For those who are wanting to deepen their spiritual lives

Sheffield-born writer Margaret Silf has several books to her credit dealing with the writings of mystics through the ages. This is one such book. An English graduate and mystic herself, her own commentaries interspersed between the quotations of others are themselves enlightening to read. The book is divided into seven sections in order to give the reader an idea of the overall message of a group of quotations. Thus the Original Wisdom section gives us sayings of contemporary mystics Matthew Fox and environmentalists Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, but also quotations from Augustine and the Bible. Natural Wisdom as the title suggests gives us something of the awe and wonder that others have felt in their encounters with nature. There is a moving account of a vision that Margaret herself experienced in an encounter with an oak tree: trees and rocks have been a source of inspiration to intuitives since the beginning of civilization. I suppose one could call this piece a meditation on life provoked by the imagery of the tree; the language is quite different but this section put me in mind of the lovely nature poetry of Gerald Manley Hopkins. There are other sections on Indigenous Wisdom with quotations from Bede Griffiths and White Eagle, on Life Wisdom quoting Keith Ward, David Tacey, and Kahlil Gibran, and still others. At the foot of each page there are aphorisms of just a couple of lines that are little gems in themselves. There are several pages of reference sources at the end of the book. I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone in search of spiritual uplift and enlightenment, or perhaps inspiration for a quiet meditation. Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, UK.