In the preface to one of Father Basil Pennington's books, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner describes him as "a great, loving bear of a man. His laughter and embrace surround you with nurture. I have never known a man who was more gracefully centered within whom he was, within whom God had made him to be. And this pervades his writing on every level. We have the sense, reading his words, that they come from his innermost essence."
This book, edited by Michael Moran and Ann Overton, is a tribute to M. Basil Pennington (1931 - 2005); it honors him as a Cistercian monk and priest, the author of dozens of books, a seasoned teacher who traveled the world, and a founder of the Centering Prayer movement and several national and international organizations. Essays by contributors, including Thomas Keating, Laurence Freeman, Werner Erhard, and E. Glenn Hinson, are organized into sections on:
• Priest and Monk
• Family Man
• Man of Prayer
• Dreamer and Creator
• Human Being and Friend
• Basil's Three Core Teachings and Spiritual Practices
• Chronology
• Bibliography of Books
Among Pennigton's personal qualities saluted on these pages are his regularity in remembering the birthdays and anniversaries of those closest to him, his devotion to the dying, his energy and infectious laughter, his child-like approach to various manifestations of God's will, his capacity for creativity, his distinctive servanthood leadership style, his presence of peace, his practice of hospitality, and his love of surrendering to God in prayer. Here is a passage by Pennington's on the art of living in a question:
"A pat answer is closed. It is finished. That's all there is to it. It goes nowhere and leaves little room for hope. A question opens space for us. It is full of possibility.
"It is paradoxical how much living in a question can bring clarity to our present experience. We see everything in a new perspective. We plumb the meaning of each thing more deeply. Each relationship takes on more meaning. We look at each of the loved ones around us and sense the preciousness of our relationship with them, how beautiful they are, even with all their faults, all those little things that so annoy us. The elements of our daily routine have more meaning; we enjoy them with a sense of wholeness."
