Book Review
Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones:
Spiritual Answers to Psychological Questions
By Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. (Paulist Press, 1987, 169 pp.)
Reviewed by Roy Hanu Hart, M.D.
The theme of this exquisite little book is that stumbling blocks along the path of life can be turned into stepping stones on the road to God.
Fr. Groeschel's approach is to apply Christian spirituality to overcoming psychological problems. He writes: "In exploring apparent psychological problems, I have tried to draw answers from the teachings of faith and Christian tradition -- especially the Gospel."
As a psychologist as well as a priest, he follows a psycho-spiritual approach that is as naturally paired as ham and eggs or bagels and lox. For example, first he discusses the psychological roots of envy, and then he proceeds to deal with it as a spiritual enemy.
A psychological discussion of selfishness and self-love leads into one on self-hate, and his antidote for these poisonous attributes is charity, expressed in spiritual terms.
In discussing faith, he begins by proclaiming it to be a gift of the Holy Spirit. It should be remembered that the Holy Spirit, one-third of the Christian Godhead, is a term found often enough in the Torah as Ruach HaKodesh (Ruach = spirit, breath + HaKodesh = Holy), to indicate the presence of God. As early as Genesis 1:2 we encounter it as Ruach Elohim -- "And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (KJV). In the New Testament, Jesus breathes -- his Ruach -- on his disciples, infusing them with the Holy Spirit.
He tells the stories of some fascinating people called to serve God, such as Henriette de Lisle, who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, the nation's largest order of black sisters. Fr. Groeschel describes hers as "one of the great unknown stories of loving dedication in American church history."
There is the strange story of St. Benedict Joseph Labre, a mentally ill wandering beggar who died in Rome in 1783. (Our author's full name is Benedict Joseph Groeschel.) Attending his funeral was a somber-faced minister, Rev. John Thayer, so moved by the proceedings and the story of Labre's life that he converted to Catholicism that day. He would become the first American Protestant clergyman to don the vestments of a Catholic priest.
He ends his book with the Salve Regina ("Hail, Holy Queen"), a prayer composed by "a man who was born so deformed that he could never stand." Yet he was a multi-faceted genius who went on to become the most famous religious poet of his time. The Salve Regina, the best known of Blessed Herman the Cripple's many hymns and poems, "has been recited billions of times since his death" a thousand years ago.Although a friar (C.F.R. stands for Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal -- the "Gray Friars" ), Fr. Benedict is quite at ease in the world at large and with those who follow religions other than his own.
He acknowledges his debt to Dr. Viktor Frankl (Man's Search for Meaning ), who survived Hitler's concentration camps and went on to develop the field of logotherapy. Talk of turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones to God! On the subject of trusting in God, he quotes from the medieval Jewish mystic Joseph Kinichsi's Shakel Hakodesh ["The Holy Shekel" -- referring to the Temple half-shekel tax male Jews over the age of twenty had to pay annualy].
His appendix includes "A Philosopher's Prayer" by Boethius, a sixth-century Christian philosopher ["a neo-Platonist in Christian clothing," as I labeled him in Journey of Faith]. The last line of the prayer reads: "Thou art the journey, and the journey's end." What can be more to the point about this life of ours?The same page contains " A Healer's Prayer" by Moses Maimonides, the great twelfth-century physician, theologian and philosopher. As a fellow physician, I was struck by one line in particular: "Thou hast chosen me in thy grace, to watch over the life and death of thy creatures."
In his introduction, Fr. Benedict defines grace for us as "a free gift of God." I am reminded of something I once commented to a friend of mine, a former Methodist minister and now a Ph. D. psychologist: "We belong to a wretched species, "I said dourly, "and few of us merit heaven. Heaven is a lonely place, and hell has standing room only."
He responded, "Ah, it is by the grace of God, not by the merit of our deeds, that we gain entry into heaven." I learned a lesson that day. Yes, despite our differences we Jews and two billion Christians, religionists sprung from the loins of Judaism, share the same God, though we see Him differently.
Every page of Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones contains something of meaning and value, so that the book's 169 pages stretch far beyond their actual length.
SUMMING UP: Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones is a gem of a book, with pearls encased within a golden lattice-work of soul-penetrating words and thoughts.
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