What gives you spiritual sustenance? was the question put to the contributors to this book. Those asked represent a broad spectrum of Irish life and include writers, teachers, religious, politicians, and performers, people who are already known to the public in different ways. Sources is a collection of letters on the nature of spirituality and its relevance for the individual. Dipping into its pages you will find persuasive evidence of the human need for something beyond the routine and materialism of everyday life, a need for some sort of spiritual sustenance, especially at times of crisis.
This was a surprising read for me but I’m so glad it fell into my hands. Marie Heaney, author and also the wife of poet Seamus, compiled this book in the late 1990s, asking her Irish countrymen and women to write letters which detailed what gave each their spiritual sustenance. What emerged is a fascinating and revealing cross-section of the nature of spirituality in human life (in Ireland). Perhaps more invigorating than anything, this collection inevitably spurs you to ponder what provides spiritual sustenance in your own life.