M. Basil Pennington is the newly elected abbot of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. He is the author of many books including Living in the Question. This paperback consists of a collection of short pieces he has written for a number of newspapers including The Hong Kong Sunday Examiner and The Worcester Catholic Free Press.
The book is divided into four segments: "Sometimes He Gives Me a Word of Life," "Sometimes He Is the Word," "Or the Storyteller," and "Or He Lets Life Tell Its Own Story." Pennington believes that most of us value ourselves too little. At one point, he notes, "I am a place where God's love turns up in this world." Later, he quotes Julian of Norwich: "We are God's dream, his homiest home."
Pennington writes that Jesus Christ meets us in many subtle disguises and in the challenges we face on a regular basis. Our tendency to hoard must be replaced by generosity since "whatever you do to the least, you do it to me." We participate in the passion of Christ when we experience the testing of our patience with God, with ourselves, and with others. The author also ponders the spiritual meaning of Jesus' tears and the kind of devotional act that elicited the Lord's remark "She has done a good thing."
These spiritual reflections can be used to spark your daily meditation practice and draw you closer to the creative presence of the Great Listener.
