheless, this is a book of the heart and all the places where people have travelled by following theirs.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Great Book
31 December, 2007
i really like it, it gives you information on major world religions and examples of other peoples' jurneys to find the one that they connect with. basicaly it convinces you to get out there and be a part of a religon, even if later you decide to abandon it and try another one you should start today and see where it takes you.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Good Inspiration To Start Your Search, But Not Much Else
01 October, 2007
McLennan will not give you faith in any particular religion. He will open you up to the idea of adding religion to your life as well as tell you about some of the highs and lows to expect along the way. The best advice that McLennan gives is to get out there and start looking. This is quite an eye opener to the skeptic who thinks they need, can or have to believe everything before they walk through the church door.
McLennan's greatest weakness is failing to elaborate on key and conflicting differences between religions. He sees all religions as taking different paths on the same religious mountain, essentially saying there is no "wrong" choice. This is an important metaphor, because many religions do have strong similarities and seek to address the same issues. Many religions, however, also have key differences.
Also McLennan, a life long student of religion, provides a paltry list of recommended reading and organizations in the back of the book. Some of his most informed recommendations are left in the text only, leaving it up to the reader to take notes.
The only really unforgivable, but thankfully brief, flaw in the book is a several page plug for the Doonesbury comic strip. I understand McLennan using his connection with the comic as a marketing device on the front cover. We have never heard of him, so mentioning his connection with the comic builds interest in the book. Once we are hooked, however, he should not try to sneak in an off-topic testament to the power of the Doonesbury comic. This seems like a gross violation of the reader's trust when people are coming to him for advice about religion. Thankfully this is near the end of the book and shouldn't detract much from the overall experience.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Helpful, Interesting, Well Written
02 August, 2007
An excellent example of a book which in a friendly yet organized way strives to assist those looking for a faith or path that will be meaningful to them. The author through his work with students and adults in spiritual matters has not just theoretical knowledge but practical wisdom to impart to the reader. The many examples of persons seeking a path and how they went about it -- is one of the best things about this book.
I might add that it is enjoyable to read. Nothing like the typical textbook.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Generally Good
17 July, 2008
I enjoyed this book and liked how it was written explaining the various "journies" of many people and many paths they went down. Rev Scotty has many good points and anecdotes about the subject. The only reason I took one star away is that he segwayed into things that weren't as important. In the second hald of the chapter "Rejoicing" he was telling jokes and describing specific comics of Doonsberry. Other than those little things it was great
- Amazon Customer Review
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