Who Inspires You Spiritually? Who are your spiritual heroes?

[umsami]

I thought this might be a fun thread. Who are your spiritual heroes? Which people/writings do you turn to for inspiration?

[EnviroBecca]

Jesus is my biggest inspiration and hero.

Anne Lamott has had a hard life in some ways and is a pretty screwed-up person, but she manages to recognize the moments of grace in life and to push herself to work at what's really important. I enjoy her essays about faith. They're often very funny, as well as inspiring.

[Soul-O]

I love CS Lewis. I read one of the essays in "Mere Christianity" anytime I need a lift in my faith.

[PatienceAndLove]

Our Lord, His Mother, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Therese of Liseux, St. Benedict, and Mother Angelica.

[Liquesce]

Aside from the obvious, Imam Tirmidhi falls pretty high on my list.

(I actually also really love Anne Lamott and C.S. Lewis, though for plainly different reasons, but that's getting more into "favorite authors/speakers on religious subjects" than people who I even know enough about to find to be inspiring individuals.)

[eastkygal]

As far as biblically...
Jesus - (my Savior and my hero)
Mother Mary
Mary Magdalene
The Apostle Paul

More modern inspirations:
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
Martin Luther
Yogi Bhajan
Martin Luther King Jr.

I'd love to add Mother Theresa and Ghandi to this list, but I don't know much about them. I'd also like to read more C.S. Lewis. It is only lately that anyone in modern times has inspired me spiritually. I'm liking the more positive spin it puts on things to let others close to you inspire you.

[greenmagick]

hmmmm, good question.

I dont think I have a person that I could name. Really its nature that inspires me the most

[Liquesce]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

As far as biblically...
Jesus - (my Savior and my hero)
Mother Mary
Mary Magdalene
The Apostle Paul

More modern inspirations:
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
Martin Luther
Yogi Bhajan
Martin Luther King Jr.

I'd love to add Mother Theresa and Ghandi to this list, but I don't know much about them. I'd also like to read more C.S. Lewis. It is only lately that anyone in modern times has inspired me spiritually. I'm liking the more positive spin it puts on things to let others close to you inspire you.

I bet you'd like Howard Thurman a lot. (Then again, I think everyone should like Howard Thurman a lot. ) Not all of his books are easy to track down anymore, but the ones that are are well worth it.

[ursusarctos]

St. Francis
Nature (good one, greenmagick!)
Michelle Duggar!

[Dr.Worm]

Michael Jackson

[Aubergine68]

ITA with the pp who are inspired by nature.

I have always really enjoyed some of the writers that pp have mentioned.

When I was a kid, I read lots of writings by/about both Jews and Christians who were persecuted and/or risked their lives to help others because of their faith during the Holocaust/WWII. I haven't re-read them for decades, but these were the first figures who came to mind when I read the OPs question:

Victor Frankl
Anne Frank (don't have to link her, surely!)
Gladys Aylward
Corrie Ten Boom
Gizelle Hersh

[Bluegoat]

St Augustine of Hippo
C.S. Lewis
Dorothy Sayers
St Thomas Aquinas
The Dali Lama
Mother Teresa

Also, I have always been kind of fond of St Dunstan and St Wilgeforts, who feature in one of my favorite novels. Not heros quite, but there is something I find compelling about them.

[xekomaya]

hmm.. The Blessed Virgin Mary, particularly as Our Lady of Fatima, St. Therese of Liseux, Padre Pio, St. John of the Cross, Mother Theresa and the Carmelite spirituality in general.

I do love C.S. Lewis's writings, as well as Fr. Paul O'Sullivan who wrote some very simple and charming books on various aspects of Catholic life. All About the Angels and An Easy Way to Become a Saint are two of my favorites and I turn to them often for inspiration when things get overwhelming.

Story of a Soul is a perpetual favorite, and one that I give as a gift for any religious celebration.

Oh and St. Bernadette and Song of Bernadette are on the list as well ...

[holyhelianthus]

Besides Christ of course...

I love Esther and Ruth
Shane Claiborne
Lauren Winner
Ghandi
The Dalai Lama
Francesca DeGrandis

[hotmamacita]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

These are two whose writings are widely available. There are other individuals who I either know in person or have some of their writings who inspire me greatly as well.

[tropicaldutchtulip]

Jesus of course. And I have been involved with Joyce Meyer Ministries for several years now.

[InchByInch]

Jesus, Mary and all the saints. The saints are a great comfort to me, since they had to overcome not only external challenges, but the challenges that come from within (i.e. personal flaws and shortcomings)-- they're just very easy to find inspiration in, once you know the story of their lives.

As one example: St. Maximillian Kolbe, who was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who hid 2,000 Jews from the Nazis. Then he himself was arrested by the Gestapo and ended up in Auschwitz. One day a man from his barracks disappeared, and-- suspecting that he'd escaped-- the Nazis decided to punish the remaining men in the barracks by choosing 10 of them to be starved to death in a little cell together. One of the 10 men, upon learning he'd been selected to die, began to weep hysterically... and Kolbe asked the Nazis in charge if he could take the man's place. They allowed the exchange, and for the weeks it took the men to die, Kolbe comforted them with prayer and songs. He himself didn't actually die of starvation, though; the guards finally came in and killed him with an injection of carbolic acid. This is just a super-short synopsis; he had a very fascinating life, and I can recommend "Forget Not Love: The Passion of Maximilian Kolbe" by Andre Frossard as a great way to get to know him better.

"In one or two hundred years, you and I will no longer be alive. Then all our problems will be settled, and only one will remain: Will we still exist at that moment, and where? Will we be happy? It is the same for all men. Every hour brings us closer to that moment." Fr. Maximilian Kolbe