Esther de WaalBesprekingen

And the quiet of your own home we're alone on every treat this book takes you one and journey with Thomas Merton for seven days, meditating when the best of his contemplative writings and savoring striking black and white photos taken by Merton himself.

Esther Dewall has written an extraordinarily good book: a transposition of the spirit of St Benedict has expressed in his rule into a guide for for the ordinary man and woman who live right there in the world.

Growing on the Celtic tradition, Esther de Waal paints a world where body and soul, time and eternity, heaven and earth, all come under the sway of God, the mighty Creator. We see how the Celtic tradition spoke as much the heart as to the head.

Esther de Waal is one of today's most beloved spiritual writers. In The White Stone, she reflects on the changes and losses that come with growing older. Esther reflects on solitude and, following a period of illness, saying goodbye to a family home and the Welsh border landscape she had known for decades which inspired some of her greatest writing, and adjusting to a new city environment.

I was assigned this book for a class on English Spirituality which started off with an exploration in Celtic and Pre-Celtic Christianity. I found de Waal's book to provide a great background, with wonderful examples. I found the writing personable and engaging. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring and expanding their spiritual journey and prayer life.

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The Spirit of St Benedict, the greatest of Saints, transcends the centuries and unites all beleivers in Christ. Esther de Waal shows how his Rule, practical and totally relevant for today, can guide us towards the growth into wholeness: a balance in every respect of our being: the trinity of Body, Mind and Spirit, through which we can become truly human and truly one with God

In our current culture, we usually rush through threshold moments - those borders between past and future, life transitions. We don't pause and reflect; we don't celebrate or mark those passages. But borderlands are meant to be explored, and thresholds are meant to be encountered and processed.

This little book is a powerful punch.

Esther de Waal looks at what it is like to live in actual “border country,” the Welsh countryside with its “slower rhythms” and “earth-linked textures,” and explores the importance of opening up and being receptive to one’s surroundings, whatever they may be.

I blogged a series in summary at http://www.patloughery.com/tag/to-pause-at-the-threshold/.

Here is my 1-page summary paper that I wrote for my doctoral class in Rhythms of Living:

To Pause at the Threshold
by Esther de Waal
Morehouse (2001)

Description of the Book
To Pause at the Threshold is a short exploration of the boundary spaces in our lives and our response to these thresholds. In our everyday lives, we are often so busy that we don’t pause and consider the changes we’re going through, and therefore we miss the opportunity to gain something from these threshold moments.

This idea is similar to and also refers to the monastic practice of statio, or leaving time to stand still and let go of the demands of the previous activity, and allowing oneself to prepare a space for the work of God.

Interpretation of the Book
The author begins by discussing border places, writing from her home at the border between Wales and England. She then writes an interlude based upon the role of the porter in St. Benedict’s Rule; the porter’s role is to work at the edge of the monastery and provide deep hospitality to those who come from outside the monastery inside its walls.

The book continues with a look at the transitions between nighttime and daytime, and from season to season. Next, the author describes the life transitions revolving around rites of passage and rituals of transition, encouraging us to see the Psalms as the prayer book for such real changes. The next section deals with transitions between the inner life and the outer life, and then finishes with a challenge to be open to outsiders and those different from us in order to learn from them and be changed by them.

Application
I find myself nodding and highlighting when reading this book. I am one of those whom de Waal describes, busily plowing through transition points in my day and in my life, without reflecting upon those transitions. This is perhaps why I sense the Spirit of God inviting me to practice mindfulness and attentiveness in the moment, and to also live a more contemplative and reflective life in the midst of my busy schedule.

I enjoyed the Celtic practice of celebrating the transition of the seasons; these transitions happen earlier in the year than our contemporary marking points. I am trying to find a good online calendar of these days and other holy days (especially the feast days of Celtic saints) so that I can incorporate these rhythms into my daily and yearly calendar.

I loved de Waal’s challenge to learn from the land, watching the way it changes and moves. As a renewed gardener, I am learning much about the rhythms of life from this glimpse of nature.

De Waal’s book reminded me of Kathleen Norris’ Dakota, which also balances nature and theology in a very practical way.

This book (written by an Anglican laywoman) is one of the best one-volume introductions to understanding "balanced living" from the Benedictine tradition. It reviews the Rule of Benedict, and helps one see why this way of life has such power and attraction for Christians of all traditions over the centuries. It is an excellent resource for looking at balance and wholeness in our faith journey. FEB 2002

I'm sorry, I was attracted by the title, and the content is valid, but the book overall is far too bland, simplistic and vague. There are too many incredibly abstract, sweeping statements, without any real life practical example. The connection to the Rule of Saint Benedict is loose and disorganized. Finally, I couldn't shake the feeling of listening to someone telling you how great a movie was (the Rule), and all you want to do is watch the movie yourself instead of getting it second-hand from this person.

This was one of those books I picked up at the "Borders is Going out of Business Sale" a few months ago. I've been refocusing my reading lately, digging into books on prayer, simplicity, and heart-work. And this was a nice counterpoint to so many books on the latest fads in Christian ministry.

Going back a millennium, the Cistercians are the Catholic order that gave us both Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Merton. With a focus on living out the Rule of St. Benedict, focusing on communal living and simple faith, the Cistercians offer a deep, rich faith that speaks well to our fast-paced, disposable society.

In The Way of Simplicity, Esther De Waal mines the writings of the Cistercians to reveal the heartbeat of their order. These are a people grounded in a place (she spends an entire chapter speaking to Cistercian architecture), motivated with the simple desire of living as Christ, informed by the Word, seeking to love God and love neighbor in all they do. De Waal explains the prayer and study habits of these monks (and nuns); she shares their writings both to support her work, and as poetic prayer guides (a la lectio) in an addendum at the back.

The Cistercians teach us that the Christian life is not easy, but neither is it drudgery. We live in a tension of Mary (attentive to Christ) and Martha (attentive to the other). We are called to love, but only because we are first called forth by the great Love. We are called to live in a community of faith, even while we are all responsible to walk our own journey with Christ. Mostly, we are called to lay aside our own striving, our own desires for comfort and success on our terms, and allow Christ to mold us and shape us as he desires - a process that is never easy but is rich with reward.

The Way of Simplicity is but a mere introduction to a much richer, deeper tradition, and the book gives only a taste of those who have lived out its path. But it was certainly thought-provoking and challenging, as the men and women on its pages become a witness to 'forsaking all else' for the sake of Christ and his people.

It's uncanny to be reading a book that sums up almost all the important concepts I've been working on for the past five years but not with theory or theology. Instead, this book is pure poetry, a walk in the country.

I'm fairly certain that the author is English, as the grammar and spellings are English. I find this annoying. The pictures supplied within for visual reflect are nice, and in some regards relate to the words / thoughts but because the pictures are not reproduced well they don't add as much as I think they're supposed to. They're black & whites (I'm not sure if they were originally or that's just how they were reproduced). Black & whites are supposed to have blacks and whites in the photos -- all of these are just muted gray with no blacks and no whites, so they're poorly reproduced.

As for the substance of the book -- well I truly have an interest in knowing more about Thomas Merton. Rather that is specifically because of this book or because while reading this book I heard the author of "My Life with the Saints" mention Thomas Merton, I don't know.

What I don't like about this book in regards to substance is everything is Christian based ... Merton was a Christian. The things he did and this retreat is for Christians. I don't consider myself a Christian. I consider myself a Catholic and Thomas Merton was a Catholic priest/monk (not sure which), so I don't like all this mention of Christian ... In my opinion, it's like the book was written strictly to make some money off this guys writings -- hit both markets ... talk about a Catholic man without talking about what it means to be Catholic.

I'm half way through and should finish it this week, I hope.½

Inspiring.

Suggests ways to turn life's ambiguities into opportunities for spiritual growth and understanding.

A brief introduction to the Celtic prayer tradition, with its view of humanity as belonging to the common creation, secure under God's heaven.

A good book for introducing the reader to the fundamentals of the Celtic Christian tradition.

De Waal, author of several works of Benedictine spirituality, shares with the reader her own seven-day retreat using the writings and photographs of Thomas Merton as guide. De Waal has chosen judiciously from Merton and offers the enhancement of her own reflection on themes of God's call, human response, the true self, encounter with Christ, the demands of love (or finding God in other people), the ordinary (or finding God in nature), and integrating the retreat. Merton's themes of solitude and responsible concern for others come through clearly, as do De Waal's call for lived spirituality. This book makes an excellent guide for retreat or personal reflection.

Esther de Waal's Seeking God will appear as a godsend to those interested in encouraging and deepening the Protestant rediscovery of monasticism that has taken place over the past few years. It is an appreciation and exposition of the Rule of St. Benedict undertaken, in the spirit of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from the middle of existence.

One of the great strengths of the book is the connection it forges between the way in which “the pattern of the day was established by the opus Dei, the work of God, the purpose of the monastic life” and “the mingling of the enclosed life with the life outside the walls.” The Protestant rediscovery of monasticism is intrinsically connected with a recovery of spirituality, a renewal of the Church that is also a transformation of the world. De Waal successfully describes an Order that is not a retreat into the cloister. Whether St. Benedict foresaw the mingling or not, his rule became a vehicle by which that mingling took on profound political as well as spiritual significance.

In an age that must concern itself with the politics of spirituality as well as the spirituality of politics, this has revolutionary potential. It is no retreat, no conforming to the world; it is a forming, a transforming. “The Rule,” de Waal says, “continually points beyond itself to Christ . . . ”; and, in the pointing, it becomes a catalyst by which Christ informs the world. Christians whose ecclesiology, ethics, and politics have been profoundly influenced by spiritual guides who forsook the monastery need to hear this: this Order is evangelical, not legalistic. “Christ is the beginning, the way and the end.” This is practical material for those interested in ethics as formation.

It should probably not surprise us that a Rule composed by one convinced of the presence of God and God's work in the midst of a crumbling world should appear relevant in our time. The contemporary concern with spirituality is itself a struggle for wholeness in the midst of fragmentation. Benedict's great insight is that the wholeness is there, even in the midst of fragmentation, because God is there. De Waal communicates this insight effectively in her careful development of an image of all our action taking place in God's presence. St. Benedict, she tells us, hopes that our whole lives will become “prayer in action.” (How appropriate that Benedict's Rule, in de Waal's hands, looks like Augustine's Confessions in action!) This image is most clear in the treatment of the Benedictine vows: obedience, stability, and conversion. Those vows recognize that, as creatures called by God, we exist in the creative tension between stability and change. Nothing could be more dependable than God; and it is precisely that dependability that makes flexibility possible. The point, to borrow an image from Kierkegaard, is to “be like the bird who, feeling the bough give way beneath her feet, is not afraid, because she knows she has wings to fly.”

At a time when the ground seems particularly shaky, this book is a reminder that we have wings--and a good picture of a forerunner who gave practical advice on using them.

A beautiful collections of Celtic prayers and blessings from the Carmina Gadelica, orally collectedin the Highlands and islands of Scotland by Alexander Carmichael. (Esther de Waal is a well-known author of books about Celtic spirituality -- and she compiled this book from the Carmina Gadelica.

Baptismal invitation of Rule of St Benedict

Chapters: Creation; Morning Prayers; Farming and Fishing; Household; Night Prayers; Birth and Death; The Hearth; Prayers for Protection; Mary; Saints and Angels; Christmas Carols; Sun and Moon; Invocations and Good Wishes; Short Blessings

Alternate title: Every Earthly Blessing: Celebrating a Spirituality of Creation
Sections: I The Dedicated Life; II The Celebration of Creation; III The Light and the Dark
Chapters: Monks and Hermits; Pilgrims and Exiles; The Universe; Common Creation; Healing; Sin and Sorrow; Salvation; The Cross; A World Made Whole

[lacking dust jacket]