Running With Expanding Heart: Meeting God in Everyday Life [Paperback]

Mary Reuter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2010

Mary Reuter recalls how as a child taking piano lessons she often skipped practicing scales and thought her teacher would not notice. Reuter admits she never did advance to the level of a skilled pianist. But in Running with Expanding Heart readers will discover that she is well practiced, and thus skilled, in paying attention to the extraordinary in the ordinary, in discovering the presence of God in the events of daily life. Through Reuter s poignant and humorous stories, and through her careful listening to Scripture and the Rule of Benedict, readers will also take up the practice of looking for God in unexpected places and in doing so they will find their hearts expanding with the unconditional and all-embracing love of God.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Reuter, OSB, is a member of Saint Benedict s Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where she served as prioress from 1989 1995. She currently teaches in the department of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John s University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Liturgical Press (February 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814633080
• ISBN-13: 978-0814633083
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gentle and Insightful Exploration of Benedictine Spirituality, February 18, 2010

By 

Carl McColman (Clarkston, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Running With Expanding Heart: Meeting God in Everyday Life (Paperback)

Just in time for Lent: here is a wonderful new addition to the literature of Benedictine wisdom.

Running with Expanding Heart (the title comes from a phrase in the prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict) offers a vision of how Benedictine spirituality can provide inspiration and guidance for twenty-first century Christians--including the laity. Sister Mary Reuter, a member of Saint Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota and a theology professor at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, understands just how down-to-earth and practical Benedictine wisdom is, and uses storytelling, personal reflection, and thought-provoking, open-ended questions to illustrate just how relevant Benedict's Rule continues to be. Beginning with an homage to her father whom she describes as an "extraordinary ordinary man," the author goes on to show, in a variety of ways, how Benedictine wisdom can help Christians to find the extraordinary in all of life's ordinary moments.

The chapters of the book cover the key elements of Benedictine wisdom, including hospitality, stability, obedience, the beauty of the ordinary, the spirituality of place, and the recognition that everything is holy. Although the book does not promote any sort of method or technique of prayer, the overall message will support all who seek to nurture a contemplative dimension within even the most down-to-earth corners of their lives.

This book can serve as an introduction to Benedictine spirituality for beginners, but also as a bouquet of new insights for those who have walked with Benedict for some time. It's a slender little book (100 pages plus notes), making it ideal to read as part of an overall discipline of daily devotion. St. Benedict expected his monks to read a book for Lent; if you want to make Benedictine wisdom more integrally part of your life, this would be an ideal selection for your Lenten reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Living in the moment, March 18, 2010

By 

Sylvia Sultenfuss (ATLANTA, GA, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Running With Expanding Heart: Meeting God in Everyday Life (Paperback)

It is not uncommon to hear advice to "slow down and live in the moment." But no one tells you how you are supposed to do this or how would you know that you are living in the moment.

Mary Reuter has revealed how life at any moment can reveal the messages of insight, gratitude, and revelation by simply looking, listening and re-interpreting a situation, a happening, an incident...simply because you say so.

The ease of taking any moment and making it a "God-speak" moment seems obvious in reading Reuter's stories of her own journey and allows the reader to relish and re-engage in those times when things seemed to be too traumatic, too painful or insignificant to dwell on. Her stories trigger reminders in our usual and normal day that tell us the power of a smile, a thank you, a frown, or a lost conversation. The wishing that I should have or could have opens the doors of committing to being conscious to any moment as one that reveals, teaches and gifts us with opportunities to make a difference in our lives as well as the life of another. It all lives in our interpretation and declarations. The power is in the choosing to make any moment special, conscious and meaningful from washing the dishes to taking a walk to holding someone in pain.

I found myself reviewing and re-interprting stories in my life and promising to maximize those frequent opportunities in any and every day to learn, to listen and to gift the moment with meaning.