I just finished reading Paul Elie's wonderful biography, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, which chronicles the lives of four Twentieth Century American Catholics: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy.
Elie reveals that the four authors were well aware of one another and often came into contact with each other. Merton and Day shared lively written correspondence. Merton and Percy met at Merton's famous hermitage. Percy and O'Connor met briefly as well. Even more than sharing correspondence, Elie makes the point that the authors were shaped by similar books along their journeys.
The books, not surprisingly, were not all theological, but some were. Percy, Merton and Day were all mesmerized by Dostoevsky, most famously the Idiot and the Brothers Karamazov. Merton and Day had their hearts pulled by The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas A Kempis. Finally, O'Connor, Merton and Percy were all shaped in some way by Jacques Maritain's Art and Scholasticism.
Sneaking a peak at the libraries of these modern day saints piqued my interest and it forced me to consider the books that have influenced me the most. Some are theological, some are academic, some are personal and some are merely good fiction. They follow in no particular order.
The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
I read this book while I was trying to decide whether to attend seminary. It made me think plenty, but like many before me, it challenged me to be a more faithful Christian.
Take This Bread, by Sara Miles.
Christianity is not a philosophy but a lived way of live. Sara Miles' moving memoir of her conversion and ministry that it inaugurated not only helped me think about the mission and nature of the church, but is powerful testimony about the way the Gospel still moves in radically unexpected ways.
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
You know what's coming but you still can't help but being moved by the ending. A wonderful tale of friendship and the power of love.
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