Thank
you for sharing and for helping me grow. You will never know
just how much you have helped me in the past to the present.
I am grateful. Shalom!
I doubt
you know how much good you are doing. Bless you & all your
Center people.
Before
buying your Spiritual
Intelligence, I turned to end notes to evaluate your ideology...
couldn't believe anyone would dare integrate stories about Dorothy
Day and Mick Jagger. Wow. Great synthesis.
Now
I'm into Don't
Call Me Old.... Again, very motivating to read ideas from
Christian Scientists who, in your mind, sit quite comfortably
near those of Catholic monks, Native American elders, Jane Goodall
and your deep grasp of Scripture. You've let in a breath of fresh
air to my stuffy world of ideological hair-splitters... I'd call
you God's Reconciler.
I am
a poor man, but rich in ideas and quite wealthy in friends. Being
poor, I tend to dig in trash cans to find whatever one can...Tonight
I found a puzzle map of the U.S.A, took it home and put it together
only to notice Nebraska was missing. So I walked back up the
street, dug through the garbage and lying under your book, I
found Nebraska!
(Editor's note:
this month, we share both old and somewhat newer comments.)
Your
site's non-commercial tone surprised me, its offerings encourages.
But, given your preference for contemplative life, you must be
the most secret of our secret treasures!
All
this talk of contemplative spirituality is so b o r i n g. Where
are the bells and whistles and magic of mystical visions and
prosperity?
There
is an aloneness on this planet that is softened by your writing.
You
seem a peacemaker, for this is truly a peacemaker's site.
Born
and raised at the foot of the Hells Gate bridge in New York City,
I have worked [all my life, while]... striving to live a more
creative, contemplative life of [abundant] voluntary simplicity.
Following my prompting for
stillness, I moved two years ago from my 'workmans cottage' in
an historic downtown area of [a large, metropolitan city]. At
present, I live in a quiet lake community [where I] have totally
renovated the small cottage I live in, doing all the work myself.
I paint, I draw, I write editorials
[for others].
All that being said... I am
writing to thank you for Ordinary
People as Monks and Mystics, and A
Way Without Words. As I did early this morning, I very often
pick them off the book shelf and turn to one of the many, many
pages I have highlighted over the years. 'Tis like water to a
parched plant!
I am grateful for your wisdom
in listening to your own inner prompting's and to have written
such inspiring and guidance.
My pleasure. That's why
one writes. Thank you for your inspiring life, and anecdote. --M.S.
Many
years ago I read your book, Ordinary
People as Monks and Mystics because the title intrigued me.
That book changed my life. It was astounding how I found myself
on almost every single page, and for the first time I recognized
that I not only did not have the words for what I had been feeling,
but because I did not have the words I repressed a lot of those
feelings and desires about how I wanted to live my life because
somehow they [were] not "in tune" with the rest of
society and therefore I always wondered if there was something
wrong with me.
The book gave me the insight
that I was on track, that there was nothing wrong with my view
of living and seeking a deeper spirituality, and that I was willing
to pay the price of neither family nor society nor even my religious
clergy understanding my direction....
I made many changes, e.g.,
reduced my lifestyle to basic simplicity, cut my work to part-time,
and began my artistic expression through painting. This was ten
years ago. I have never regretted what I did, although I am still
working through some confusion -- but am content with feeling
lost sometimes -- and just trust. I've come to the conclusion
that it's the journey that matters most and not the destination.
Thank you for that book, thank you to all the people you interviewed
and who so graciously shared their experiences, and thank you
for putting something I have felt ever since childhood into a
recognizable form for me.
M.S. notes: Thank you for
taking the time to write this sort of feedback which encourages
and speaks to a universal walk of faith. This reader's words
reveal the pluck and faith necessary to embark on a sincere spiritual
life ("walk the talk").
This must have been the sort
of faith (trust) Merton meant in his short prayers (p. 39, Thoughts
in Solitude): First, he says he does not see the road ahead
of him (who does?!). Then, he says, nevertheless I trust God:
My hope is in what the eye
has never seen.
Let my trust be in You, not in myself.
As
a spiritual director, I appreciate the Scholar's
Corner. Not only do I use it for my own studies, but your
reviews of certain books are ideal for certain clients -- especially
those who are smart enough to read and really think about the
deep questions of their life. Thanks for the service.
We
are a group of Asian students, studying theology. Our professor
turned us on to your site when we began to read about contemplative
issues. One of our group found the site while online, and we
like it. May we please use your photos for the spirituality site
we're creating?
You
may be interested in reading Joel Goldsmith's The Contemplative
Life, as he was a 20th Century mystic.
I love,
love, love your books. My husband calls them obscure. Go figure.
Having
just read Ordinary
People as Monks & Mystics ....it came to me that... I
have been writing just such a book in my own head for years,
but did not have the self-esteem to believe that my [own] ideas
were indicative of anything but selfishness, laziness, and so
on... thank M.S. in the purest sense of gratitude. I was dying
of thirst and she gave me to drink....
[Some truth in your books led me to enter a monastery,
something I'd wanted to do most of my life. That was nearly a
decade ago. Merry Christmas with thanks.]
[O.K.
so I'm an ambitious, busy corporate bee, who'd never in a million
years get involved with organized religion. Grudgingly, after
reading Sometimes,
Enough is Enough, I've begun reading scripture and am looking
into various methods of contemplative prayer.]
[I
no longer drive, so] when a niece took me to bookstore I FINALLY
bought your new book ['Don't
Call Me Old...], and it truly was/is like visiting with you,
in person. While reading, I talked back to you, nodding my head,
saying, "That's right!" and plan to bring it to the
attention of our marketing people here since we are at the stage
of a [big expansion.]
-- Retiree, resident of Life
Care Center
A group of us in Alaska meet to discuss books.
We took a poll on our favorite books, and your
Elegant Choices, Healing Choices and Lin Yutang's The
Importance of Living ranked as our all-time favorites. So
our group would like to come to visit your Center, work with
you over a weekend. When will something like that be ready? (note:
see Members/News).
Given
your type of life, I don't think you realize how much your books
help more ordinary working people. What you write feels from
the heart, gave me back to myself -- teaches me that I am "OK"
just the way I am, warts and all. I write this in present tense,
for although I've read almost all of your books, I return to
them when things seem dark and am revived to simply accept myself
"as is."
I loved
Do What You
Love..., but loathed Elegant
Choices, Healing Choices, which seemed like a chick-read.
Was it?
