Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People

By Tex Sample

Book Overview

This book, says the author, is "a testimony of narratives where [a] strange God appears. Such appearances supply the mystical states that have come to shape my life. I am not helped much by conventional approaches to spirituality. I find it almost impossible to do 'devotions.' Daily Bible study in the sense of devoting twenty to thirty minutes a day never worked for me. I cannot get around to scheduled times for prayer on my knees with head bowed. I find labyrinths and prayer beads boring. I am ever and again distracted in silent meditation. I simply cannot sustain a spirituality based in such things. "I do not regard myself as unusual or special. My hunch, and it is more than that, is that a host of people will recognize themselves in what I describe here. What is here is, clearly, my story, but it is not about me. It is about a God of surprises, of One who comes in the ordinary and the seamy. It is about a God who will goose you. It is about mystical moments when clearly the only thing that finally matters is this God who will never leave us alone, especially in the ordinary and angular places of life. It is, I hope, a spirituality for unspiritual people." From the Circuit Rider review: "Tex Sample's new book, Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People, simultaneously says a whole lot and very little about the subject of mysticism. The word "mysticism" itself only shows up in the introduction and the last chapter, bracketing the book with a concept that Sample doesn't fully define or even directly reflect on the meaning of. That being said, Sample never claims to be writing a scholarly view of what mysticism might be, but instead attempts to show how one can recognize the presence of the holy in everyday life. In this he succeeds powerfully." (Click here to read the entire review.)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0687649897
• ISBN13: 9780687649891
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

good, solid spirituality for "non-spirituals"

Our women's group at church read and discussed the chapters over a 6-week period. Although some were "shocked" at Sample's earthy language, others knew exactly what Sample was saying and agreed with his assessments of times when God was present in situations and other times when the "actors" in the stories were not permitting God to speak. Group members were inspired to reflect on their own experiences of earthy spirituality. A thought-provoking book for those who can handle down-to-earth stories!

Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People

Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People This is a very good book filled with down-to-earth stories. Tex shares many of his deep experiences in a way that connects with people's core values.

More of Tex's stories ..........

WOW! Who would have thought you could string together a series of unrelated stories in an almost random order and make it a book that can't be put down? If anyone could do it, it would be Tex Sample. He is such a great storyteller, author, preacher, and person. I bought this book at 1:30 p.m. one afternoon and had it read by 5 p.m. God's perceived absence is sometimes the place of God's most powerful presence. Tex shows us how that can be. Thanks, Tex