Chris Anderson is up at five a.m. to see "the shock of stars." Later, while rinsing out a bowl at his sink, he watches a strand of a spider web rising and falling, moving in the wind. This professor of English at Oregon State University is a poet, retreat leader, and Catholic deacon. He is a master of everyday spirituality who reminds us to practice listening. He believes that the examen of conscience, the prayer of St. Ignatius, assure us that God is with us in our moments of joy and in our moments of struggle and fear. Here is a prayer for the end of each day:
"We remember the light and give thanks for the light;
we remember the darkness and ask for forgiveness, and refuge, and strength;
and we let it all go: we ask for the grace to follow the light, to know what we should do – but then we leave it all to God, trusting in his kindness."
Anderson would have us excavate the day for moments that are filled with the presence of God. Watch for those moments when we are taken out of ourselves and transported into the Kingdom of God. Little things matter:
"The story of our lives isn't the story of the things we make and the things we do. It's the story of what we've been given to see. To love. To praise."
Loving God and seeing God in others is all part of the evolution of our faith. The Divine is not to be "investigated," St. Ephrem says, but "savored." That is exactly what Anderson models in this thought-provoking and sturdy spiritual book.
