Book Tour – Page 2 – Christine Marie Eberle

Eric A. Clayton

November 21, 2024 Christine Eberle

Part of the Thankful Thursday Series

5/28/21, 8:06 p.m.
Dear Eric,

I have been enjoying your weekly emails since my friend Rob McChesney brought them to my attention last summer. You have such a deft touch, using small, potent images—a pile of Legos, a burnt pot, a smoke detector—to lead the reader to a moment of spiritual insight. They are like the best kind of daily Mass homilies!

It isn’t often that we get such a clear date stamp on the beginning of a friendship. But since emails are one of the few things I hoard (over 26K in the inbox and counting), I was able to find this gem. I’d been following Eric Clayton’s weekly emails on behalf of the Jesuit Conference (where he is Deputy Director of Communications) since the pandemic summer of 2020, but it wasn’t until the following May that I worked up the nerve to email him, complimenting his writing and sharing my own. Despite obvious demographic differences (he’s a father of young children, for starters), our mutual delight in mining the events of everyday life for spiritual truths led to the discovery of many other shared experiences and enthusiasms.

Eric is one of the most faithfully prolific writers I know. Those weekly columns keep coming, always using a simple image to unlock a spiritual insight. In 2022, they finally got a name: “Now Discern This.” (You can see them all and sign up here.) He also has a robust presence on Substack, where his “Story Scraps” cover all sorts of topics, including short fiction.

And then there are the books. In 2022, he published Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith, about which I said (among other things), “Using the lens of storytelling, Clayton helps each reader mine the riches of their own story, connecting them with the one great story of God as experienced through saints and strangers, grandmothers and toddlers, ordinary life and extraordinary dreams.” This year saw My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars, which I confess sits on my shelf unread because I feel a compulsion to watch all nine movies first—in order. (If he’d published a book on the spirituality of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, or LOTR, I’d have downed it by now.) This week, I preordered his latest, Finding Peace Here and Now: How Ignatian Spirituality Leads Us to Healing and Wholeness, coming in May 2025. Three books in four years; way to go, Eric!

Our mutual delight in mining the events of everyday life for spiritual truths led to the discovery of many other shared enthusiasms.

Eric has been so helpful in linking me to the wider Jesuit world: posting on the Conference website my article about the Ignatian Volunteer Corps; interviewing me on the AMDG Podcast, and inviting me to write for their Advent series for the last three years. (BONUS: click here to sign up for the new series, “Waiting and Wassailing: Daily Advent Meditations on Story and Song,” coming December 1 to an email near you.)

The most life-changing connection, however, was when Eric welcomed me to the Jesuit Media Lab’s Ignatian Creators Summit. During the last two summer gatherings, I’ve formed friendships with so many people who are using their manifold gifts—in writing, art, theater, film, photography, music, podcasting, and more—in the spirit of St. Ignatius, for the greater glory of God. (It was at the first of these Summits that I finally met Eric in person; at the second, I learned what a wicked-competitive card player he is!)

Here’s what Eric had to say about Finding God Along the Way: Filled with warmth, humor and a voracious eye for detail, Finding God Along the Way is Christine Eberle’s invitation to each of us to embark on our own inner pilgrimage. Along the way, Eberle promises to help us discover God in places both surprising and familiar. While we can’t all hop a flight to Spain, we can all journey deeper and deeper into our own selves, into those hidden recesses of our very souls, where God waits with delight. By inviting us into key scenes from her own Ignatian pilgrimage, Eberle masterfully weaves stories that both transport us to the land of St. Ignatius while also keeping us grounded in the spiritual reality of our own present lives. If you’re looking for an adventure into the soul, this is your book.

For a kindred spirit whose talent and productivity are equally matched by his kindness, generosity, and humor, I am truly grateful!

Book Tour, Service, Spirituality, Travel, Writing

Brendan McManus, SJ

November 14, 2024 Christine Eberle

Part of the Thankful Thursday Series

As I prepared to walk the Ignatian Camino—knowing I was planning on writing about it—I tried not to read many other Camino memoirs. I wanted to reach my own insights, free from the risk of parroting someone else’s. I made an exception, however, for Irish Jesuit Brendan McManus’ marvelous work, The Way to Manresa: Discoveries Along the Ignatian Camino. I’m so glad I did!

The book narrates the experience of a priest who had walked the Camino as a young man and set out to do it again after an exhausting stint of suicide-bereavement ministry. His hopes were thwarted when he fell and sustained a serious injury on the second morning of his solo journey. He pressed on (with the approval of a medical center) for several days until pain forced him to abandon the walk. He used public transportation to visit highlights of the Way before returning home, where the search for answers continued.

While it may be hard to imagine getting a whole book out of a pilgrimage cut off at the knees (no pun intended) on Day Two, McManus’ account of the spiritual wrestling match brought on by pain and disappointment makes this a worthwhile read for anyone dealing with an unexpected and unwelcome turn of events.

McManus’ account of the spiritual wrestling match brought on by pain and disappointment makes this a worthwhile read for anyone dealing with an unexpected and unwelcome turn of events.

I later learned that Fr. McManus is a prolific author, and that most of his books have to do with the “other” Camino—the famous one, the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). He is currently based at the Manresa Spirituality Center in Dublin, but spends time each summer back in Spain, supporting other pilgrims through the Camino Companions program.

His latest book, co-written with Katherine O’Flynn, FCJ, is called Living the Camino Back Home: Ignatian Tips for Keeping the Camino Spirit Alive. Publication date is December 5, but if you’re free tomorrow afternoon (Friday, November 15, 2:00 Eastern) you can see McManus in conversation during a live book launch event. I just registered (at no cost) and hope you will too!

Brendan McManus could not have been kinder or more encouraging when I reached out to him about my book. Here’s what he said:

Christine has done a wonderful job of distilling the essence of pilgrimage and integrating Ignatian Spirituality into a wonderfully engaging narrative. With a lovely light touch she manages to capture the daily struggles and challenges (bags, beds and blisters!) that make for the essential inner journey that mirrors the outer journey in Ignatian Spain. This book beautifully illustrates Ignatian themes of trust, freedom and listening to the Spirit. A great Ignatian pilgrim read!

For this living witness that “everything has the potential to call forth a deepening of our life in God” (a la Ignatius), I am truly grateful.

Book Tour, Retreats, Spirituality, Travel, Writing

Sneak Peek: So Many Goats!

October 30, 2024 Christine Eberle

As I’ve been playing “what-were-we-doing-two-years-ago” all month, so many profound and silly memories have surfaced. Here’s one of the latter, told as part of Chapter Forty, “La Cova.” It takes place on the evening of October 30—the day after what we thought had been our final hike, from Montserrat to Manresa. Enjoy!

At three-thirty that afternoon, Fr. José told us, we were to meet in the garden to walk to Mass at Our Lady of Good Health. We should be sure to wear our boots, he added, and bring our hiking poles. Oh, good grief, I thought. How are we not done with those? And why are we hiking to Mass when there are more chapels than I can count right here in our residence?

The hour’s walk took us through the old town and surrounding commercial district, then onto a rocky path through the fields beyond. I will confess, I was grumpy.

My mood lightened when I discovered that we’d be sharing the road with goats. In the field beside us strode an actual goatherd—wearing sandals, carrying a crook, and accompanied by a frisky dog. (A twenty-first-century goatherd, he was also wearing jeans and a camo baseball cap, but still, it was pretty cool.) Close on his heels were at least fifty goats of varying colors and sizes, each sporting a noisy bell. As we hustled forward, the goats followed, kicking up a cloud of dust behind us until our ways diverged.

The surreal goat encounter banished what was left of my petulance. And, of course, the walk was worth it. Santa Maria de la Salut is a tenth-century hermitage. Preserved in the entryway is a rectangular slab identified (in Catalan, English, and French) as “the stone where Saint Ignatius knelt down on his visits to this sanctuary.”

How is it that a hunk of rock touched by Ignatius’ knees has been preserved for five hundred years? Fr. José explained that the ordinary people of Manresa kept Ignatius’s memory alive, realizing that they had been in the presence of a holy man. According to Tellechea Idígoras’s biography, when the saint’s canonization process was opened in 1594—seventy-two years after his sojourn in Manresa—many testified to the lasting impression Ignatius had made on them or on their parents and grandparents. Perhaps that’s why he continues to feel so present in this place.

As daylight was no longer being saved, the sun had dipped below the horizon already by the time we finished Mass. We started back at a good pace, hoping to reach the paved roads before dark; nevertheless, we had to navigate the treacherous end of the rocky path by flashlight. At last, we reached the bright Burger King and KFC signs on the outskirts of the city—a sharp contrast to the millennium-old hermitage and timeless goatherd. Like many of the towns we visited, Manresa is a place where the past and present coexist.

After dinner, we gathered for our final reflection . . .

Coming January 14, 2025 from Paraclete Press

Book Tour, Spirituality, Travel, Writing

Sneak Peek: How We Began

October 5, 2024 Christine Eberle

Today marks a big anniversary: On October 5, 2022, at a retreat house in Azpeitia, Spain, my band of pilgrims gathered for our first group meeting with Fr. José Iriberri, the Director of the Ignatian Camino. We had no idea what the next twenty-seven days (or three hundred miles) would hold. In honor of that anniversary, here’s a little excerpt from the beginning of Finding God Along the Way, coming in January from Paraclete Press. Enjoy!

On an October evening in 2022, fifteen pilgrims still trying to remember each other’s names shifted anxiously in a circle of hard plastic chairs, eyes trained on our fearless Jesuit guide. The fluorescent-lit conference room’s unadorned walls gave no hint that we were in the shadow of the tower house of Loyola—the long-envisioned starting point of our grand adventure.

The youngest of us was fifty-five, the oldest seventy-nine. We were ten women and five men, hailing from across the United States as well as Canada, Australia, and Malaysia. The group included couples, widows, singles, and married folks traveling solo. Some were old friends; others knew no one. Although many were part of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, the rest were drawn simply by their love of Ignatian spirituality. Seventeen days and some two hundred miles later, ten more people would be joining us for the final hundred miles of our journey.

“Introduce yourself briefly and tell us why you’re here,” Fr. José began, “then name your biggest fear about the Camino.” The man knew how to get to a point. A less skilled facilitator might have started with an easier icebreaker, but Fr. José didn’t want us to skim the surface. He wanted us to practice going deep.

Our fears were surprisingly similar. Most of us were worried that we’d packed the wrong things, that our bodies were going to fail us, or that somehow we would fail ourselves by not engaging the experience properly. Betsy—a petite woman with an endearing Southern accent and perfect comic timing—put it best when she confessed to fearing “pilgrim envy.” Her husband, Charlie, was the Ignatian volunteer; what if she turned out to be a remedial pilgrim, not “holy” enough for the Camino to be effective? When more than one head nodded in recognition, Fr. José encouraged us to resist the temptation to compare ourselves to one another, assuring us that, while each person’s experience would be different, God would not be stingy with the divine gifts.

While each person’s experience would be different, God would not be stingy with the divine gifts.

As the meeting drew to a close, Fr. José paused and looked around the circle slowly, letting the anticipation grow, then leaned in and offered one more bit of inspiration. “Pilgrimage can change the world,” he said. “I really believe this. Now, let’s get ready for tomorrow.”

Book Tour, Service, Spirituality, Travel, Writing

Senator Tim Kaine

August 29, 2024 Christine Eberle

Part of the Thankful Thursday Series

Fresh out of college in the summer of ’87, I lived in community in Richmond, Virginia and served as a full-time volunteer at a house of hospitality for homeless people. Our board chair was a sharp young civil rights attorney who was also a cantor in our parish. I trusted Tim’s wisdom at board meetings and loved his voice singing “Taste and See” at Mass. A few years later, he ran for Richmond City Council. I was glad to be home in Philadelphia by then, but sorry not to be able to vote for him.

Picture of a young Tim Kaine — Young civil rights lawyer Tim Kaine chaired the board of Freedom House in the late 80’s.

Tim continued to run for things and win elections: Mayor; Lieutenant Governor; Governor; Senator. After following his career from another commonwealth for almost thirty years, I finally got to pull a lever with his name on it in 2016: Senator Tim Kaine for Vice President of the United States. Of course, we all know how that went. But for a few shining months, I got to dream of a world in which this Jesuit-educated champion of racial justice and housing equality could be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

After the election, Tim went right back to work. But he also decided to do something to re-ground himself (no pun intended). Over three summers, just after his 60^th birthday, he hiked the Virginia portion of the Appalachian Trail, cycled through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and canoed the length of the James River: a quest totaling 1,228 miles. You can read his account of those journeys and the reflections they inspired in his new book, Walk, Ride, Paddle: A Life Outside. (Or better yet, get the audiobook and hear it in his own voice.)

An insight from early in the book has stayed with me. After losing the election for national office, Tim realized that his political aspirations “didn’t need to go higher; they needed to go deeper.” Following his call, he realized, is not about climbing the next rung of an already tall ladder; it’s about making the most meaningful impact he can in however many years of public service he has left. In a culture that always encourages us to pursue the next big thing, “higher vs. deeper” is a choice worth pondering. What will be—in the words of St. Ignatius— “conducive to the greater service of God and the universal good”? Hint: It might not come with a shiny new title.

In a culture that always encourages us to pursue the next big thing, “higher vs. deeper” is a choice worth pondering.

Still wondering if you want to read Tim’s book? Check out his interview with the National Catholic Reporter’s EARTHBEAT blog: “Sen. Tim Kaine on the Spirituality of Walking, Cycling, Paddling.”

On a series of plane trips this spring, Tim read the manuscript of Finding God Along the Way and shared these kind words: “As one so influenced throughout my life by Jesuit teachers and missionaries, I relished Christine’s account of her walk in the footsteps of Ignatius. A long hike provides space for meditation and epiphanies, and this book provides them on every page, together with the everyday challenges of blisters, variable weather and quirky but delightful international companions. Christine’s observations will illuminate your own walk—whether halfway around the world or in your own backyard.”

For Tim Kaine’s generosity in word and deed, I am truly thankful!

Book Tour, Spirituality, Writing

Finding God Along the Way: Coming January 14 from Paraclete Press

April 16, 2024May 27, 2024 Christine Eberle

You may remember that I made a month-long pilgrimage in the fall of 2022 in the company of twenty-four remarkable souls inspired by the life of St. Ignatius Loyola. Finding God Along the Way: Wisdom from the Ignatian Camino for Life at Home traces our spiritual adventure from its pre-pandemic conception to the lasting transformations we experienced on the far side. Although the book might inspire future pilgrims, I wrote it for those who will make the journey only in their imagination, as the fruit of this experience should not be reserved for those with the freedom to walk away from their life for a month.

I am so grateful to the good people at Paraclete Press for their enthusiastic embrace of my book and their prayerful approach to every aspect of its production and marketing. By mid-May, I’ll have a cover image; stay tuned.

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Pub Date!

Note: We’d originally thought that the book would launch on February 25, and were excited about its being the feast day of Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio, patron saint of travelers and road builders. But we want to have it firmly in people’s hands in time for Lent, so January 14 it is. I can’ wait! (But I shall.)

To ensure that you receive the pre-order announcement for the book, make sure you are signed up for my newsletter (which I send approximately monthly).

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mountains with an arrow painted on the rocks

Pictured here: one of the countless orange arrows marking the Ignatian Way!

Book Tour, Spirituality, Writing

Podcast: Teaching Learning Leading K-12

July 19, 2022 Christine Eberle

Host Steven Miletto’s mission is to provide resources for K-12 teachers and school administrators, but everyone is welcome to listen in! Join us as we discuss how one can be an educator without ever setting foot in a classroom, what keeps us going when we’re tempted to give up, and the importance of thanking our favorite teachers while we still have the time.

Click the image below to listen on PodBean, or search for Teaching Learning Leading K-12 wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to Steven Miletto’s interview with Christine Eberle on Teaching Learning Leading K-12

Book Tour, Writing

Announcing the Audiobook

July 8, 2022July 27, 2022 Christine Eberle

I used to be self-conscious about my voice.

Most people cringe when they hear themselves on tape (or its 21st century equivalent); it’s something about how different our voice sounds from inside our own skulls. But I had an additional obstacle: the eighth-grade girl (name blissfully forgotten) who told seventh-grade me that she hated my voice.

What makes a kid say that? (Answer: what makes a kid do anything?)

At a conference a few years ago, I experienced the bookend to that unsolicited insult when a college student approached me after my opening remarks. “I love your voice,” he said–again, unsolicited. “I had a headache when I sat down, but as soon as you started to speak, it lifted.”

Gracious! (I wish my own headaches responded that way; I would talk to myself more often.)

These days, one of the lovely things people say about my books is, “I can just hear you reading them!” That always warms my heart, both because it means they enjoy my voice and because it means I’m writing in my actual voice, not some highfalutin author-speak. (The word “highfalutin,” for example, does not appear in either book.)

Recently, however, someone observed that it must be a different experience for people who know me only through my written words, saying, “They don’t know what they’re missing!”

Enter the audiobook.

While I was waiting for my second book to enter the world, I got busy fulfilling another dream–turning my first one into an audiobook. I transformed my back bedroom into a studio, draping blankets over everything and setting up a small-but-mighty recording device on the dresser. Capturing a good read-through took a week; working through the details of audio-editing took months. But finally, through the diligent labor of Mitch Pados at Juniper Group Media, the dream became a reality!

After uploading the files to Author’s Republic (a centralized distributor), I’m delighted to say that Finding God in Ordinary Time is now available in audiobook form. It’s been picked up by several platforms, including:

Libro.fm (support your local bookstore, $11.49)
Overdrive / Libby (Please encourage your library to purchase it!)
Nook (Barnes & Noble, $8.49 or free with subscription)
Audiobooks.com ($9.99 OR free w/free 30-day trial subscription)
AudioBookstore.com ($7.95 – $15.95 depending on whether you have a membership)

Note that I didn’t mention the big dogs (Audible/Amazon). Maybe it’s just taking them longer, or maybe they’re miffed that I went with an independent distributor–one more likely to benefit libraries and local bookstores than their own giant coffers. I don’t mind, because it allows me to spread the word about all the other ways people can listen to good books. [Update 7/27/22: The Big Dogs have it now too.]

Speaking of libraries: if you use Overdrive (the library app), it would be a tremendous help if you could recommend this audiobook (and my two e-books) to your library system, so people can read and/or listen free of charge. The digital versions are all there, ready to be borrowed, but the library has to purchase them first–and, dollars being scarce as they are, the library book-buyers need to know that there’s interest.

Bottom line: if you like the idea of being able to listen to me reading you a little story from time to time, then asking a few questions that you can take to prayer, do consider purchasing the audiobook. Each chapter is a separate track that lasts about five minutes; you can listen straight through or skip around as you desire. There’s even a sneak preview of a chapter of Finding God Abiding (the audiobook of which most certainly depends on the success of the first one).

You even can listen to “Finding God in the Cafeteria,” in which I tell the story of how I learned to use my voice.

May Love Abide,
Christine

Book Tour, Spirituality, Writing

Book Review: Madonnas of Color

June 18, 2022 Christine Eberle

I’m taking a break from relentless self-promotion to rave about the new book by Bro. Mickey McGrath, OSFS, a fabulous artist, storyteller, and human being. Check out my review on CatholicPhilly.com.

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