Rating: 
Summary: Put me back on the path
Review: I was one of the millions who fell out of my religion, prefering to tread water in the shallow pond of spiritual insight I had developed (I of course thought it was an ocean). As time went by, I could feel my spirit becoming more atrophied. By the time I'd come across this book, I'd realized that doing it my own way wasn't good enough; I needed to be a part of a spiritual community. Finding Your Religion confirmed me in that belief and helped me to see the importance of having a path.If you feel the need to get back on your old path or maybe find a new one, this book is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: The essential guidebook for spiritual seekers.
Review: In FINDING YOUR RELIGION Rev. McLennan offers guidance and inspiration to people who have left the faith of their childhood behind but still desire a religious anchor to their lives. McLennan provides poignant stories from literature, the lives of great figures like Carl Jung and Gandhi, and real life experience to urge people to start the work of religious seeking. One story, for example, describes the spiritual journey of Donna, who grew up Protestant, as an adult tried Buddhism, the Quaker faith, and other religions before she found her home in the Catholic Church. Another story features Ahmad who eventually came to value the Islamic faith of his childhood through his own life experiences. FINDING YOUR RELIGION presents six stages of spiritual development--magic, reality, dependence, independence, interdependence, and unity--which serve as markers to help the reader locate his or her place in the seeking process. The metaphor of the spiritual mountain with many paths to the top symbolically suggests that the seeker can reach the mountain choose from among many religious paths to reach the mountain peak, each of which pass through the six stages of ascent. Taking the first step on a religious path is not easy, but McLennan gives readers of FINDING YOUR RELIGION the courage to try. In the end, it is the journey up the spiritual mountain that is the important part. Liberating and readable, McLennan's book promises encouragement, information, and anecdote for the overwhelming but rewarding process of "finding a religion."
Rating:
Summary: Put me back on the path
Review: McLennan, who has spent many years helping college students find their way through spiritual problems and confusion, offers this wonderful book for those on a similar quest. On the way, he describes stages in spiritual development, as well as steps one should take on whatever path she or he ultimately chooses. Whether you choose the religion of your childhood or discover something completely different, this book is an excellent companion to start off with. At the very least, it is very readable and entertaining, and contains informative stories about folks with similar struggles as the rest of us...the writer included!
Rating:
Summary: A nudge on the journey.
Review: McLennan, who has spent many years helping college students find their way through spiritual problems and confusion, offers this wonderful book for those on a similar quest. On the way, he describes stages in spiritual development, as well as steps one should take on whatever path she or he ultimately chooses. Whether you choose the religion of your childhood or discover something completely different, this book is an excellent companion to start off with. At the very least, it is very readable and entertaining, and contains informative stories about folks with similar struggles as the rest of us...the writer included!
Rating:
Summary: Finding Your Religion
Review: This book builds on the work of James Fowler in "Stages of Faith" in a way that is more accessible to lay readers. McLennan emphasizes the commonality of people's faith journeys while honoring the individual experience of the Holy Spirit in each life. He draws on his experience as a campus minister and the development of various students' spiritual life at college and beyond, but does not limit himself to students' experiences. I found this book so meaningful that I decided to add it to my "permanent collection" after reading a library copy.
Rating:
Summary: Finding Your Religion
Review: This book builds on the work of James Fowler in "Stages of Faith" in a way that is more accessible to lay readers. McLennan emphasizes the commonality of people's faith journeys while honoring the individual experience of the Holy Spirit in each life. He draws on his experience as a campus minister and the development of various students' spiritual life at college and beyond, but does not limit himself to students' experiences. I found this book so meaningful that I decided to add it to my "permanent collection" after reading a library copy.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible and Shares Many Experiences
Review: This book is accessible to a wide audience. I can see where some may classify it as self-helpish, but that would be selling it short. It's interesting to read a book by an author that is interested in clearing the way for you to walk a spiritual path rather than pushing you down a particular road. It was interesting to read about the experiences of others - told in a manner that was informative without going into lots of unnecessary detail. This book is probably most beneficial to those who are interested in looking into the various spiritual traditions, but are a bit apprehensive about where to start. It is also very open-ended so there is little talk of absolute this or that. I also thought his synopsis of James Fowler's "Stages of Faith" was tremendous. Fowler's book is a tough read and McLennan's summary is clear and provides meaning. The book even includes a little humor near the end. If you like this book and you are just starting out on your journey, you may also like "Come as You Are" by Betty Southard and Marita Littauer or for something more in-depth about each tradition Huston Smith's "The World's Religions" is highly acclaimed and deservedly so.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and interesting
Review: This book puts forth a framework that says that maybe a person's changes in religious belief is not a state of confusion but a lifelong process that all people go through to one extent or another. It is the first time I have viewed the 'evolution' (I hesitate to say maturation) of my beliefs as part of a development process that could be described in predictable stages - like those described in a Human Development psychology course. I can certainly understand how some would be resistant to this concept. It challenges some traditional views of religious belief and religious doubt. For those of us who would be chastised for our questions, doubts or thoughts, however, this book is ratifying. The stages he puts forth make sense. I can see them in me. More importantly, I can see them in other people and, as he had hoped, it changes the way I view the people with whom I disagree. Looking at people as in a developmental process rather than in an "are|are not" framework somehow removes my defensiveness and makes it easier to accept them and myself at the same time. Several stories of people from different paths and their conversion to other paths or re-integration gives a good range of experiences to digest the developmental framework. His subjects discover (or rediscover as the case may be) Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam. This is not a survey book. This book presents the framework and several examples for clarity and then impresses on the reader that we are free to make our own choices. And that we should make them. That may not be where we will end up, but you've got to start somewhere and where you are is probably the best place to start.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book although sometimes a bit self-helpish
Review: This is a wonderful and helpful book for anyone who is searching for meaning in their religion or trying to find another. It presents a very clear and accessible plan, and gives simple steps that show how to easily move into another religion. What I liked most about the book was its non-advocacy of any one religion, but rather an almost zealous push towards trying any religion that catches you until you feel entirely comfortable with the one that you have chosen. The only flaw that I found was that the book sometimes felt like it was a daily affirmation book, not a serious text dealing with issues in the abstract and the immediate aspects of converting.
Rating:
Summary: There is not one single path, and maybe that's for the best
Review: Today so many are strugglign to find who they are, and where they fit into the larger spiritual picture. Many people wish to be connected with God but don't know how. They were shown one way when they were growing up, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it continues to be the right one as we grow. It's imporant that Rev. McLennan subtitles his book "When the Faith You Grew Up with Has Lost Its Meaning." Because this is the real thrust of the book - finding your way back. Many people may have a problem with this approach. Far too many people in the world believe that "my way is the only way," - that's the basic tenant of most world religions. But for many of us, we get to a point where we question where we are or where we are going. And that is where the book begins. Scotty uses real life examples of people he's worked with to help bring the point into better clarity. It's not so much his story as the story of many people, and what they have found to be right for them. As he talks about, there are many paths up the mountain, and you need to find your own way to the top. This book is for the person who is looking for some guidance, not a roadmap. Some will be put off by his non-judgmental approach but for those of us who are looking for a place to start, this is an excellent way to open the door, and start the journey.
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