THRESHOLD OF DISCOVERY: A FIELD GUIDE TO SPIRITUALITY IN MIDLIFE by L. ROGER OWENS

L. ROGER OWENS Thoughtful exploration of midlife spirituality through the prism of nature walks - Study questions for each section Roger Owens, facing a "dark night of the soul" as he turned forty and entered midlife, was en-couraged by his spiritual director to think of it instead as a "threshold of discovery." Rather than go on a grand adventure like walking the Appalachian Trail or the Camino de Santiago, he decid-ed to mark his fortieth year by taking forty walks in a nearby nature preserve. With patience and attention, he explored the concerns rising with him: the inevitability of death, his boredom with life, and the reality of his changing faith, changing images of God, and changing sense of self. The result is forty short chapters that weave together insightful stories of his walks with accessi-ble history and practices of Christian spirituality and the lives of saints. This field guide to the spirituality of midlife facilitates readers' personal journeys through ques-tions of faith, purpose, and relationships. It is not solely a memoir, but a work of wisdom litera-ture that uses engaging first-person narratives to explore universal themes and spiritual inquiry. Wise and imaginative, and with study questions for each section, Threshold of Discovery is the companion guide for a thoughtful Christian journey. L. Roger Owens is associate professor of Christian spirituality and ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Before his academic career, he was the pastor of United Methodist congregations in North Carolina. He is the author of three previous books, and a regular writer for Duke University's Faith and Leadership and Christian Century.

160 pp