The Life of Meaning
By BOB ABERNETHY and WILLIAM BOLE
Reviewed by PEGGY BARNETT
"This book is for all those interested in finding meaning in their lives, everyone with a nagging sense that there must be 'Something More,' everyone who approaches faith with doubt as well as hope, and all those seeking ideas and language that can deepen the faith they already have."

Bob Abernethy was the executive director of the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. He and journalist William Bole have compiled and edited interviews from the shows to create this often inspiring book.

The essays are grouped into sections such as "The Meaning Makers," "Evil and Suffering," "Prayer and Meditation," and "Being Religious." Included are notables like Barbara Brown Taylor, Phyllis Tickle, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, and The Dalai Lama.

When Abernethy asked Archbishop Tutu about his spiritual life, "he spoke about his wordless prayer, his sense of being in God's presence, which he likened to sitting near a warm stove on a cold morning."

Thomas Lynch, a funeral director, essayist, and poet, talked about mortality. "A funeral is the way we get through a death. . . . the fundamental obligation of a funeral is to bear witness to a death in the family and to initiate remembrance." In another essay, he says that "grief is the tax we pay on loving people . . . It's like constantly being in the Book of Job."

Martin Marty, a Lutheran theologian and editor, makes many profound comments. He discusses the difference between "spirituality" and "religion," summarizing by quoting a bumper sticker: "Spirituality doesn't make hospice calls." Later, in definingProtestantism, he states that the central idea of it is "a gracious God. And that means that God is not going to whomp you, not going to devastate you."

It is difficultto talk about this book without quoting these articulate and wise thinkers. The Reverend Richard Land, a prominent Southern Baptist, speaks of the "inerrant, infallible word of God," and in a later section others speak of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. A favorite of mine, Anne Lamott, believes that "there is only one God and that we can't really know much about that God." She also believes that "laughter is carbonated holiness . . . a form of spirituality."

Abernathy says that "the desire for a deeper sense of meaning and purpose has led growing numbers of people to explore their options in the open spiritual marketplace." Whether exploring or reaffirming,this is a book to savor.

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