About this item
Highlights
- The desert, with its great emptiness and silence, has long been a symbol of solitude.
- Author(s): John Moses
- 176 Pages
- Religion + Beliefs, Devotional
Description
About the Book
This book explores the tradition and relevance of desert spirituality in the life and worship of the church today and offers a collection of pertinent writings, suitable for Lent, by many ancient and contemporary writiers.Book Synopsis
The desert, with its great emptiness and silence, has long been a symbol of solitude. In our spiritual lives, we sometimes seek such isolation as a means of abandoning ourselves completely to God. At other times, solitude comes upon us uninvited and unwelcome, as we find ourselves totally alone and desolate. In facing the silence and the vast expanses of loneliness, we test our courage, deepen our faith, and hear the voice of God anew.
This book explores the tradition and relevance of desert spirituality in the life and worship of the church today and offers a collection of pertinent writings by these and many other ancient and contemporary authors: Thomas à Kempis, Mother Mark Clare, Henri Nouwen, René Voillaume, Charles de Foucauld, Thomas Merton, R. S. Thomas.
The readings are ideal Lenten devotionals (but wonderful any other time of year as well) as you answer your own call of the desert.
Review Quotes
"...a collection of samples of classic spirituality both new and ageless, this book can be used as a personal reflective book or for group sharing and is especially timely as a Lenten book when Christians as a whole do take the time for a deeper understanding and inner reflection of their faith."
-Church Synagogue Libraries
"...can be used as a personal reflective book or for group sharing and is especially timely as a Lenten book when Christians as a whole do take the time for a deeper understanding and inner reflection of their faith."
-Church and Synagogue Library Association
"...counts down the days of Lent with appropriate quotes from the desert tradition of faith and prayer. Readers who use these quotations as a basis for daily reflection and prayer will find them divided into five themes: solitude, testing, self-emptying, encounter, and transfiguration. Moses includes brief chapters on the history of the desert tradition, its particular type of Christian experience, and the literature which has come from it."
-Lois Sibley, The Pennsylvania Episcopalian, February 1998
"A fine introduction offers a history of desert spirituality, and an epilogue on the literature of the desert completes this lovely, simple book."
-Religious Resource International
"As a Lenten devotional, the reading provide an excellent introduction to experiencing the silence of desert spirituality."
-Robert Pearsall, South Dakota ChurchNews, March 1998
"This is definitely a reader-friendly book for Lent. The author is the dynamic new Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, whose predecessors include such literary giants as John Donne. First, he tells us the story of the Desert Fathers who retreated to the wilderness in the fourth and fifth centuries when the Emperor Constantine's establishment of Christianity severely watered down the faith. He does this with a simple style, avoiding complex unpronounceable verbiage. When he has introduced us to the spirituality of the desert, to the use of solitude, he then gives the reader daily soul food to chew on. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, each day has a small selection of quotes, i.e. 'In the desert you discover your true name, and God calls you by that name, ' by Allessandro Pronzato. It can be used for personal devotion or as a small group study resource."
-The Rev. Bob Libby, The Living Church, February 22, 1998