Truly Human:Recovering Your Humanity in a Broken World

by Kevin Scherer

Our first parents departed from what it means to be truly human when they ate from the forbidden tree. Ever since, humans have been working with corrupted minds and wills, employing a distorted approach to life. Kevin Scherer calls this “psycho-logic,” and he knows how it can lead us on a downward spiral to misery. How do we get back to the Garden? By allowing Christ to renew our minds, using the tried-and-true spiritual practices of the Orthodox Faith.

116 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[Lydia H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not fancy, deep/philosophical, overly thought provoking… and yet I wept three times. I have a personal rule that books that manage to make me cry get an automatic 5 stars. I’ve read many writings of Saints and monks—and this book isn’t heavily rich in that way—but it is SO concise it. It cuts straight to the point in a way that almost anyone, believer or not, can understand. A wake up call. A slap in the face. Someone grabbing your soul by the shoulders and shaking it. I still don’t understand why I cried, exactly. I was going to give it 4 stars because it didn’t impress me on an intellectual level, but I couldn’t. It touched my heart beyond my own understanding, so I’ll leave it at that.

[Caren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very profound and moving

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent book - I finished it awhile ago and forgot to log it, since I've been reading it with my men's group at church. We've all had many, many great discussions spurred from our reading. Highly recommended.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian or a seeker for something greater than self, this book is a treasure. In our broken world, Scherer shows the reader, and yes, encourages the reader, to understand that our humanity is in moving toward our creator in a cycle of blessing: awareness, thanksgiving, offering, and communion. We will find freedom in obedience to God and communion with others. What moves us further into brokenness is the cycle of neurotic suffering which includes victimization, survival, and perpetration that have been passed down through family generations and hardened by the choices we make to alleviate that suffering through the vices of gluttony, lust, self-pity, greed, anger, despair, vanity, and pride. Most of all, what keeps us stuck and apart from living life in fullness is clinging to our habits that are self-centered rather than other-centered. Paradoxically, the virtues of purity, charity, peacefulness, spiritual mourning (realizing how much we have been given and how much we have squandered those talents and gifts), zeal, modesty, and humility bring us to joy, and a closer loving relationship with God and others. This is a small book, but the lessons, and practice that follows are major and big and real.

[Nebiat Gebreselassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and honest

This is one of the most insightful books I have read into the brokenness of our humanity and the ever persistence, zeal and gentleness of God in wanting to heal our heart, mind and spirit with our daily ‘death’ and ‘resurrection’.

[Margaret Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - another amazing book full of wonderful insights and reframes of spiritual truths. A friend recommended this to me and I’m already planning out who I *NEED* to tell about it! An easy read, too - bonus!

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible book on what it means to be healed of our brokenness from the Eastern Orthodox perspective. Excellent--short but full of wisdom. Highly recommended!