A Good Life: Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy

By (author) Robert Benson

$16.99

ISBN: 9781557253569
Trim size: 5.37 x 8 x 0.18 inches
Weight: 3 ounces.
Pages: 85
Publication Date: 01 Apr 2004
Format: Paperback

"There is no shortage of good days," writes Annie Dillard. "It is good lives that are hard to come by." Reflecting on what makes a "good life," Robert Benson offers a warmhearted, humorous guide to enriching our lives with the wisdom of Benedict, a 6th century monk. Each chapter is shaped around a Benedictine principle: prayer, rest, community, and work, and reveals the brilliant and infinitely practical ways that Benedictine spirituality can shape our lives today. Benson is honest and wise, sharing his own failings and the constant tension that he feels between the demands of the temporal and the spiritual. For anyone who feels caught in a web of conflicting priorities, or who finds the pace of modern life more draining than fulfilling, A Good Life will come as a welcome treat for the soul.

Reviews

“...a lovely and fresh articulation of the most essential of Benedict's truths, concerning itself not with the ‘what we do’ of monastic life, but instead the ‘why we do it’ and the implications that ‘it’ has. The book is comprised of six short reflections dealing with key themes: longing, prayer, rest, community, work and living. The author also includes brief notes at the end on the life of Benedict and other books he finds helpful. Each reflection begins with a collection of quotes from the Rule which sets the tone (some collections more effectively than others) for the thoughts that follow.” —Susan Quaintance, O.S.B., St. Scholastica Monastery

“This is an unpretentious book, simply written, truly felt...It reminds us of things we have half forgotten. It opens our eyes to things we have only half seen.” —Frederick Buechner, Author of Speak What We Feel

“. . . .a fine primer on everyday spirituality bolstered by practice.” —Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Health

Author Bio

Robert Benson writes and speaks on living a more contemplative and prayerful life in a modern world, about the search for and the discovery of the sacred in the midst of our everyday lives. An alumnus of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, he is also a member of the Friends of Silence and of the Poor, an ecumenical order of lay people. Robert is the author of many books including In Constant Prayer, A Good Life: Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy, and A Good Neighbor: Benedict's Guide to Community.