This is a book I will keep for reading again. I found it fascinating and relevant and exactly what I needed right now in my personal spiritual life. Kathleen Norris is honest about her struggles, persistent in her search for meaning, and inspiring in her confidence that God is real. The monastic life has been her shelter and her impetus to change, and ancient writings prove their modernity as she weaves them with modern psychology and philosophy. I am grateful to have found it at my favorite used book store, but regret that the person who sold it didn't keep it for his/her future reference! Very poignant descriptions of acedia, but ultimately an unfulfilling book. Her definition of acedia is so nebulous that it is useless and the stories about her husband and the monastery are often only tangentially related to the topic. I also found her claim that acedia is the root cause of many of our Western societal ills unconvincing. She admits that she is not a systematic theologian and she is right. This book needs heavy restructuring.
Beautiful, raw, intriguing, poetic, thought-provoking, formative - good for spiritual geeks like me!
—CDenn
A great piece on faith and depression in light of Christianity. Really good.
—johnsonbuilders
Good, but difficult to read.
—Daisymaei
