Kathleen Norris has written five books of poetry as well as Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister Walk, and Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, In this interview, the best-selling author discusses with host Michael Toms life in Lemmon, South Dakota, where people talk about the weather all the time and exhibit a tolerance for the quirks and foibles of their neighbors. Norris also shares her enthusiasm for the beauties and the bounties of monastic life at a nearby monastery. She appreciates the slowing of time through the Liturgy of the Hours. She sees the Benedictine Rule as wisdom literature and has gained a new respect for the profundity of the Bible.
To questions about Christian fundamentalists and their emphasis upon the Second Coming of Christ, Norris replies: "We waste a lot of energy on things that really are mysteries. The best response to mystery is silence, attentive waiting — vigilance perhaps. But not trying to second guess God." Some of the other topics covered here are the Gospel of St. Thomas, the Black Madonna, and what it means to be an oblate at a monastery.