1 comments about The Spiritual Way of St. Jeanne D'Arc.

1. George Tavard in 'The Spiritual Way of St. Jeanne d'Arc' describes Joan's dedication to spiritual virginity as 'one cannot clean one's conscience too much.' Even though she also included sexual continence, the spiritual virginity is an example for all to follow if we want to love and serve God and our fellow man. It is a constant looking at our life in order to see what we must change. The core of this is her reliance on God at all times. It is an example for all of us who at times in our life feel hopeless when we rely on our limitations. Many of the lives of the Saints are written devoid of any anger or human faults. This book shows Joan's humanness and anger, sometimes bordering on sarcasm, to questions that were misleading and deceitful. It also show's how she integrated her interior life of contemplation with God into her active life of leadership for the liberation of France. Joan of Arc is a timeless model for all men and women to follow. I highly recommend this book as a companion to 'Joan of Arc, Her Story' by Regine Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Clin. Art Dugan

5 comments about My Beautiful Idol.

1. This is an autobiographical journey through five years of transition in the life of the author. Gall originally self-published this work and it is his first published book.
   
   My Beautiful Idol is a story of seeking, recognizing and following God. Gall records his journey of faith and life chasing God's will from a highly paid career in Chicago to Denver and through a series of jobs, ministry settings and relationships. Scattered throughout the narrative are lessons about the reality of poverty, the desire to be loved and God's dream for individual lives. Gall is open with his thoughts, emotions and struggles in his life during the five years that are recorded in the book.
   
   I found the narrative to be moderately compelling, but at times tedious and repetitive. There was insightful wisdom about life and relationships sprinkled throughout the book that I found to be fairly interesting. I recommend this book to those looking for open honesty in the life of another.



2. Pete Gall is a guy who can hang out at our home anytime...Standing, open invitation. Buy this book!!!!
   
   His statement, "The smallest prison in the world is a faith that doesn't let Jesus grow."(p.156) is just one of a myriad of truths spoken throughout this book.
   
   Refreshing, real, poignant --- an incredibly skilled story teller. The down-to-earth practical considerations that Pete shares are invaluable.
   
   This is a textbook for a new paradigm of what it might mean to "become a new kind of Christian. As Pete says, " Mot many of us live in ways that leave us open to interruption. We want the protection of organizations. We want to have "people for that." Specialists in following Christ so we won't have to do it ourselves." (p.282). This quote succinctly captures the essence of the virus that currently infects Christianity in the 21st century....specialists, professionals --- somebody else other than me because I can't find the time to do that or deem myself unqualified. What a hock of hooey. Pete Gall pulls the mask off this sort of clowning around.
   
   Pete leads us to some terribly important vantage points...precipices where he encourages us to look out at the possibilities --- possibilities that require embracing new forms of humility, wonder, unlearning and developing the capacity and hunger to learn what we don't know. Things like this, " Success in life is not measured by what we achieve, but by what we come to admit. It is not measured by how far we journey, how many zombies, goblins or droids we slay, or by our return as champions. It is not measured by how much good I do for the people I get paid to care about. Success in life is measured by what we come to admit." (p.267).
   
   A blueprint for the strategic reconstruction of Christian ministry as we presently know it. An incredibly well written story. I have high expectations for Pete's next book.
   
   Bill Dahl



3. Pete Gall is very similar to Donald Miller in many ways. Very funny with a very interesting story. I started this book with the expectations that this would be a good book and I walked away with my new favorite book. I have already got a copy for multiple people. Pete has helped me become aware of some of the false idols in my life. The last 4 or 5 chapters have changed the way I will approach ministry when I graduate. Thanks Pete



4. Author Pete Gall has crafted a tell-all memoir of sorts (even when his secrets aren't exactly palatable by the average evangelical perspective), in which he details his life so far in remarkably transparent and unabashedly honest fashion.
   
   Gall --- who is originally from Zionsville, IN, son to an executive and a housewife, and one of three brothers --- opens his text by describing himself as the "fat blonde guy on the corner in the African print shirt squeezing himself into the yellow taxi." It's 7:15pm, August 1994, and Gall is trying to convince himself and the cabbie that he has revolutionized the hair care industry with one word: "Repeat." When the cabbie begs to disagree with his inflated profit ratio, Gall does what he does best: speaks around the facts with clever words and a lot of false bravado. Seeing through Gall's manipulation attempt, the cabbie clarifies Gall's job description as an advertising copywriter with this simple assessment, "This is what you do, write tricky words?" Gall counters with, "We call it 'creating a need.'"
   
   With this energetic verbal exchange quickly growing to a close, Gall tries to reassure the cabbie that creating a need is a valuable and worthy trade, because in Gall's words, "We're all after something to tell us about ourselves." The author then tries to convince himself of this final statement by describing a program he just watched on the collector crab and how it attaches bits of whatever he finds on the sea floor to his shell to camouflage itself from its enemies. Similarly, he notes, humans do it all the time with products, services, impressions, approaches, tones and movements, to cover or hide what they don't want the world to see and measure them by.
   
   With this weighty introduction laid out, Gall then introduces the reader to his life in Chicago, living in a city he's not too crazy about, involved with a woman who has been seeing another man, and detesting his high-powered position and the projects he is paid to sell. In fast-paced motion, he quits his job and moves west, not knowing where he'll end up. All he knows is that he wants to place God at the center of his life and realizes that trying to sell "needs" to people is soul-sickening at best. Idols, as Gall refers to them, are only good for two things: "Making us feel important and making us feel loved." Enough said.
   
   Gall quits his job and heads toward Denver where his best friend David lives. En route, he stops to see his family, who don't understand his decision to leave a great job without another one in line. Gall quickly finds himself broke, then lands various low-paying service-type jobs where he learns a lot about loving what society generally terms "the unlovable folk," who teach Gall more about Christ and genuine faith than any traditional church could ever do. He discusses his heartaches and failed romantic relationships, trying to understand how much pain can co-exist with a joyful heart, the disjunct between believing and struggling to make it through the day, and not understanding why God isn't talking back.
   
   Readers will value Gall's approachability to sensitive topics often sidestepped by the church. His text is real, raw and so refreshing. And perhaps most important is that, through all his forays, Gall's faith emerges stronger and more solid than ever.
   
   --- Reviewed by Michele Howe



5. spiritual memoirs are a tricky genre -- they can be fantastic or horrible. i suppose this is true for all genres; maybe it's just that writing a spiritual memoir takes a combination of messiness and will that is hard to find. but some of my favorite books fit this description:
   dangerous wonder and messy spirituality, by mike yaconelli
   take this bread, by sara miles
   traveling mercies and grace (eventually), by anne lamott
   blue like jazz, by donald miller
   
   yaconelli talked about certain books being his friends. in that vein, these books are my friends.
   
   that's what pete gall has accomplished with my beautiful idol: he's crafted a wonderfully written, messy, hopeful, humble, self-effacing, and funny reflection on his own bumpy journey. it's ghastly at times, and gorgeous at times -- just like my life.
   
   gall's story starts in young adulthood, as a rising advertising star in chicago, livin' la vida loca. he experiences some great discomfort in the direction of his life, and senses he was made for something more, something deeper. and -- at this point -- something more grand.
   
   what follows, in the next few years (the book really only covers a few years of his life), gall's pursuit of jesus, and the calling he senses in his gut, slowly smashes down his grandiose notions about what this more/deeper life will look like. gall painfully acknowledges the idols he worships, deconstructs them, and discards them. of course, that's never an easy or simple process, and it's full of set-backs, confusion and waiting.
   
   it's this waiting that is particularly fantastic in gall's story. he doesn't figure anything out quickly, and has a string of jobs and ministry setttings, girlfriends, living situations, and belief sets -- with a few a-has along the way.
   
   great stuff. my story is very different than pete gall's. but, as with all good spiritual memoirs, this book held up a mirror to my own journey.

3 comments about St. Andrews Seven.

1. The St. Andrews Seven chronicles the rise of an emphasis on overseas missions among several students at St. Andrews and their Professor. Then, as now, there were those who felt that the Christian faith was not academically respectable, yet these students were both accomplished scholars and men of faith. Their effects on the establishment of overseas missions and colleges, especially in India, and the rigors of student life, faith and politics at St. Andrews in the 18th century are an inspiration for students even today.



2. A pastor friend gave me this book a year ago. I started reading it on a recent trip and couldn't put it down. God used this book to challenge me to excellence in my study of the Bible, communicating God's Word to people around me, and the power of prayer. Don't miss another key point in this book: these believers studied, prayed, discussed and served together. Not only will St. Andrews Seven give you a snapshot of early Scottish Missions, it will also challenge you to live all out for Christ in fulfilling His Great Commission at the start of the new millennium. I highly recommend it and other biographies published by Banner of Truth (look it up on the web)and sold by Amazon!



3. I just received this book a month ago for my birthday and have already read it twice! It has easily shot to number two behind Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret on my list of Ridiculously Awesome Books on the Missionary Task.
   
   "Seven" is the story of six young students and their professor who were at the forefront of a season of missionary zeal in Scotland in the early 1800's. The book tells their story compellingly and succinctly, letting the profound testimony of these students lives leave you speechless. To give you a hint at the caliber of these students, one of them dies at the young age of 18... and the biography his friends write of him takes two volumes. How many of us at 18 had accomplished enough for a chapter in a biography, let alone a volume, let alone two volumes???
   
   Here's some quotes that hit me in the gut... maybe they'll whet your appetite and you'll go buy this book, read it, get convicted, and become a missionary:
   
   "They are a rebuke to those who never get past dabbling with the world-wide mission of the Church."
   
   "They also saw that faith must be personal, but its practice should not be private."
   
   "Our response to Christ's commands should be determined by what we can do in His strength, not by what we might fail to do in ours."
   
   "It is by dint of steady labour - it is by giving enough of application to the work, and having enough of time for the doing of it - it is by regular painstaking and the constant assiduities - it is by these, and not by any process of legerdemain, that we secure the strength and the staple of real execellence."
   
   "From seven to nine in the evening I am engaged with J. Urquhart in collecting, under specific heads, all possible information on the subject of missions, both from Scriptures, under the titles of precepts - prophecies - promises and examples, and from all other books whatever we can lay our hands on; the object of this is, with our united prayers, to seek a sober determination of the enquiry, whether or not we ought to embark on this enterprise." (From the journal of one of the students, John Adam)
   
   "Only one thing seemed to matter: to discover God's will and do it."

No comments about The She-Apostle: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Luisa de Carvajal.

1 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jesus.

1. i've read over a thousand christian commentaries. this is one of the better. a few parts are dry but mostly an overall pretty good read.

5 comments about Saint Therese of Lisieux (Penguin Lives).

1. I have not read any of the poems or the autobiography that Saint Therese is known for; I was drawn to this book because I had heard of her and wanted to learn more about her. This shorter biography seemed the best route in that regard and Kathryn Harrison does a commendable job of introducting Therese to readers who may not be familiar with this saint.
   
   Harrison begins her biography with a look at Therese's parents and the role their failing and success played in Therese's life. She would lose her mother at a young age, and constantly look for mother figures in her sisters, the Virgin Mary and any visions she experienced. Harrison weaves the saint's poetry and writings throughout the piece, offering insight and expansion when needed. After her death, Therese Martin quickly became a very influential religious figure. Having received a special dispensation from Pope Leo XIII, Therese Martin was able to enter the convent at Carmel at the age of fifteen. She had always dedicated her life to the Lord and would not allow anyone to hold her back, even the Mother Superior. Her older sisters were nuns in the same order, springing from a religious family that predestined their daughters' lives for this role. Therese recorded her life in the convent and wrote poems and plays that inspire readers to this day. She was misunderstood perhaps by her fellow sisters because she longed for a nothingness in her faith that only God could grant.
   
   When her tuberculosis progressed, her sisters took to recording conversations with her for posterity, which were used in her beatification. She died at the age of twenty-four and she received the fastest canonization in the history of the Catholic church.
   
   Other reviewers have mentioned that this book misses the point, but I disagree. In offering some of the so-called Freudian analysis of Therese and her writings, the author is not diminishing their content or ardor; she merely mentions that these comparisons can be made, and it is up to the reader to decide how they interpret these writings. There is throughout Therese's life the knowledge that she wanted nothing more than to be a nun and to become a saint; so there are naturally instances when she almost seems to be posturing, knowing how she acted then would forever be remembered and critiqued if her desire was to be granted. And readers should not forget that when a woman takes a vow to become a nun, that their husband is Christ Jesus and the ceremony is a wedding of sorts; any language that the author has used to express this relationship paints it as a union of Saint Therese's soul with the Holy Spirit.



2. Unfortunately this was the only biography of Therese in my local public library. All biographies are to some extent seeing the subject thru a lens, but this lens filters out much of what is of the most value in Therese's writings in my opinion. This biographer seems unable to dive into or convey much of Therese's spirituality, due to a lack of understanding or excessive skepticism of spiritual experience. Biographer doesn't seem to be convinced that spiritual experiences are real. She continuously suggests that Therese's spirituality may be just neuroses and offers up superficial pop-psychological comments for every spiritual experience. Its like a biography of a mountaineer but the biographer is not at all sure that mountains really even exist at all, and they may be a figment of the fevered imagination. Biographer thinks this point of view is attuned to what "contemporary readers" expect but it just ends up missing most of whats there spiritually.



3. Kathryn Harrison writes triumphantly about Therese Martin the Saint of Lisieux. Her biography captures the historical character from childhood to her death at age 24 years. Harrison portrays the life of Therese amidst the context of the late 19th Century. The focus of the book is on the family life and the convent life of Therese and her seemingly constant struggle to rest in perfect devotion to God to whom she had sacrificed her life.
   
   Harrison writes exquisitely of Therese, but she writes at times from a freudian, humanistic point of view, somehow missing or misunderstanding the mysticism of Therese's life that is the one characteristic that makes her life remarkable. I think this comes from the writer discounting the reality of Therese's constant communion with God.
   
   I recommend this book because it illustrates the power of a quiet life lived in the love and service of God. Harrison successfully shows the effect of one life lived fully for God unselfishly and sacrificially. The final pages offer a brief glimpse of the enormous impact Therese has had on people since the time immediately following her death.
   
   Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays



4. Harrison shows us a Therese who often wept but who also had a gift for restraining her emotions; who's self-understanding was influenced by her dreams, even while she discounted the value of dreams; who had an unusual preadolescent disorder involving involuntary muscular movements which sometimes even threw her out of her bed; and who longed for purgation by spiritual fire. And Harrison did it with literary flair. I loved it. Now I'm reading The Kiss.



5. "Saint Therese of Lisieux" is a short story of a short life. Drawn largely from Therese's own writings and the recollections and testimony of acquaintances, it provides an up close view of a holy life.
   
   Therese is a saint who pursued sanctity by seeking "nothingness" within the Carmel of Lisieux and yet became the patroness of missionaries and one of the most popular saints of the past century.
   
   This book provides an introduction to the spiritual life of late 19th Century France, in which religious life was at its greatest popularity, and the particular environment of her convent. It also gives an insight into the attraction of Therese to the world since her death. I find the popularity of Therese and St. Francis of Assisi to be puzzling. Our world generally esteems those who give their lives in service to others, not in those who seek self mortification as their road to salvation, but in their cases, this is the model which the world embraces. The book alludes to Therese's writings, but really does not, in my estimation, make the case for her immense popularity. This book is a good introduction to her life, but I am left searching for her charism.

5 comments about St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography.

1. This is an excellent book that details the geography and history of the times, and the station of life that young Patrick hailed from. All of these background historical details are vital in understanding better Patrick's life and ministry. The author appeared to be as thorough as possible. What was startling was just how depraved, pagan, and cruel, at least the roving Irish were (slave traders, murderers, even cannibals) without the tempering influence of Christianity. It makes one realize how the conversion of Ireland did in fact bring the kind of normalcy that most of us take for granted within the context of civilized society.



2. This is a great book for anyone interested in getting a glimpse at one of the most influential figures (in my opinion) in early Christianity. Freeman's book presents a concise, easy-to-follow account of Saint Patrick's life and ministry as well as pertinent historical and cultural information about Ireland and Roman Britain during his lifetime.



3. There certainly is a very large amount of information packed into a very small book (by comparison) here. This is an excellent work for those who have been curious, or are curious, about this famous Irish Saint, yet who are not so curious that they want to dig through a mind numbing academic work which would be better than xanax to provide a good nap. I am one of those people and I am one who greatly appreciated this work. In other areas of history, yes, I want something more in depth, but not on this particular subject. It is written in a scholarly manner, appears to be very well researched, yet I found not one page that I did not learn something from nor one page that caused my eyes to roll back into my head and wish the author would just get on with it. It was a good and informative read.
   
   I certainly am not going to rewrite the entire work in this form and call it a review. That has already been done. For greater detail refer to one of the well done and very in depth reviews already posted here. What I found most interesting about the book was the author's ability to paint a very vivid picture of the cultural and religious clash that too place in Ireland during St. Patrick's time. I enjoyed the brief look at the state of the Christian Church at that time and how it affected the people of that time. That story, to me, was just as fascinating as the one told by the author of the Great Saint himself. The brief look at the Celtic religious practices and beliefs was excellent. I also appreciated the author's ability to separate fact from all the fiction that has been dished out for years and years and do it in a nonoffensive way. This was quite refreshing. The author is quite careful to note fact from fiction, speculation from written and archeological fact. This was most helpful.
   
   The author has a wonderful popular history style, yet writes in a mode that does not insult your credulity nor does Freeman sensationalize events simply to hold the reader's interest. The facts alone, and the way the author presents them, are enough to keep you turning the pages on this one. The black and white maps provided are quite helpful as is the "dictionary" and foot noting. I enjoyed the translation of the two surviving letters of St. Patrick's "Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus" and the "Confession." Both are a nice touch and added much to the value of the book.
   
   A work such as this, where so much has been lost down through the years is not an easy thing to write, but this author, Philip Freeman has done an excellent job. Now there are books out there that go into much greater depth on the subject of this obviously great man and I certainly would recommend further reading for those who are interested or who want to become experts on the subject. For myself, this work fit my needs perfectly. I wanted to know a bit about the man and I certainly learned it here.
   
   Recommend this one highly.
   
   Don Blankenship



4. Wanting to read a scholarly biography of St. Patrick, this book came up first in my library search so I went with it. I was at first skeptical of the author because of his name and alma mater. What possible legitimate interest, I thought, could some Harvard professor with a Jewish-sounding name have in St. Patrick, except to throw dirt on him? I was expecting an secular Ivy League scholar of Jesus Seminar pedigree, who would delight in discrediting cherished beliefs and tearing down the icons of the faithful from their place of honor. Now, I was specifically looking for nothing but the whole truth, and I accept that medieval legends should be discounted in a scholarly work, but after seeing what academic higher criticism has done to the rest of what Christians hold sacred, from the accuracy of the Bible to the very existence of Jesus Christ, I was a bit suspicious of Philip Freeman. I'm glad to say that my initial prejudices were (almost) totally proven wrong. This is a work of exceptional scholarship, with obvious respect and even affection for St. Patrick.
   
   The first problem in dealing with the life of St. Patrick is the paucity of primary source evidence. His two extant letters provide a wealth of biographical details relative to most other historical figures from the era, but certainly not enough to fill a book. The gaps in his biography have to be filled in with historical context and historical speculation and Professor Freeman excels in both. As a Professor of Classics, he is well qualified to tell us about the Roman-British world in which Patrick was born and the ecclesiastical structure in which he worked. As an expert on the Celts, he is also an authority on the culture, religion and language of the Irish people among whom Patrick spent the better part of his life. And because the details of Patrick's life are so few, Professor Freeman is of course forced to fill in the gaps with speculation. At no time did I find his conjectures anything but judicious, educated and utterly plausible. Apart from scholarly suppositions about the methods Patrick employed and the places he visited, Professor Freeman also beautifully imagines the inner dialogues Patrick must have endured and recreates the various dramas he must have experienced. I quote his wonderful visualization of the scene when Patrick told his family that God was ordering him back to Ireland:
   
   "They probably sat stunned, perhaps thinking it was some kind of joke. When they finally realized he was serious, they surely begged him to reconsider. To leave a prosperous villa, to abandon a promising political career, all for the sake of an island of hideous barbarians who had done nothing except cause pain to Patrick and those who loved him- unbelievable! Fine, become a priest if you must, they probably said, your grandfather Potitus did that, but he never left behind his wealth and position to run off and preach to savages. We'll even build you a chapel here at the villa, have services every day if you want. If you're looking for miscreants to convert, there are plenty here in your own neighborhood!" (page 54)
   
   My only complaint is that for some bizarre reason the word "Catholic" was used a grand total of 1 time in this book, and that was only to describe someone from the 17th century. Throughout the book, the author vaguely refers to Patrick as a "Christian" missionary for the "Christian" Church, to Brigid and others after her as "Christian" saints, to "Christian" monks, "Christian" bishops, "Christian" clergy, etc. That language is very odd. The adjective "Christian" is accurate as far as it goes, but not very descriptive and actually slyly deceitful. Patrick and his faith were indeed "Christian", but also more specifically "Catholic", a name the Church had been using since at least the late 1st century to describe itself and distinguish its divine legitimacy and Apostolic lineage from the various heresies that sprung up every now and then. If the Church used the word "Christian" as often as the word "Catholic" in those days, it was because there weren't 30,000 Protestant denominations around at the time to confuse the issue. The myriad sects birthed by the Reformation necessitated the use of more precise language. So, except for use in the most general terms, (such as "the cross is a Christian symbol") the word "Christian" is an amorphous glop of linguistic and theological goo in this day and age that no serious scholar can claim describes anything specific or tangible, such as a "Christian doctrine" or "the Christian Church". A similarly absurd evasion would be if a scholarly book about the Revolutionary War only described the patriots as "men" (Italians? Lithuanians? Aztecs?) who wanted independence from their "European" colonial overlord (Prussia? Turkey? Switzerland?). Such word usage is superficially true, but that kind of hazy equivocation serves to obscure the full truth rather than illuminate it. Patrick was a bishop in something called the Catholic Church, with a clerical hierarchy of deacons, monks, nuns, priests, bishops and Popes, and which was the direct doctrinal and historical forbear of the modern institution of the same name. So why did the author efface the Catholic Church from his history in an act of almost Stalinist historical revisionism?
   
   Could it have been for pusillanimously pecuniary reasons? Might his editor have told him that being Irish is trendy these days, so it would be advisable to make Patrick as ecumenically friendly as possible and not alienate the Protestant section of the market? Or was it for sectarian reasons? I don't know his faith, but he does teach at a Lutheran college in Iowa. Was he subliminally trying to advance a Protestant understanding of Church history and imply that the Catholic Church of today has no connection with the church that evangelized Ireland? After all, it is a widely-understood code word among evangelical Protestants in America that "Christian" refers to their particular brand of faith. (For example, you don't find Catholic or Orthodox books in "Christian" bookstores). The Protestants who colonized Ireland have long misappropriated Patrick as one of their own, in order to further their cause of religious and cultural genocide. Was this book an example of that kind of sectarian misuse of history? For whatever reason, Mr. Freeman's strange omission is unforgivable in a serious scholar. This book is excellent and valuable, but I'd only recommend reading it if you're savvy enough to read between the lines.
   
   Postscript: This reviewer has learned that Professor Freeman is a "practicing Catholic" who deliberately avoided use of the name of his and Patrick's church in order to "get away from modern divisions of Catholic vs. Protestant that are totally foreign to Patrick's time." Judge for yourselves, readers, whether such reasoning should be respected.



5. Slight but well-researched and -written biography of St. Patrick. The little reliable history and biography of St. Patrick is based on two surviving letters he wrote. But the amazing thing is he lived from approximately 390-360 AD, and his letters and what little we know about him are the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
   
   And forget St. Patrick's Day and four-leaf clovers and everything else you think you know about Patrick. His life was at once more mundane and more amazing, and his Christian influence on that island nation covered incredible breadth and depth.
   
   Thomas Cahill's modern classic How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History) puts St. Patrick's story into the context of the present world that in saving he helped create.

3 comments about Entering the Silence: Becoming a Monk and a Writer (The Journals of Thomas Merton, V. 2).

1. The second of Merton's private journals in a series of seven, editor John Montaldo brings out the struggle that Thomas Merton, already a noted writer and critic, endured during his earliest monastic days (1940-early 1950s). Merton tackles a sort-of internal battle between the man who writes in the wee hours, and communicates with his New York society friends (among them was poet Mark van Doren!), and the monk who seeks to live out the Rule of St. Benedict to its fullest extent. First time Merton readers might be lost, but Montaldo skillfully fills in the details so that all readers will be able to focus on the struggle between man and Creator. Seasoned Merton fans will be given a deeper appreciation for the writer and devout monastic that emerged as a result of that internal confrontation. Not something to pass over!



2. When Thomas Merton retreated from the civilized mainstream to enter the Trappist Monastery at Gethsemani, an unknowing observer might view his spiritual struggle as ending, becoming completely lost in the routine of monastic life, its repetition and overt acceptance of spiritual discipline. The battle against personal desire versus group obedience to higher powers beyond flesh and blood one would assume to have been a forgone conclusion. Merton brilliantly shows us, however, that within the souls of men the battle still rages. And it is how he dealt with that struggle that makes this book so marvelous. His caring and loving approach to life and others is tempered with griping about the choir's proficiency, the demands of writing within the monastic framework, the lack of understanding by superiors and comrades in spiritual arms concerning his shifting spiritual needs, for solitude, quiet and letting God sort things out for him, vice pushing his own, highly tempered will into the whirling mixture that made up this complex, brilliant man. The writing is first rate, his descriptions of the surrounding countryside are marvelously genuine as is his analyis of himself and his motives. (like to move onto a more strict, Carthusian order to reach the apotheosis of perfect contemplation). This book is a good building block for future reading of this author and I would recommend reading the entire biography/journals before even wandering into the not so clearly written efforts of Merton's theological books. Many thanks to the publisher for finally making such great writing available!!



3. Thomas Merton's journals take up here in the momonastery in Gethsemani abbey in Kentucky in the 1940"s. An expurgated version of these entries has previously been published as THE SIGN OF JONAS,my personal favorite before the publication in the late 1990's of these unexpurgated diaries.Here we see the dutiful young monk, full of the zeal of the newly converted, seeing all of his brothers as "signs of God's wonder and Mercy." Needless to say, the tomne shifts slightly as the aura of conversion wears a bit, and Merton is given time to write. One of his most famous pieces done while he was on watch in the abbeys fire tower is included here, without the editing. Firewatch in and of itself is worth the price of the book. We begin to see here Mertons wish for a life of more seclusion, and here he mentions the Carthusians and the camaldolese as possible places he could find that solitude.{a wish that he held,apparantly until the end of his life]Merton's insaitable curiousity,his honesty in dealing with himself and his foibles, and his crystaline perceptions on the life of the spirit are being formed here in this volume. Indispensible for Merton fans, and welcomed to any who seek the path trod by a spiritual giant, and a very honest man.

5 comments about Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings.

1. Once I started reading 'Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings' I could not put it down and found myself reading until the next morning... This is a well written informative and detailed account of Miyamoto Musashi's life, his training, his teaching, his paintings and his writings. Various sources are cited and comparative analysis is rendered. We are given more than a glimpse into Musashi the warrior, the father, the artist and the man. I place this book on the top of the list of books regarding Miyamoto Musashi and his writing on Strategy as presented in Go Rin no Sho. It is a must for every military professional and devoted martial artists.



2. Well, I read one book on the subject and thought that I knew everything about the man... I was wrong.
   I especially like this book because the author tries his best to show the different points of view and include sometimes contradicting documents. Also he included much needed (for me at least) background data that helped to better understand the realities of that time.
   It definitely cured me from my "I know everything" attitude.



3. Having come to this book without any prior knowledge of Musashi, I was deeply impressed by this work, especially the biographical part. It also includes the Book of Five Rings which certainly adds weight to this addition, although I would've given the book 5 stars anyway if it only included the biographical/historical parts.



4. It's an excellent biography, it told me everthing I needed to know. It also includes a copy of the Book of Five Rings, which is nice, although I didn't notice and had already bought a copy, but having two different translations of a book is nice.
   
   Overall, a nicely organized book full of useful info and such-not.



5. This is perhaps the most complete review of the Gorin no Sho. Tokitsu not only offers a very well thought out and complete translation, he also gives an unbelievably in depth view of the Master's life. The notations for the translation are, to say the very least, quite thorough and very well written. Tokitsu used the two original existing copies to create his english translation, along with adding every known work that the Master is known to have written himself. The first section covers the Master's life and duels. The second is the translations of his writing, covering more than just the Gorin no Sho (however the full documents are not fully translated, only the parts which differ in tone or line from the Gorin no Sho). The final section of the book contains an amazing look at modern kendo, as well as other Japanese martial arts, and how Musashi's specific art can be related to them. Included in this are several observations of early 20th century kendo matches, in which the level of control and ability documented have yet to occur again. The sheer amount of research and sources cited, with the differing views and conflicting arguments make for a fascinating read from a fair and balanced point of view. For any individual who studies any martial art, or is interested in Japanese history, this book should considered to be essential.

1 comments about Nothing to Fear.

1. Hello. I recently sent this book to a friend who was preparing to go into surgery to remove cancer from his colon. Needless to say he was very apprehensive about the procedure and actually felt like his time on this earth had come to its natural end.
   
   Last night, I got the great news that the surgery went well and my friend is resting comfortably. His brother told me this book helped tremendously and gave my friend the hope and inspiration he needed as he prepared for this dreadful cancer removal procedure.
   
   There's nothing like direct, positive feedback. God bless my friend and here's too many more years of good living!