My Story
Although we often talk about spirituality, we usually cannot define it or explain how to achieve it. Besides offering a definition of spirituality, this book examines the need for spiritual vision in our lives. It further explores our individual journey into an "apprenticeship" with God, which takes us beyond the merely mortal into transformative closeness to Jesus Christ. Spirituality grows as we strengthen the three basic relationships established by Christ--to God, to ourselves, and to others.
We gain this strength by first learning to align ourselves with God, then binding our mortal self to our spiritual self, and finally by emulating Christ as we reach out to others in charity and service. Jesus Christ is the focus and source of all true spirituality, as well as the power behind all lasting change. The end result of spiritual transformation for individuals is a life of service infused with light, gratitude, and joy. The collective result is Zion, a community of Christ-focused people who are bound together in charity, the essence of God.
Meet Michelle
Michelle Stott James was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. After completing her graduate degrees in German literature in 1988, she joined the faculty of the German department at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Her research interests have led her from the German Enlightenment thinker Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and the Danish Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard to the study of early German-language women authors.
She is most at home in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. When Michelle married John James, John brought six wonderful children to the marriage, among whom are two fosters and an adopted son, all of whom continue to enhance Michelle’s life, including through a growing number of grandchildren.
