Come along as author Jon M. Sweeney sits in the warm October sun talking with Father Luke or enjoys a December afternoon in the monastery with Father Ambrose. In Cloister Talks, Sweeney offers a rare glimpse into his decades-long friendships with monks and shares the wisdom and insight for everyday living he has gained along the way. The contemplative monasticism Sweeney practiced with these monks has been the greatest source of guidance in his journey of faith, and here he shares it with poignant honesty. Sweeney's conversations with monks engage various universal areas of life, including life, death, love, work, play, and spirituality. Readers will emerge with a deeper understanding of this ancient way of Christianity, a much needed antidote to the hurry of contemporary life. EXCERPT Ambrose has such an interesting mind. When he talks it's as if he's painting the circles on a target, beginning at the outer ones. "If I had to give you one piece of advice it would be this: Don't look for sudden enlightenment. People call them ah-ha moments; don't worry about those. I know that you may feel your time is wasted here if you haven't had enough ah-has, but I assure you it won't be." "So what should I be doing?" I asked him, feeling confused. "When you finally quiet down enough you'll begin to hear the divine voice. "Don't walk around looking for moments of enlightened insight," Ambrose continued. "For one thing, we're not that smart!" He laughed. "Instead, you should walk around praying. Sit in the church before dawn, praying. Or just shut your mouth for a few days. Listen to the talks given by the retreat master, if you like. Just sit. Try your best to stop thinking." It sounded too easy to me. I told him that. "What I'm suggesting is much harder than you might think. You'll see."
Jon M. Sweeney has lived in Vermont since 1997. He has three kids, one in college, one in high school, and a new baby girl. He writes and reflects on spiritual matters in books, articles, blogs, and other media, and he works in book publishing.
Jon was the cofounder and editor-in-chief of SkyLight Paths Publishing for several years. Since 2004 he has been the associate publisher at Paraclete Press.
His spiritual and religious life continues to evolve, and much of Jon's writing is about this. His first 20 years were spent as an involved evangelical (a story he told in the memoir Born Again and Again); he then spent 22 years as an active Episcopalian (see The Lure of Saints and Cloister Talks, among other books); and in the fall of 2009 he was received into the Catholic Church. Today, he is a practicing Catholic (of a more monastic variety), but his most regular spiritual practice is Jewish, as he prays regularly with his wife, a rabbi, and they keep a Jewish home.
Sweeney often says that he loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion, and wants to see these organisms survive (he loves religion; he's not just spiritual), but he also is not interested in doing things to simply prop up falling institutions. In all of his writing, Jon is drawn to the ancient and medieval (see Strange Heaven, Beauty Awakening Belief, The Road to Assisi, and the forthcoming The Pope Who Quit).
Sweeney has a special passion for Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi. He has written several books on Francis and Clare including Light in the Dark Ages: The Friendship of Francis and Clare of Assisi, a History Book Club and BOMC selection, The St. Francis Prayer Book, and The St. Clare Prayer Book. He has also written books on embodied prayer, the Virgin Mary, and other subjects. His most recent are Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith, published by Jossey-Bass, and Verily, Verily: The King James Bible--400 Years of Influence and Beauty.
