Wayfaring: A Guide to Guidance
By Larry Lynn Southard (Author)
$50.00 (GST-inc)
Wayfaring: A Guide To Guidance by Larry Lynn Southard offers a fresh spiritual perspective by presenting God as an interactive, hyper-intelligent process—referred to as “the Way”—rather than a distant being. Drawing from diverse influences including the Bible, the Gospel of Thomas, Daoism, Quakerism, and even creative ideas like Douglas Adams’ Hooloovoo, this book invites readers to engage directly with divine guidance through active participation rather than passive belief. Central to the book is the premise: “If you truly want to be led you must put yourself in a position that allows following.”
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Wayfaring: A Guide To Guidance by Larry Lynn Southard offers a fresh spiritual perspective by presenting God as an interactive, hyper-intelligent process—referred to as “the Way”—rather than a distant being. Drawing from diverse influences including the Bible, the Gospel of Thomas, Daoism, Quakerism, and even creative ideas like Douglas Adams’ Hooloovoo, this book invites readers to engage directly with divine guidance through active participation rather than passive belief. Central to the book is the premise: “If you truly want to be led you must put yourself in a position that allows following.”
Through the metaphor of wayfaring—traveling along a path—the book encourages readers to embody and participate in divine action in daily life, aligning themselves with the natural flow of the universe. It explores three major concepts: God-as-verb (the Way), wayfaring as a spiritual practice, and action nouns that describe spiritual processes. The book’s format of advices and queries, familiar to Quakers, guides readers to deepen their spiritual journey by fostering an ongoing, two-way conversation with the Divine.
Perfect for seekers looking for a practical, experiential approach to spirituality, Wayfaring empowers readers to discover peace, simplicity, and divine presence in everyday life.
Sample
A1: God As Verb
The Way is God as Verb, God as interactive Hyper-Intelligent Process, God as Prescient Principle, God as Supremely Being rather than a Supreme Being. The Way is how things coalesce while still evolving. To experience Divine leading that is immediate and first-hand, adopt the Way as your guide. Start from where you are, start today, start now. Taste and see. Take the first step, go Wayfaring and see what opens.
A2: An Interactive Guiding Path
The Way is known by experiencing reality as an interactive guiding path or road or course – and we travel the path by “Wayfaring”. If you allow the Way to steer you, and you refrain from backseat driving, the Way will take you where you need to go; show you what you need to see; and point out what needs to be done. By allowing it to guide you, you align yourself with the world’s natural rhythms and transitions. Obsessions, desires and addictions will dissipate din the presence of a simplicity that accomplishes everything. You will stand at rest even in the midst of the ambiguities and uncertainties of life, and peace will settle your days.
Taste and see.
Perceive and participate.
*******
The following are 9 queries for serious consideration:
These 9 queries are some of the questions I’ve had to face in my own search …Where does being divinely led rank in your priorities for daily living?
How effective is your present approach to the divine in affording you guidance in daily particulars?
What measures can you take to put yourself in a better position to allow divine guidance?
How close to the reality of God do you see your present conception?
How difficult do you find conceiving of God as process rather than object?
Which do you find more satisfying – maintaining your present approach to God, or trying new approaches?
How open are you to new revelation outside of scripture? Do the two have to agree?
How comfortable are you with using an unfamiliar vocabulary in a spiritual context?
To what extent does language determine our concept of God? Is it possible to conceive beyond language?
<Wayfaring: A Guide to Guidance>(ISBN 9781399944854)은 “인도하심(leading/guidance)을 ‘가끔’이 아니라 ‘일상’으로 살 수 있는가?”라는 질문에서 출발하는, 퀘이커적 영성 훈련서(핸드북)에 가깝습니다. 저자 Larry Lynn Southard는 예수 운동의 초기 명칭이었던 “the Way(길)”에 주목하며, ‘올바른 믿음’보다 ‘올바른 정렬(alignment)과 따름(following)’을 중심에 둡니다. 이 책이 노리는 바는 독자를 어떤 규범 체계에 편입시키기보다, “길이 흐르도록(enter the flow)” 자기 삶의 조건을 정돈해 <인도하심이 가능한 자리>에 서게 하는 것입니다. 퀘이커/기독교 맥락에서 쓰였지만, 신앙 유무와 무관하게 읽을 수 있다고 책 소개는 강조합니다. quakers.nz+1
구성은 매우 퀘이커적입니다. 중심 뼈대가 <Advices and Queries(권고와 물음)>로 되어 있고, 한 리뷰에 따르면 권고 107개, 물음 73개가 실려 책의 절반 이상을 차지합니다. quakers.nz 즉, 처음부터 끝까지 서사적으로 “정독”하게 만들기보다, 펼쳐 읽고(“lucky dip”) 되씹게 만드는 신앙 실천 안내서 형태입니다. quakers.nz 또한 여러 부록(appendices)이 뒤따르는데, 예컨대 “예수는 도가(道家)였는가?” 같은 비교종교적 질문, 요한복음 14:6 “내가 곧 길이요…”에 대한 해석, 그리고 퀘이커 회의/업무(비즈니스 미팅) 기초까지 포함된다고 소개됩니다. quakers.nz 다른 리뷰도 “두 섹션(Advices/Queries) + 다수의 설명 부록·주·참고문헌(성서 및 다양한 출처)”을 확인해 줍니다. quakers-in-ireland.ie
내용의 핵심 어휘는 <길>, <흐름>, <정렬>, <단순화>, <비집착>입니다. 저자는 “God을 명사보다 동사로” 경험하자고 말하며(‘고정된 존재’라기보다 ‘지금 여기에서 작동하는 움직임/작용’으로), 독자에게 ‘삶이 오게 하라’는 식의 역설적 권고를 반복합니다. quakers.nz 자연은 그에게 중요한 스승입니다. “rut(패인 수레바퀴 자국)”과 “routine(삶의 배경이 되는 리듬)”을 구분하며, 전자는 활동을 좁은 홈으로 흘려보내 굳어지게 만들고, 후자는 삶을 지지하는 반복으로 남게 하려 합니다. quakers.nz 그리고 “실천적 길-걷기(practical wayfaring)는 물처럼 흐르는 것”이라는 이미지가 책의 정서적 중심으로 보입니다. quakers.nz
윤리적·실천적 주제는 전통적 퀘이커 증언(평화, 단순함 등)을 다루되, 저자 나름의 “길의 덕목” 목록도 제시합니다. 한 비평은 그 목록에 “겸손, 연민, 비집착, 비간섭, 수동성, 복종/순응” 등이 포함된다고 요약합니다. quakers.nz 또 Friends Journal의 짧은 서평은 이 책이 소비주의 저항, 정신적 잡음(mental clutter) 줄이기, 눈에 띄지 않기(inconspicuous), 판단 없이 사랑하기 같은 조언과, 자연에 대한 경외·양심적 병역거부 같은 질문을 던진다고 정리합니다. Friends Journal 이 지점에서 이 책은 “거창한 신학”보다 “삶의 자세 조정”에 더 많은 지면을 씁니다. 실제로 아일랜드 퀘이커 쪽 리뷰는 이 책을 “신념의 문제가 아니라 지각하고 참여하는 문제”로 표현하며, “우선순위가 맑아지고, 있어야 할 곳에 있게 되고, 해야 할 일을 하게 된다”는 식의 실용적 약속을 긍정적으로 읽습니다. quakers-in-ireland.ie
평론을 하자면, 강점은 분명합니다.
첫째, <형식이 곧 메시지>입니다. Advices/Queries는 ‘내 답을 강요하지 않는 방식의 지도’로 작동합니다. 독자는 명령을 따르기보다, 자신의 내적 반응을 관찰하면서 “지금 내 삶에서 길을 막는 것은 무엇인가”를 점검하게 됩니다. 둘째, 전통과 비교의 균형입니다. 책은 복음서뿐 아니라 도가 자료(예: Tao Te Ching)와 도마복음 등도 참조하는데(리뷰 언급), quakers.nz+1 이를 통해 ‘기독교 내부의 길’만이 아니라 ‘길이라는 보편적 문법’으로 독자를 이끌려 합니다. 셋째, “매일의 인도하심”이라는 목표가 추상적 감상이 아니라 생활기술로 내려옵니다(단순함, 소비주의 저항, 관계에서의 태도 등). Friends Journal+1
하지만 한계도 뚜렷합니다.
첫째, <처방성>입니다. 저자는 “길을 따르는 데 방해가 되고 싶지 않다”고 하면서도 꽤 규범적으로 말하는 경향이 있다는 지적이 있습니다. quakers.nz 독자에 따라서는 ‘인도하심’이 ‘자유’가 아니라 ‘자기검열/자기통제의 강화’로 체험될 위험이 있습니다. 둘째, <사회적 실천의 긴장>입니다. “비간섭, 수동성, 복종/순응” 같은 덕목은 내적 평정에는 도움 될 수 있지만, 구조적 부정의 앞에서의 퀘이커적 증언(평화·평등·정의 실천)과 어떤 관계를 맺는지 설명이 더 필요합니다. 한 리뷰가 “그렇다면 사회행동은 어디에 놓이느냐”라고 묻는 이유가 여기 있습니다. quakers.nz 셋째, <반복>입니다. Queries가 Advices를 다시 받아 반복하는 느낌이 든다는 비평도 있어, 중반 이후 밀도가 떨어진다고 느낄 수 있습니다. quakers.nz
결론적으로, 이 책은 “영감 가득한 한 번의 독서”보다 “작은 단위로 오래 쓰는 안내서”로 가장 잘 기능합니다. quakers.nz
특히 세진님처럼 ‘내면의 안내를 사회적 성찰과 연결해 읽는’ 독자라면, 이 책을 그대로 따르기보다 <질문 생성기>로 쓰는 편이 효과가 큽니다. 즉, 저자의 권고를 곧장 규범으로 삼기보다, 그 권고가 내 안에서 일으키는 저항·동의·불편함 자체를 자료로 삼아 “지금 내가 두려워서 ‘길’이라고 부르는 것은 무엇인가”, “내가 ‘비간섭’이라는 이름으로 회피하는 것은 무엇인가” 같은 역질문을 만들어 가면, 이 책의 장점(내적 정렬)과 퀘이커 전통의 장점(증언의 공공성)을 함께 살릴 수 있습니다.
덧붙임: 제목이 같은 다른 책(예: 정신건강 분야 <Wayfaring>)도 있으니, 여기서는 <Larry Lynn Southard, 2023, 219쪽, 퀘이커/기독교 맥락의 안내서>를 기준으로 썼습니다. quakers.nz+2Friends Journal+2
English | Summary + Review (about 1,000 words)
<Wayfaring: A Guide to Guidance> (ISBN 9781399944854) is best read not as a linear argument but as a Quaker-flavored spiritual manual: a book designed to be opened, dipped into, and practiced. It asks a deceptively simple question: if you genuinely want divine guidance—“leading”—how do you place yourself where guidance can actually happen in daily life? Promotional descriptions frame it as Quaker and Christian in tone while still usable by readers of any faith or none. quakers.nz+1
The organizing metaphor is “the Way.” Southard points back to the early Christian movement’s name, “the Way,” and treats Jesus not primarily as a figure to be admired from a distance but as a life-pattern to be aligned with—an embodied “Way” that can be followed. Lettertec Bookstore+1 The book’s purpose, as multiple listings and reviews repeat, is to help readers “put themselves in a position” to “flow with” that Way. quakers.nz+1
Structurally, the book is explicitly Quaker in form. A review from Quaker Book Sales (Aotearoa/New Zealand) notes that its central structure is <Advices and Queries>, with 107 advices and 73 queries making up just over half the volume. quakers.nz That’s significant: it signals a pedagogy of formation rather than persuasion. Advices give compressed counsel; queries are meant to turn the reader back toward self-examination and lived experiment. The same review notes that the back matter includes multiple appendices—ranging from “Was Jesus a Taoist?”, to an interpretation of John 14:6 (“I am the Way…”), to “Quaker Business Meeting Basics.” quakers.nz Another set of Irish Quaker reviews confirms the two main sections and the extensive notes and references drawing from biblical and other sources. quakers-in-ireland.ie The implication is that <Wayfaring> is closer to a toolbox or devotional companion than to a treatise.
In terms of themes, Southard’s spiritual vocabulary leans heavily on alignment, flow, simplicity, and “de-cluttering”—internally and externally. Friends Journal’s short notice emphasizes advices and queries aimed at resisting consumerism, reducing mental clutter, practicing a kind of social humility (“be inconspicuous”), and loving without judgment, as well as queries about how “the Way” reshapes priorities, reverence for nature, and even conscientious objection. Friends Journal This suggests a spirituality that is concrete and behavioral: guidance is not only mystical “messages,” but also a reshaping of attention, desire, and habit.
One of the book’s more distinctive theological moves—highlighted in the Aotearoa review and echoed in the Irish reviews—is its insistence on experiencing “God as verb,” not merely “God as noun.” quakers.nz+1 The same review reports an early formulation: God as “Supremely Being rather than a Supreme Being,” with readers urged to experience the divine as an active, present movement. quakers.nz Whether one reads that as poetic theism, process theology, or simply experiential language, it fits the book’s “guidance as lived responsiveness” orientation.
Nature functions as a major teacher and metaphorical reservoir. The Aotearoa reviewer praises Southard’s distinction between “routine” (a stabilizing backdrop) and “rut” (a narrowing groove that channels life into rigid patterns), and notes the invitation to “enter the flow.” quakers.nz The same review highlights the image of “flowing like water” as practical wayfaring and even connects it, in a local resonance, to Māori understandings of spirit/wairua. quakers.nz Whatever one’s background, the underlying claim is clear: guidance is easiest to notice when life is not overdetermined by compulsion, noise, and status-seeking.
As a Quaker-adjacent book, it also engages familiar testimonies (peace, simplicity) while offering Southard’s own list of “virtues of the Way.” One reviewer summarizes these as including humility, compassion, non-attachment, non-interference, passivity, and submissiveness. quakers.nz Here, the book leans toward a Tao-like sensibility: guidance is associated with yielding, not forcing; with non-striving rather than control. The Irish review packet even celebrates the paradoxical counsel of overcoming hindrance by non-striving. quakers-in-ireland.ie
That leads directly to a balanced evaluation.
What the book does particularly well is <formative practicality>. It does not primarily chase novelty, doctrinal debate, or spiritual fireworks. Instead, it repeatedly pulls the reader back to conditions of receptivity: simplification, attention, humility, honest self-inventory, and a willingness to practice. In that sense, it resembles classic Quaker “Faith & Practice” style texts, meant for revisiting and reflection more than cover-to-cover consumption. quakers.nz The advices-and-queries structure can be an excellent engine for journaling, spiritual friendship, or meeting-based discussion—precisely because it invites readers to answer from their lives rather than from ideology.
A second strength is its <cross-traditional openness> within a broadly Christian frame. Reviews and descriptions note sources such as the Gospel of Thomas and Taoist writings (e.g., Tao Te Ching). quakers.nz+1 If handled well, that breadth can help “guidance” feel like a universal human practice rather than a sectarian privilege, while still honoring the Jesus-centered lineage the author clearly values.
The limitations, however, matter—especially for readers who care about the relationship between inner guidance and outward justice.
First, there is a recurring critique of <prescriptiveness>. The Aotearoa review observes that although Southard says he does not want to “get in the way” of your following, he remains “quite prescriptive.” quakers.nz In a guidance manual, that can cut both ways: strong counsel can help readers who feel lost; yet it can also create a subtle pressure to conform to the author’s spiritual temperament.
Second, there is an unresolved tension around <social action>. If key virtues are framed in terms like passivity, submissiveness, and non-interference, readers may reasonably wonder how prophetic witness, confrontation with injustice, or collective organizing fits. The same reviewer explicitly raises the question: “I’m not sure where that leaves social action…” quakers.nz Of course, Southard may intend “non-interference” as ego-relinquishment rather than political quietism, but the burden is on the text to clarify how “flowing with the Way” relates to structural harm, public accountability, and the Quaker testimonies of equality and peace as practiced in the world.
Third, there may be an issue of <repetition>. The Aotearoa reviewer notes that after a point the queries can feel repetitious because they mirror the advices. quakers.nz For some, that repetition is a feature (practice needs revisiting); for others, it may reduce momentum.
Overall, <Wayfaring> seems most valuable as a “daily companion” text—something you consult, sit with, and let question you—rather than as a single-read spiritual narrative. If you approach it as a generator of self-audit questions and small experiments in attention and simplicity, it can be genuinely useful. If you approach it expecting a fully worked account of how inner guidance translates into public ethics and social struggle, you may find that you need to supply that bridge yourself.
Note: There are other contemporary books titled <Wayfaring> (e.g., in mental health and pastoral care), so this summary is specifically about Larry Lynn Southard’s 2023 Quaker/Christian guidance manual (219pp, self-published/limited edition context noted in reviews). quakers.nz+2quakers.nz+2
