Moore hopes to encourage us to "give voice to our souls." He believes that care for the soul takes place in ways fundamentally different from how we usually approach our quests for happiness. He uses insightful connections to archetypal psychology and mythology. Moore makes the case for a "continuous process that concerns itself not so much with 'fixing' a central flaw as with attending to the small details of everyday life, as well as to major decisions and changes." As a therapist, Moore endeavors to give back to a person what is problematical in ways that reveal the problem's necessity and value. As a theologian, Moore sees the mystery of the soul within this same context of embracing contradiction and paradox.
Human history records generations that have studied the soul. Yet, that which we claim animates and embodies what is the essence of life and of the individual continues to bewilder us. We seem to sense the dangers of losing soulfulness, but less able to speak clearly about how we could nurture and care for our souls. Is the secret to be found it what we tend to reject? Are we meant to be more at ease with the idiosyncrasies and unexpected things of life? Such is Moore's premise, as he attempts to take his reader on a journey to the "unfathomable mystery that is the very seed and heart of each individual."
Since my days in college as a struggling English major, I have found books like this one helpfully digested in a seminar or discussion group. That is why I chose it for a Lenten study. It will challenge you to find some way of giving your soul the attention you give your body, mind, and emotions. If spirituality is about how we connect faith and everyday life, then Moore is on the right track wondering about how we cultivate "depth and sacredness in everyday life."
Most of the counseling books I have had to read have been about as rich and as captivating as a Chilton's car repair manual. Sometimes I feel that as counselors, we are out own worst enemy.
Like a previous reviewer noted, this book is all about mystery, paradox, wonder, and living authentically and mindfully. This is the type of book that you have to let speak to you, as opposed to reading it and trying to figure out what the author is talking about, which is how most people, undoubtedly, have read this book. To do so destroys the magic of the soul.
Early on in the book Moore establishes that in order to cultivate depth, sacredness, truth,simplicity, profundity, and reality in our inner lives, we must become curators of our own soul; he traces the etymology of the word "care," in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Get this right away, and the book will be a life transforming experience. Read it intellectually like most people read psychology/counseling/and psychotherapy books, and Care of the Soul will just seem like a lot of "new age" ..., which it is definately not.
Yet it would be grossly unfair to Moore to simply dismiss him as being nothing more than a revisionist of Merton's weighty and somewhat puzzling observations and prognostications about the world and our place in it. Moore does much more than that in this thin yet provocative and thought-stirring tome; what he winds up offering the reader is nothing less than a life-embracing philosophy. Moore encourages the reader to cultivate his or her own peace, dignity, and depth of character by grounding ourselves in meaningful and eventful daily rituals, things that firmly plant us in our natural surroundings. In times such as these, when the media and the outside world tries to overwhelm us with all they want to sell us and convince us we need from them to live more meaningful and more fulfilled lives. It is hard to do justice to the benefit one can derive from reading about the simple virtues or the provocative truths he offers in this book. Enjoy!