Amazon reader review: Powerful book that calls you again and again to God’s side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon reader review: I have read many books on prayer (and have even written a few myself), but this is one of the best I've seen for getting into the practical essentials of prayer.

 

 

 

 

In The Master Is Calling, author Lynne Hammond offers a powerful biblical perspective on prayer that takes you to the heart of meaningful, effective, and joyful communion with God. She presents a victorious approach to worship, intercession, petition, and spiritual warfare that will revitalize your Christian life.

 

 

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"It can become almost a magic word," Thomas Merton says of contemplation; "or if not magic, then inspirational, which is almost as bad." With these words, Merton takes us through the reality of contemplation, which is, the author says, "life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder." Above all, contemplation is "awareness of the reality" of the Source, "with a certitude that goes beyond reason and beyond simple faith." As these definitions should suggest, in this 20th-century classic on the contemplative life, as in the best of Merton's work, this Trappist monk wonderfully combines a disciplined and deeply learned intellect with the lyrical passion of the poet. It is this rare combination that makes this book not only informative but also moving. Covering a diverse range of subjects ("Faith," "The Night of the Senses," "Renunciation"), it moves the reader through certain traditional "phases" of contemplation, and gives an idea of what to expect in this spiritual process (including despair and darkness). The book describes, but it also enacts. In its own prose it invites the reader to "cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the general dance."

This little gem of a book, newly issued with a foreword from the great Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh (who knew Merton in the 1960s) beautifully distills Merton's own reading and long experience with contemplation. Written close to the end of Merton's life, this book is not so much a "how to" guide as it is a kind of contemplation of contemplation. Immersed in the "negative theology" of St. John of the Cross and others--and influenced by his deep reading in Zen--Merton here stresses that in meditation "we should not look for a 'method' or 'system,' but cultivate an 'attitude,' an 'outlook': faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy." God is found in the desert of surrender: this means giving up any expectation for a particular message and "waiting on the Word of God in silence," knowing that any answer will be "his silence itself suddenly, inexplicably revealing itself to him as a word of great power, full of the voice of God."

The renowned Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote Thoughts in Solitude in 1953 and 1954, when his superiors allowed him extended periods of seclusion and meditation. This elegant gift book, with clean, spare type and graphics, does justice to a 20th-classic (this is its 25th printing). What has made this book such an enduring and popular work is that it recognizes how important solitude is to our morality, integrity, and ability to love. One does not have to be a monk to find solitude, notes Merton; solitude can be found in the act of contemplation and silent reflection in everyday life. Also, this is not a pious book that assumes that a relationship with the divine can be obtained only by denying our humanity and striving for saintliness. Instead, Merton asserts that connection with God can most easily be made through "respect for temperament, character, and emotion and for everything that makes us human."

The modern classic that interweaves the solitude, silence, and prayer of the fourth- and fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality.

Organized around the themes "created in God's image," "called as community," and "citizens of a commonwealth," this collection of two months' worth of prayers has theological depth and contemporary relevance. Both the prose introductions to the themes and the prayers themselves encourage honest struggle and genuine faith and confront the paradoxical relationship of life and death, suffering and love.

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Amazon reader review: I read this book in 24 hours. It's like Stuart was writing about my upbringing. I too would love to share with my parents that I am gay, but our fundamentalist background prevents that. I know that my coming out would result in a situation similar to Stuart's, yet I hate to lie to them. And as Shakespeare would say, "There's the rub." The Bible says that liars shall have their share of the lake of fire. At least Stuart isn't a liar. He told his family the truth about his life. To his sister and sister-in-law who I have noticed have written responses to this work here at Amazon.com, do you love Stuart? Do you truly love him? It sure seems like you are still bent on judging him rather than showing Christ's unconditional love to him. I love my family and know that someday I will have to tell them the truth. I don't want to be a liar any longer to them. I just pray daily that their reaction will not be the same as the Miller family's reaction, but deep down...I know it will be, and that frightens me to death.

 

 

Amazon reader review: This is a magnificent book for understanding God. It takes you further into God's ways of bringing us closer to his heart and learning how to live there forever. It tells of the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit and understanding, what we use to think before reading this book, "unanswered prayers". Beautifully written with heartfelt prayers at the end of each chapter. Great book!