Sharman Apt Russell

Rating: 4 out of 5

“And we feel a weariness, much like that of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and Stoic who in 170 CE wrote in his diary, later called the Meditations: Evil: the same old thing. No matter what happens, keep this in mind: it’s the same old thing, from one end of the world to the other. It fills the history books, ancient and modern, and the cities, and the houses too. Nothing new at all. Familiar, transient.”

The title for this book, Standing in the Light is based on a Quaker idea that Apt Russell explores throughout the book. If I understand it correctly, the Light is basically the inner stillness that one can find in silence and meditation. This is a book that is filled with thoughtful ruminations from the author’s life. Even if you don’t subscribe to Apt Russell’s worldview or thoughts, or you’re not persuaded by her account, this book is still filled with wisdom and thoughtful perspectives that make it worth reading. At the very least, you will walk away with a better understanding of one person’s view of pantheism. I didn’t find Apt Russell’s view compelling enough to entirely believe her version of pantheism, nevertheless this book exceeded my expectations.

Let me say what this book is not. It is not a systematic review of the philosophy of pantheism, nor of its history. This isn’t a heavily philosophical tome that taxes every last drop of your brainpower to comprehend, rather it contains small pieces of philosophical thought interspersed between the author’s experiences and thoughts. Sometimes the switch from history and philosophy to a personal account was a bit jarring but I found it quite refreshing.

Apt Russell is an avid amateur ornithologist, and being something of a birder myself, I really enjoyed hearing her stories about the birds and her thoughts on them. If you’re not a fan of birding you should still be able to enjoy this book, although perhaps not as much.

The author both documents and explores her beliefs in this book, she is very clear in her lack of dogmatism, and she shares her doubts on pretty much every idea presented. This comes across as real and genuine, a search for truth, rather than mere contradiction. It made the book much more compelling than I would have found it otherwise. From her travels to India in her early adulthood, to being a Quaker secretary, shifting beliefs, priorities and concerns are eloquently and practically expressed. I kept constantly finding myself relating to Apt Russell, her thoughts are short, practical, and concise, without abdicating nuance. A level of intellect that I can connect with.

This book is firmly rooted in the real world, its not high in the clouds, overly idealistic or separated from reality. Apt Russell avoids the excessively romantic traps which are so readily found in life, and in pantheistic thought especially. Speaking on her and her husband’s acquisition of a country house she writes:

We have paid more than we can afford for this and understand better that every country house is satellite to the city. This time we won’t pretend to grow our own food or sustain ourselves on the land. We go to the country for reflection and redemption. We go despite the fact that living in town is more ecological. We go with a new set of illusions. We will live here until we die or die trying.

This down-to-earth practicality and wisdom flowed through the book, making it compelling and interesting. I didn’t regret reading a single page.

This review was crossposted on my blog … (more)

This could be considered a book about pantheism, as it is labelled. And in a way, it is. She writes of different forms of pantheism throughout history with what appears to be considerable familiarity. Not being an expert on the subject myself, I can't fairly judge.

But for me, it read more as a memoir than a description.

(Aside: I'm not sure how other reviewers were so confused by this fact. The subtitle says "My Life as a Pantheist." If you didn't know going in that it was going to be mostly about her, maybe check your reading comprehension skills, because you were warned.)

Sharman starts off with a basic problem that is probably very common, though not much discussed:

She wants to have a faith. She wants to belong to a religion. She feels that she would be a better, happier, more connected person, and kinder to others, if she did.

But she can't bring herself to believe in gods. Not truly. The concept doesn't make sense to her.

Where she finds meaning in her life is as a naturalist and environmentalist, and so this is where she locates her spiritual meaning as well. Hiking, bird banding, gardening, trying to save the river.

And so what follows is a few hundred pages of (to my mind) well written prose describing this. What is scientific pantheism? Does it really make sense? Does she really believe it? What does that even mean? If she doesn't--or at least, not always--believe, what then? Does it matter? How to find community? How to deal with evil and ugliness and pain?

What I loved about it was that she proposes no answers, not for others and not even for herself. It's a long series of questions, partial answers that change over time, making do, and finding a way of being in the world that gives her life greater meaning and satisfaction despite all of the doubts, unanswered questions and imperfections.

I loved it. Enough to be sad that I have to give it back to the library. Her honesty, self-reflection and searching were all grand.… (more)

Standing in the Light by Sharman Apt Russell is a true blend of the writer’s experiences of nature and spiritual growth. Russell described her life as being a Pantheist, a word coined by John Toland in the 1700s. In beautiful prose she captured the joys of nature especially with bird watching and banding. In the text the writer reviewed the tenets of Eastern religions that she learned from books, companions, and during her travels as a younger woman in Asian countries.
Interestingly she put into context the lives and experiences of Pantheists like Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Giordano Bruno, Baruch Spinoza, Henry David Thoreau, D. H. Lawrence, Walt Whitman, and founder of the World Pantheist Movement Paul Harrison. Russell explained while being a Pantheist how she continued an on-and-off basis to have ties with Quakers. She wrote glowingly about her husband’s and family’s love for nature, work as a creative writing professor at two universities, philosophy, religious life, living in Silver City, and her friends that were involved in conservation efforts in New Mexico.… (more)