Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict (Second Edition) (Paperback)

~ Esther de Waal (Author), Kathleen Norris (Foreword) "THE WORLD into which St Benedict was born was a troubled, torn apart, uncertain world..." (more)
Key Phrases: conversatio morum, Rule of St Benedict, Thomas Merton, Cistercian Studies (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For over fifteen hundred years St. Benedict's Rule has been a source of guidance, support, inspiration, challenge, comfort and discomfort for men and women. It has helped both those living under monastic vows and those living outside the cloister in all the mess and muddle of ordinary, busy lives in the world. Esther de Waal's Seeking God serves as an introduction to this life-giving way and encourages people to discover for themselves the gift that St. Benedict can bring to individuals, to the Church, and to the world, now and in the years to come.

Through this definitive classic Esther de Waal has become known as an authority for the lay person on the Rule of St. Benedict. Her ability to communicate clearly the principal values of the Rule when applied to lay people is the ultimate strength of this book. She follows each chapter with a page or two of thoughts and prayers, contributing to its meditative quality.

Product Details

• Paperback: 163 pages
• Publisher: The Liturgical Press; 2nd edition (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814613888
• ISBN-13: 978-0814613887
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent in terms of spirituality and guidance., April 18, 1999

By A Customer

The author was recommended to me both by my spiritual director and by a monastic. I see why. It is written simply and directly. It does not drip religiousity nor is it so esoteric that one becomes stalled in frustration. Instead, de Waal relates the Rule of St. Benedict to life in the world today. She does not compromise the Rule nor interpose her own "doctrine"- she draws from a great knowledge of writers of the Benedictine tradition from the past to the present, couples that with her experience as a wife and mother, presenting a straight forward discussion of the Rule, how it is of help to the Christian of today, and how it may be applied in the life of the individual who is seeking a rule for his or her own life. Her tradition is Anglican but one does not sense an intrusiveness- rather a calm, rational, feet on the floor contemplative guide which opens the door to further spiritual growth.

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant!, July 31, 2000

By	spidir (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Seeking God is an elegant, insightful, and extremely valuable treatment of the spirituality inherent in St. Benedict's Rule. The further into the book I read, the better I realized it was. Again and again I was impressed with the wisdom and psychological astuteness of the Rule as deWaal explained it. Benedict's way of moderation, humility, and balance, as interpreted by deWaal, seems one of the wisest and healthiest examples of Christian thinking that I have encountered. It is an excellent antidote to the regrettable tendency of some to want to separate body from soul and the material world from the spiritual world; Benedictine spirituality instead balances and integrates them!

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical way of applying the Rule to daily living, January 18, 1999

By A Customer

Esther de Waal has written a beautiful little book about finding God in the commonplace. My copy is highlighted with notes in the margins like "wow" and "so true". Busy, hectic lives seem to keep us away from God, but de Waal shows us that it is precisely within the rush and madness of our daily lives that God finds us and calls us by name. A book to be read and read again.