God on Your Own : Finding A Spiritual Path Outside Religion

Part spiritual memoir, part spiritual guide, this book was written by a man who was a Catholic monk for several years as a young adult. He left the monastery and embarked upon his own spiritual journey to try to find his connection with what he used to call God.

He tries to teach the reader how to pursue a path to spirituality outside of organized religion. The problem is, he seems to want to lead you down his path, not have you discover your own path. Much of the book is about leaving a religion, mainly Christianity. For those readers who have never belonged to an organized religion, this isn't really helpful.

In one section early on, he writes, “The Seeker questions everything. A skeptical viewpoint is the best resource for starting to create a personal spiritual way of life.” (p. 52) But he must only mean questioning and being skeptical of the things the Christian church taught you, because on the very next page he is accepting without any skepticism whatsoever Shirley Maclaine's past life visions, and then extols the wonders of psychic surgeons.

Overall, not really for me. But he does have a few interesting points to make, especially about prayer/meditation. He writes, “There is only one prayer: the prayer of thanksgiving.” (p. 94)