The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens

and mentor Basil Pennington. In all of these modes of life-as-prayer, our part, he maintains, consists mostly in removing the obstacles to abiding with God, which Benner as a psychologist is well equipped to discuss (though this is probably Benner’s least “psychological” work). In the opinion of this reviewer, the author makes many of the right qualifications about lectio-like prayer along the way. This is not a spirituality of ascent, but of Christ-like surrender and self-emptying; not a technique but a relationship; not a pursuit of results but of God; not limited to stillness but manifest in creativity and service; not a life only for “contemplatives,” but for all Christians—beginning with their own “dialects” of prayer but with an openness to expanding them. While there are more biblical and theological references than in some of Benner’s previous books, readers who want more biblical justifications for these diverse practices of prayer may not find enough of that here. While Benner seems to be sensitive throughout the book to conservative readers (acknowledging that some of these prayer modes may be unfamiliar), he also clearly hopes to draw in readers from the broad spectrum of Christian spirituality—and even beyond. Therefore, some readers may be startled, as this reviewer was, at the word “mantra” to describe the use of centering words or phrases as an aid to prayer—a comparison disavowed by most conservative spiritual writers. For these readers, Bruce Demarest’s Satisfy Your Soul: Renewing the Heart of Christian Spirituality (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1999) may be a more comfortable introduction for those who want to explore historical Christian spiritualities within an explicit biblical framework. However, in this reviewer’s opinion, there is much in Benner’s book that can be appropriated by anyone seeking to understand better how we can follow the biblical commands to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) and “to abide with God”—whether he or she is a beginner or an experienced pilgrim in the life of unceasing prayer.