From the Library of Deacon Mike:
"Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts."Thomas Merton
If you would like a reflective and enormously enriching book for your summer reading pleasure may I recommend one entitled "Holy & Human – Mystics for Our Time" by Fr. John D. Powers. Meet these seven mystics:
Hildegard of Bingen, an energetically assertive and creative woman know for her ability to stand strong in an age of unyielding male domination, expressing her intuitive and artistic nature through, music and painting.
Metchtild of Magdeburg, a layperson dedicated to the process of religious commitment, and a radical voice for proper use of the church's funds for the poor.
Meister Eckhart of Hochheim, a Dominican scholar and popular preacher known for his imaginative and creative use of metaphor in speaking of God.
Jan Van Ruysbroeck, a parish priest, contemplative guide and author compelled to speak out against the outrageous heresies of his day.
Johannes Tauler, also a Dominican preacher, who proclaims the everyday birth of God in the soul and with such beautiful strength.
Julian of Norwich, an independent and solitary woman who has captured in her writing the beauty and orthodoxy of God as "mother."
And finally, Teresa of Avila, who, through perseverance and insight, gives us, with her own life, a wonderful example of the belief that a by-product of seeking God is mental health.
Because this book is about "mystics" please do not think you will be reading "theological gobbledygook." Using a unique interview style, Fr. Powers reaches into the centuries between these seven mystics" times and ours, to bring their lives, thoughts, and deeds into our contemporary world. Open this book. You will find here people like us who live, breathe, and work in an often-imperfect world of everyday life. You will find the God who exists in the tears and laughter, pain, joy, and boredom, in the senses, prayers, and physical efforts of both the mystics' lives and ours. You will meet real people who loved, laughed, hurt, and struggled through life. You will find seven men and women, know today as "mystics," who are truly Holy & Human. And most astonishing of all, as Fr. Powers writes, "Whether you are man or woman, barkeep or nun, nurse or monk, father, mother, teen student, baker, priest, construction worker, or lawyer, you too are called to be a mystic in your everyday living."
May this book bring to you endless hours of reading pleasure and a perpetual source of spiritual enrichment.
God BlessMike
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