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Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning
An Indispensable Guidebook for Those Seeking a New Spiritual Path, or Wishing to Reconnect to the Religion of Their Youth
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
December 26th 2000
by HarperOne
(first published 1999)
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I really enjoyed this book. I didn't read it to find my religion, but to understand my own faith journey and to learn more about faith stage theory. It was an excellent follow-up to James Fowler's Stages of Faith, and much much much easier to read and comprehend.
McLennan first describes his faith stage theory which he relates to "climbing the spiritual mountain." Then he discusses eight themes (thinking, experiencing, walking, joining, sitting, suffering, rejoicing) that help you find your fait...more
McLennan first describes his faith stage theory which he relates to "climbing the spiritual mountain." Then he discusses eight themes (thinking, experiencing, walking, joining, sitting, suffering, rejoicing) that help you find your fait...more
Dec 14, 2009
PlatKat
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People questioning their faith
Recommended to PlatKat by:
The bookstore that wouldn't buy it back from Dominic
Just grabbed it off the bookshelf. It was a regular literary roulette!
A few days later, Dominic saw this book on the table with my stuff and asked, "Are you reading this?"
"Yep! What did you think of it?" I replied.
"I had to get it for a class. I didn't read it because I dropped the class."
"..."
The author is a chaplain at Tufts University, which explains its (most likely primarily) academic usage and somewhat academic style of writing. It wasn't too much of a drag to read like one would expect fr...more
A few days later, Dominic saw this book on the table with my stuff and asked, "Are you reading this?"
"Yep! What did you think of it?" I replied.
"I had to get it for a class. I didn't read it because I dropped the class."
"..."
The author is a chaplain at Tufts University, which explains its (most likely primarily) academic usage and somewhat academic style of writing. It wasn't too much of a drag to read like one would expect fr...more
The book has a lot of anecdotes and some interesting information about other world religions. There are suggestions for other books to read. The author talks about the importance of educating ourselves about other relgions, and how this knowledge can deepen our faith and understanding of others. He compares our spiritual journey to climbing a mountain and tells us that the most important step is picking a "path", even if it changes along the way. He describes different religions in a positive w...more
Feb 17, 2013
Cynthisa
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
z_mmiv,
gen_non_fiction
Found it to be a lovely primer on what religion is and isn't. As an adult well out of college, I found the youth orientation a bit tiresome, but since that is the target group of the book, it was probably unavoidable. Overall, thoughtful and well done. It helped me pinpoint where I was spiritually as well (at the "seeking to be a part of a community" stage, as it turned out. Made me realize I was ready to join a local synagouge.)
I really liked this one. It sort of, in my opinion, approached human spirituality from the perspective of human development and what the concept of "maturity" means in the progression of religious thought-slash-feeling of an individual human. Nice. Reassuring. It is a quest and we may change our paths along the way.
This is a book by the real life model for the priest character in Doonesbury, and Trudeau's college roommate. His very understandable book about finding yourself religiously is full of suggestions for additional reading and personal stories from all religious traditions. Very insightful.
Really liked him when I interviewed him on this book for Grace Cathedral. Very evolved...a must read for anyone who needs some help with finding your religious compass.
I found it really hard to get engaged in this book, and i'm not sure why. Too many anecdotes and summaries of other, more profound, spiritual books. But it gave me some food for thought and some ideas of other books to read. Just couldn't focus on it - I guess I'm not ready to find my religion!
This was a good yet simple book dealing with how there is no one way to experience a spiritual life or experience. This is the second time I have read this book and I chose it again because my faith-life is at an all time low and I needed something to get me thinking about it again. I have never been truly comfortable with my Catholicism and this was a great book to tell me how there are many different spiritual paths and I can experiment with many on my life journey. I cannot give this book a g...more
I suspect I may end up getting my own copy of this. It definitely spoke to the part of me that misses being devout, and I really appreciated the respect given to so many other religions and the repeated idea that learning about other religions can only enhance your own. I would have at least preferred a mention of neo-paganism but I respect his decision to stick to the major belief systems. There are several references to other works worth looking into (I've acquired two already). Also, Doonesbu...more
Oct 15, 2007
Kaye
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
faith seekers
Shelves:
religion
The author of this book was the inspiration for the good reverend in the comic strip Doonesbury. This book validated for me everything that I have been going through in terms of my spirituality, and let me see that I don't need to pinpoint my destination, just know that I am going somewhere. It is absolutely non-denominational but glories in faiths, from Judaism to Hinduism, Muslim and Christian (and more!), and presents spiritual development as a six stages. I highly recommend it for people tha...more
Some useful insights and nice anecdotes but not a lot of depth.
Enjoyed this book. It helped me see the universality of religion and the "phases" of spiritual development. I found both of these concepts very reassuring. I feel less guilty now for my questions and lack of religious conviction and more willing to embrace the quest for meaning. The author is very open-minded and also offers lots of good information on where to continue one's personal research regarding various religious faiths.
I read this after I interviewed the author, who is/was the dean of religious life for Stanford. He inspired his friend from Yale (Gary Trudeau) to create the character Reverend Scot Sloan. I found McLennan to be very zen-like and cool. The book is allright too.
I'm on a comparative religion kick right now, starting with this book. It's not bad and certainly speaks to my point of view, but I don't feel any more inspired or enlightened now than I did before I read it.
This book saved my faith.
Apr 30, 2013
Hanley
marked it as to-read
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The Reverend William L. McLennan, Jr. — better known as "Scotty McLennan" — was born on November 21, 1948. He is an ordained minister, lawyer, professor, published author, and administrator at Stanford University in Stanford, California. Since January 1, 2001, McLennan has been the Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, where he oversees non-academic religious affairs on campus, is the mi...more
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