"Happiness never comes to us; it can only be achieved. We have to attain it, which is why the tools of the spiritual life — metanoia, self-discipline, solitude, prayerfulness, acts of love, and forgiveness — are necessary ingredients to that end," write the monks of New Skete from their community in Cambridge, New York. Their two previous books, The Art of Raising a Puppy and How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend, have sold almost 250,000 copies. They breed German shepherd dogs and offer obedience-training programs.
Two routes to achieving happiness that have been emphasized by the early desert fathers and the monks of New Skete are dying to the self and entering wholeheartedly into all that we do. The authors of this book present rounded and robust overviews of self-knowledge, asceticism (training in self-control), and the art of practicing the presence of God. They also salute the spiritual process of inner change that can be nourished by sacred reading, liturgy, and good work.
In the Spirit of Happiness taps into the rich reservoirs of the Christian tradition in the East and in the West. Through a series of "interludes" the authors share background information on New Skete and the monastic tradition. They conclude: "Monasteries prove that it really is possible for people to live together and strive to base every action on fraternal charity, on the love of God and his word, without trying to escape the realities of life, but instead learning to embrace them."