Rating: 
Summary: You don't have to be a monk...
Review: We came across this book quite by accident, when looking for something else (we've forgotten what!) in the self-help section of a local bookstore. It seemed to jump off the shelf at us!You don't have to be a monk to read this, or follow it. The writing is down to earth, and follows a seeker's experience with the monks who broke away from their original Franciscan monastery in the mid 1960's, to form their own. This is no easy feat! They were led by the belief there is meaning in eastern christianity (fundamentalists or traditionalists will find this book too liberal for their liking). Indeed, their monastery had room for brothers and sisters, living a celibate spiritual life. There is much beauty and substance in this book -- we only wish it were available in paperback, to make it more accessible to more people. If you are wondering how to live a spiritual life every day, if you would like to be monklike, but have responsibilities that keep you in the worldy life, do not despair! This book is something that can help you, and uplift you, in a down-to-earth yet uplifting way!
Rating: 
Summary: A potential classic, though not unflawed
Review: When I started this book, reading several chapters into it, I thought it was the best spiritual book I've read since Dallas Willard's "The Divine Conspiracy". Indeed, readers of Willard and Richard Foster would benefit greatly from this book, for it is really about the spiritual disciplines involved in maintaining a lifelong spiritual journey. Although it is written by monks, it is aimed toward anyone desiring union with God, which is the true basis for happiness. The continuing story of "the Seeker", a composite of several spiritual pilgrims that have committed to the monastic life at New Skete, is threaded throughout this book, and I can see much of my own pilgrimmage reflected in those accounts as the Seeker grows in wisdom. The wisdom of Father Laurence, especially, but the other monks also, is not wisdom that is theoretical, but has been developed over a long period of time living in community. After reading the first few chapters, I was almost ready to head up to New York to join them, to sit under that marvelous teaching, to immerse myself in the rich, traditional worship, to participate in the cycle of prayer and work (indeed, work is considered a form of prayer by the monks). Alas, I then ran into a major snag. I was tipped off early in the book by a brief discussion about the existence or non-existence of demonic forces. The flaw became more obvious in a later chapter when the monks took the liberty to disagree with Holy Scripture (St. Paul's writing in Romans 7 concerning why he does what he does not want to do, which is not him but the sin within him). There seems to be a concern that this scripture could be misused to shirk one's personal responsibility for sin (of course, nearly ANY scripture can be misused if not understood properly), so their solution seems to be to just discard it, rather than really trying to understand what Paul was saying. Then, in the middle of a very valuable discussion on sacred reading of the scriptures, they put forth a typical liberal view on scriptural interpretation, which to me puts them in the curious position of having a high regard for scripture as used in worship and devotions, while at the same time undermining the AUTHORITY of scripture. Therefore, they seem to put scripture on the same level as the writings of the early church fathers, which they can discard just as easily as they can the other, non-canonized writings, especially if it conflicts with their knowledge of modern psychology. I could not continue the book at that point with the same enthusiasm with which I began it, but I did finish it, and I still highly recommend it to spiritual seekers, whether of conservative or liberal bent. It may very well become a modern spiritual classic, especially since, unlike most books of this nature, it is gives insight into an Eastern style of Christian monasticism.
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