Soul Food

“Established by Tilden Edwards those many years ago, the Shalem Institute has continued to offer a safe space for diverse individuals to engage with the sacred and restore the divine image of an abundant, loving God. An illuminating addition to any spiritual library, Soul Food is a testament to the institute’s rich history and commitment to transformative spiritual growth.” – Fr. Richard Rohr, author of Falling Upward and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation

“Exploring numerous rich perspectives on contemporary Christianity—from gender identity and theological languaging to issues of recovery, welcome and inclusion, decolonization, and social action, among others—the authors are unafraid to tackle new perspectives, all the while staying firmly rooted in the core of their faith. Anyone interested in immersing themselves in these topics will be well served here.” –Rev. SeiFu Singh-Molares, Executive Director, Spiritual Directors International

"This celebratory volume for the Shalem Institute is less commemorative than exuberant. It marks a rich history of leadership in spiritual formation by offering challenging and visionary reflection on the future of contemplation. The feast offered is varied, rich, and engaging—some of it stimulating, some soothing, all providing much-needed nourishment that defies ready categorization, except for its quality. This is a further gift to all who have benefitted from the work of Shalem, and all who should." —The Very Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan, Dean and President, Berkeley Divinity School, McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies, Yale Divinity School

"For fifty years, the Shalem Institute has fostered contemplative living and leadership. I'm one of tens of thousands of people who've admired and benefited from its work. Today, in a "post-truth" world, contemplation is crucial. It gives us the tools to penetrate the cultural illusions that divide us, and stay in touch with the love that has always made us one. With this book, Shalem sets forth a radical agenda for the next fifty years where we must do all we can to bend the arc of the moral universe toward love, truth, and justice. If you have any affinity for the contemplative life, you'll find this book a compelling companion as we work and pray for the Beloved Community." —Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, and On the Brink of Everything

"This book is a spiritual gamechanger. Soul Food demonstrates that the life of prayer and contemplation is never detached from the urgent issues of the day, reminding us that the foundation of the spiritual life is all about contemplation and leadership. These essays will make you pray, think, see, act, and live differently. Their voices are the tongues of fire calling us into a new experience of Pentecost and sacred living." —The Rev. Dr. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones, Priest and Director of Spiritual Formation at Trinity Retreat Center and author of Absalom Jones and Face to the Rising Sun

"Fifty years ago, the year Nixon was sworn in for his second term as President, awe was a rarely used word. The disastrous course of world events, since then, shows Tilden Edwards’ wise foresight in founding Shalem as a place of awe. Today, if there is one word that says what our human family most urgently needs to recover, awe is that word. Experiencing awe makes us one. Awe is the magic wand that can transform I-thinking into We-thinking and rescue us from self-destruction. That Soul Food devotes so much space to awe honors Shalem’s finest tradition and makes it a most timely book of hope for the world." —Br. David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk, author, and co-founder of Grateful Living

"Soul Food is a worthy guide for those who seek to walk in the light and share that light with others. Thoughtful and engaging on many levels, it is indeed a nourishing book." —Sophfronia Scott, author of The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton

"For an everyday, this-worldly perspective on contemplative life and leadership, read Soul Food. Any one of the essays will be worth the whole book."—Keith Kristich, Meditation Teacher and Founder of the online, interspiritual community Closer Than Breath

"Soul Food is a feast! An inclusive collection brimming with nourishing essays honestly exploring the ways to be a loving human in an inhuman system, Soul Food features a community of contemplative authors compassionately addressing the ailments of our society. Their work offers us new wineskins of openheartedness, which can help us create a larger table where everyone is invited to sit and have plenty.

Grounded in silence, this welcoming book of healing words provides readers with vibrant poetry, thought-provoking essays, and experiential activities. From its opening reflection on gender as “profound mystery” and on gendered pronouns and their relationship to our image and view of God, to its explorations of what Martin Luther King Jr. named our “inescapable network of mutuality,” this collection celebrates Divine Diversity. It invites all to savor Love, “the {Ancient} New,” and it gives us contemplative ways to do that in a world of collective and personal trauma.

These essays present accessible, embodied paths back to our interconnectedness with the earth, each other, and all creatures—the “all my relations” of Native American prayers, as one author reminds us. This wise book speaks directly to the very human needs of our times, and it feeds us all, every one." —Dr. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, poet and translator of Br. Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence and The Cloud of Unknowing