What Makes You Come Alive

A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman

By: Lerita Coleman Brown

Narrated by: Machelle Williams

Known as the godfather of the civil rights movement, Howard Thurman served as a spiritual adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders and activists in the 1960s. Thurman championed silence, contemplation, common unity, and nonviolence as powerful dimensions of social change. But Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown didn't learn about him during her years of spiritual-direction training. Only when a friend heard of her longing to encounter the work of Black contemplatives did she finally learn about Thurman, his mystical spirituality, and his liberating ethic.

In What Makes You Come Alive, Brown beckons listeners into their own apprenticeship with Thurman. Brown walks with us through Thurman's inimitable life and commitments as he summons us into centering down, encountering the natural world, paying attention to sacred synchronicity, unleashing inner authority, and recognizing the genius of the religion of Jesus. We learn from Thurman's resilience in the psychologically terrorizing climate of the Jim Crow South, his encounters with Quakers and with Mahatma Gandhi, and his sense of being guided by the Spirit. Each chapter illuminates an aspect of Thurman's work and includes reflection questions and spiritual practices.

©2023 Lerita Coleman Brown (P)2023 eChristian

Wonderful listen!

Howard Thurman is a person all should know and learn from. The author does an amazing job introducing Howard Thurman to the listener and guiding us to live into truly living.

The reflections at the end of each chapter

I was drawn into this book by the author’s open an honest journey into the world of contemplative practices via Howard Thurman’s remarkable presence as a mystic and theologian. This book compelled me to be the active participant seeking that which makes me come alive via this lens. The reflections serve as a gateway. The book has become a valuable resource.