Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity [Paperback]

Catherine Whitmire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

Most of us living in this complex and time-pressured era have moments when we wish we were living simpler, more meaningful lives. Sometimes these wishes are fleeting desires, but for many today the search for a life of greater simplicity and meaning has developed into a deep longing.

There are many routes to simplicity. This book focuses on and provides direction to the gimmick-free spiritual path followed by Quakers.

For over three centuries Quakers have been living out of a spiritual center in a way of life they call "plain living." Their accumulated experiences and distilled wisdom have much to offer anyone seeking greater simplicity today.

Plain Living is not about sacrifice. It's about choosing the life you really want, a form of inward simplicity that leads us to listen for the "still, small voice" of God.

This book goes beyond the merely trendy to make the by now well-worn Quaker path to plain living accessible to everyone.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Catherine Whitmire's book of contemporary and historic Quaker voices reads like an antidote to consumer-driven despair. We all know the spiritual downfall of compulsively acquiring material goods (or what Quakers refer to as "cumber"); how it leads to a frantic-paced lifestyle built around working long hours so we can buy more stuff. In assembling Plain Living, a collection of paragraph-long quotes, Whitmire offers readers a simple and soothing alternative--the path that Quakers call "plain living." "We have chosen lives that crowd our appointment books, fill our email boxes, and overload our answering machines, even as we long for a plainer way of living--one that will free us from the strain and activity of these times," writes Whitmire. "The Spirit is speaking through the whirlwind of modern life, and if we listen quietly to the cool, calm Center within, there is an invitation to plain living awaiting us."

In the early chapters readers will find inspiration for laying down their interior and exterior cumber. The book's wisdom eventually expands into other important Quaker values, such as "Parenting and Mentoring," "Practicing Non-Violence," and "Listening to the Earth." Ultimately, this is a book with a long shelf life, offering timeless quotations on living the life worth living. --Gail Hudson

About the Author

Whitmire served as the executive director of a health care agency in the late 1970's where she helped diverse groups work together to address issues of teenage pregnancy and motherhood. In 1987, she received a Master's of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. After graduation, Whitmire became a Protestant chaplain and a pastoral counselor on a psychiatric unit of an inner- city hospital in Boston.

Whitmire attended the Shalem Institute's program in spiritual direction in 1997 and is currently writing and providing spiritual direction and workshops in Boston and Portland, Maine. The mother of a grown son, she lives with her husband, Tom Ewell, in an old farmhouse in Maine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sorin Books (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893732282
• ISBN-13: 978-1893732285
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Protestantism > Quaker

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Addition to My List of Quaker "Must Haves", July 19, 2001

By 

Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity (Paperback)

This small book comes packed with a wealth of information. This new paperback (July 2001) is a wonderful book to have by your side, to give as a gift, or to read with a group!

We were fortunate enough to receive a review copy, which a neighbor borrowed (and we haven't seen it since)! But before it disappeared, we found it has a collection of Quaker writings and thoughts that those genuinely seeking inner peace and a simpler life will love. This is many steps beyond the books you find everywhere, with empty promises of living a simple life. Following the path Whitmire illustrates, as many have for years and years, means bringing Quaker beliefs into every day life.

Reading the words of well known and not so well known Quakers made us want to read more. However, not all of the sources are from in print books -- some are gleaned from out of print editions, from speeches, from conversations remembered by various Friends, or in little pamphlets not readily available to the average reader. Which is why we had to have a book of our own, to read and reread, and mark up.

Chapters, and subchapters, include:

Chapter 1 Keeping to Plainness by Choosing - Simple Living; Plain Living

Chapter 2 Beginning with Ourselves and Our - Work; Time; Integrity; Plain Speech (not just simple words - sarcasm goes against plain speaking); Money and Resources

Chapter 3 Plain Living Day by Day in - Committed Relationships; Parenting and Mentoring; Aging; Humor, Joy and Gratitude

Chapter 4 Unexpected Songs for Times of - Fear; Suffering; Despair; Death; Grief; Hope

Chapter 5 Opening Our Hearts Through - Longing; Seeking; God; Faith; Prayer; Scripture

Chapter 6 Discovering a Spiritual Path to Plain Living Through - Contemplative Listening; Everyday Mysticism; Leadings; Discernment

Chapter 7 Growing Together in - Community; Decision-Making; Struggle and Conflict Resolutions; Reconciliation and Forgiveness

Chapter 8 Let us See What Love Can Do in - Practicing Nonviolence; Seeking Equality for All; Listening to the Earth; Spirit-Led Service

A pleasant surprise -- at the end of each chapter are a few "queries" (a Quaker practice, of raising questions that will prompt reflection) pulled directly from the quotes in the chapters, very inducive to group discussions.

Nicely crafted book for Friends and other seekers, although the chapter titles may sound too fundamentalist to some, and new agey to others, inside the book Whitmire offers centered, essential wisdom from many sources which can improve individual lives, community and living with the earth.

We're giving that borrowed copy to our neighbor, and we've ordered up many copies for our own use. We hope you'll find one somewhere for yourself.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple Persuasion, April 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity (Paperback)

The writings inspire the spirit in plain and simply terms, allowing the reader to mentality disengage from the commercialism of today. The book takes the reader on a journey of 'potentials' and illustrates thought processes on how to get there. The questions poised at the end of each chapter are reflective in nature, and I found the little glossary of Quaker terminology to be helpful.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Health food for life's journey, March 31, 2006

By 

E. W. Poitras (Freeport, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity (Paperback)

This book is a welcome gift for anyone looking for spiritual and moral renewal. It is a library of wise quotes from the Quaker tradition that lead the reader to find peace and inner cleansing. I have read it three times, in short, quiet doses, and will return again for more. More substantial than shelves of self-help books, less strident than relentlessly positive cheerleading, it quietly takes you to places where you can have rewarding "aha!" moments and grow within.