One of my resolutions for this year was to add more structure to my daily prayer time, and to add a component of reading Christian theological texts into that prayer time. I’ve developed a steady meditation practice over the last few years, and I figured this would be a good way to add some religious substance back into my spiritual practice.

I asked several Christian friends for book recommendations, and ended up with a long list (so, hopefully, many more reviews in this genre forthcoming). I don’t recall The Imitation of Christ being on that list of suggestions… I’m not quite sure how I found it.

The chapters are all very short, which is great reading serially over the course of prayer times. It was a fine enough book to start the year with, but definitely doesn’t quality as a “need to read”. There were, frankly, a lot of ideas that were dangerously constructed… the author can go from talking about the importance of humility to the importance of “holding nothing but contempt for yourself”. These are two very different pieces of advice. The former is a universally helpful edict, while the latter is terrible advice for all but a very slim set of readers who are in the safe existential and spiritual mindset in which to productively receive that perspective.

There’s lots of stuff like this, with context so deep and specific that many casual readers might not recognize the wisdom of Jesus in a surface level reading of the next, and which may in fact be harmful. However, as I write this, I am struck… ideas like “holding nothing but contempt for yourself” are exactly the type of punishing, harmful ideas that people may associate with organized religion.

An interesting entrance back into religious theology for me, then.

There are many beautiful passages and sentiments in this book. But, in areas where you ask readers to trust you on faith, as it is with spiritual direction… it only takes one piece of bad advice to throw people off of a spiritual path.