If you were looking for a book to read in Lent, why not go to the Archbishop of Canterbury and see what the occupant of that office has recommended over the last several years? This year, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has made "Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Way of Passionate Humility," by Stephen Cherry his "Lent Book of 2011." I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and am now working my way through sections of it for a second time.
One of the central questions of the book is whether we can develop our humility? There is an implicit problem with the idea of developing one's humility, which is, as soon as we might recognize, "hey I'm building up my humility, I am doing a great job," we actually are probably not embodying humility as much as before. We can fall into the trap of being proud about our humility...
Stephen Cherry works the reader through this potential pitfall, and also develops his concept of the "Barefoot disciple" who embraces what he calls "passionate humility."
It is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it. Also, below are several of the Archbishop of Canterbury Lent books from the last several years. I have read several of them, and highly recommend them.
Praying that we may keep a holy Lent,
Peace and Blessings,
~The Rev. Peter M. Carey
Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Books
1983 The Truce of God by Rowan Williams
1988 Looking Before and After by Helen Oppenheimer
1992 Tested by the Cross - Wesley Carr
1993 Mary's Story, Mary's Song by Elaine Storkey
1997 Pilgrims by Stephen Platten
1998 The Shape of Living by David Ford
1999 Living Well by Robert Warren
2001 Christ on Trial by Rowan Williams
2002 The Meaning in the Miracles by Jeffrey John
2004 I Thirst by Stephen Cottrell
2005 Other Temptations of Jesus by John Henson
2006 Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf
2007 Power and Passion by Sam Wells
2009 Why go to church? by Timothy Radcliffe
2010 Our Sound is Our Wound: Contemplative Listening to a Noisy World by Lucy Winkett
