Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas to all my gracious readers—through all the darkness in the world, may this Christmas bring you light for the feast and in the year to come.
I have been meaning to write to recommend a book which is wonderful in everything but its title: Reclaiming Humility, by Jane Foulcher (Liturgical). Humility can't be claimed, much less reclaimed, but this is the book's only fault. It is scholarly without being pedantic and is so beautifully written that you have no sense of the usual dry scholarly monograph. Her research is impeccable and her insights original. Highly recommended.
Also, Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee, ed. Earl Ingersoll (BOA editions). Repetititive in places, but when Li-Young gets going he is full of silence and insight.
Finally, The Taste of Silence by Bieke Vandekerckhove, published by Liturgical Press. It is a down-to-earth treatment of pain, religion, meditation. She is well-known in Belgium: She has ALS (in remission) and is half-paralysed, and yet she has been ordained a zen master with the name “Light of Kenosis”. She is also deeply into Benedictine monastic spirituality.
In early January I will be going again on a 3-month retreat on a remote island in Scotland and will have virtually no access to internet—and no, I don't have a pub date yet for vol. 2. But I'm working on it. Slowly and painfully.
May your New Year be filled with joy to aid you in the fight against the darkness.
I have been meaning to write to recommend a book which is wonderful in everything but its title: Reclaiming Humility, by Jane Foulcher (Liturgical). Humility can't be claimed, much less reclaimed, but this is the book's only fault. It is scholarly without being pedantic and is so beautifully written that you have no sense of the usual dry scholarly monograph. Her research is impeccable and her insights original. Highly recommended.
Also, Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee, ed. Earl Ingersoll (BOA editions). Repetititive in places, but when Li-Young gets going he is full of silence and insight.
Finally, The Taste of Silence by Bieke Vandekerckhove, published by Liturgical Press. It is a down-to-earth treatment of pain, religion, meditation. She is well-known in Belgium: She has ALS (in remission) and is half-paralysed, and yet she has been ordained a zen master with the name “Light of Kenosis”. She is also deeply into Benedictine monastic spirituality.
In early January I will be going again on a 3-month retreat on a remote island in Scotland and will have virtually no access to internet—and no, I don't have a pub date yet for vol. 2. But I'm working on it. Slowly and painfully.
May your New Year be filled with joy to aid you in the fight against the darkness.
posted by Maggie Ross at 11:26 am
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