SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS

In “The Promise of Winter” (Eerdmans, 109 pages, $16), Martin Marty comments with powerful effect on the season just ahead. “Awe rises in those who ponder the wonders of winter,” he writes, proceeding to describe frost and chill, ice and snow, in ways that welcome them despite their harshness. By accepting the demands of the coldest time of year--readiness, strength, endurance--Marty weaves winter into ordinary life, and tames it.

Snowbound travelers, outdoor workers against the elements. . . . The slower movements of a person’s inner clock make the “fallow months” part of life’s cycle--and grist for spiritual reflection.

There also are winter’s promises: stability, radiance, refreshment and growth. Marty writes about these comforting features, too, bringing balance to what can seem an unreasonable few months. The book’s intimate landscape photographs by Marty’s wife, Mica, are as sparse and evocative as Andrew Wyeth paintings; they show us a silent world wrapped in a dense, white blanket.

For Christians, early winter is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, sometimes called “the new Adam” because he restored God’s favor after Adam and Eve fell from grace.

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In “Adam: God’s Beloved” (Orbis Press, 128 pages, $16), writer Henri J.M. Nouwen introduces a young man named Adam who was so severely disabled that he could not even speak. Nouwen, a Catholic priest, took care of the young man at Daybreak Community, a home for the disabled near Toronto, where Nouwen served as chaplain until his own death last fall. This book is his final word on a life of faith.

During his brief 34 years, Adam showed courage, hope and tenacity that reminded others of Christ. People who knew him found that the silence imposed on Adam allowed him to communicate most directly. Nouwen compares it to prayer, where much is felt and understood, not spoken.

This biography of Adam captures Nouwen’s gift for sacred storytelling that makes his legacy of more than 30 books a guide for spiritual seekers around the world. Nouwen’s personal life is expanded on in a diary published at the time of his death. “The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom” (Doubleday, 118 pages, $26.95) is a selection from the notebook Nouwen kept during a slow recovery from an emotional breakdown about 10 years ago. The titles above the one-page reflections (“Work Around the Abyss,” “Come Home,” “Live Patiently With the Not-Yet”) track his progress back to health. The book speaks to anyone who has been through a major transition.

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Jalaludin Rumi, a 13th century Muslim, wrote in verse about his spiritual life. Several dozen of his works, a memoir by a contemporary admirer, a glossary of Rumi’s symbolic terms and a sketch of his life make “Rumi: In the Arms of the Beloved,” translations by Jonathan Star (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 209 pages, $21.50), a complete introduction.

For Rumi, the quest for God and its rewards were reason enough to live. “Wood for His Fire” begins:

If you don’t have the Beloved

Why aren’t you looking for Him?

If you have the Beloved

Why aren’t you rejoicing?

As the head of a university in what is now Turkey, Rumi lived squarely in the real world. Still, he was a mystic who saw a spark of the divine in all creation. He followed the Sufi way, Islam’s spiritual path steeped in experiences of the divine in daily life.

The term Sufi relates to a desert trail leading from one oasis to the next. To stay on course, a person needs a guide. Rumi’s earthy metaphors have served as a reliable compass for 700 years.

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Mary Rourke reviews books about faith and spirituality every four weeks. Next week: Cathy Curtis on art books.