Make a List by Marilyn McEntyre — Book Review

Can making a list be a spiritual exercise? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Allow Marilyn McEntrye to be your guide through lots of journaling prompts and examples. This is not a book to skim through rapidly — take your time and ponder the suggestions carefully. In doing this you will discover things about yourself that you have forgotten, or maybe never fully realized.

All of us rely upon lists — think about the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, the 12 Steps of AA or even the many magazine articles that “list” the ways you can solve a problem. When you begin making your own lists, you will find that a list can become a prayer, a litany or a love letter. It can lead to important insights or conversations. A list can become so much more than a list. As the author puts it,

“A list–even a copious and comprehensive one–is a beginning. Somewhere on it an item will call itself to your attention, invite further consideration, nudge you toward action, make you wonder, dare you to dare.”

The author is an English professor, and I can easily imagine list-making as an assignment! Here are just a few of her list suggestions:

*List your “significant others” by name, including one thing they did that was formative in some way

*Things that marriage teaches you

*Reasons I love to read

*Ways the Spirit moves in my life

Since this month our theme is virtues, why not try listing the virtues you would like to develop in your life? Or some of the virtuous people you know and what you admire about each one?

VERDICT: 5 STARS. Challenging and fun — at least for a former English major!

For more book reviews see these posts:

Learning Humility by Richard Foster–Book Review

The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie — Book Review

All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore — Book Review