MONK HABITS FOR EVERYDAY PEOPLE

By Dennis Okholm, Brazos Press, 144 pp., $12.99
REVIEWED BY Lois Sibley

Here is a man who has studied Benedictine monastics, their history and practices for at least 20 years who is eager to share how Benedictine spirituality can enrich life and prayer practice.

Dennis Okholm writes about how Benedict's fifth-century monastery grew and how his Rule came to be written. Okham then describes contemporary monastic houses and his own experiences. The monastic life, he says, is "a life of habits that, in turn, develop character traits ... muscles of the soul." In other words, the aim is to develop a healthy, whole person.

Okholm's chapter titles, reminiscent of the Rule itself, include: Learning to Listen, Poverty, Obedience, Humility, Hospitality, Stability and Balance. In an afterword, he discusses the Protestant reformers and their opinions on monasticism (mostly unfavorable).

But times have changed.

In her foreword, Kathleen Norris writes that her attraction to monastic liturgy, now well-known through her books, did not mean she was becoming a Roman Catholic. Rather, she thought, it would turn her into a better Protestant, one who was more attentive to the power of the Word.

She later learned that Okholm was having similar experiences and that many Benedictine guest houses today are attracting laypeople and clergy from a wide range of denominations. This diversity has the effect of providing "ecumenical assemblies" where Christians enjoy what they have in common — the psalms, the Gospels and the Lord's

Prayer — and not worry about what may divide them, she says.

Okholm says that "what Benedictines have to offer Protestants is the lived reminder that the Christian community's ultimate function is to shape individuals who, as disciples of Christ, are being formed into his image."

"We would all do well to listen and appropriate what this saint offered an undivided Christian world a millennium and a half ago."

WHAT WE DO IN LENT
A Child's Activity Book

By Anne Kitch, Morehouse, 48 pp., $8
REVIEWED BY Sharon Sheridan

Last Ash Wednesday, a toddler in our congregation looked at the smudgy cross on a nursery worker's forehead and asked, "What happened?"

Anne Kitch's What We do in Lent: A Child's Activity Book aims to help answer such questions. Geared for children ages 4 to 7, the book journeys from Ash Wednesday to Easter morning. It explains various terms, practices and concepts – the church calendar, marking our foreheads with ashes, the difference between wants and needs. It summarizes Bible stories typically heard during Lent – such as the temptation of Jesus, the widow's mite and the raising of Lazarus – and provides the relevant scriptural citations.

Most importantly, the book invites children into the journey. Illustrated by Dorothy Thompson Perez, each page features a different activity: counting your blessings, writing a prayer, finding coins hidden in a picture, drawing crosses on people's foreheads. There are word searches and color-by-number drawings and connect-the-dot pictures. Children learn about how to make the sign of the cross and how to identify differences in the worship space during Lent.

Parents or godparents can use the activity book with their children, who don't need to be readers to participate. With an adult's guidance, a youngster can listen to the story or description on a page and tackle the activity. While older children can read the pages on their own, concepts such as temptation, confession, charity and distinguishing wants from needs provide fodder for meaningful discussion.

Christian educators may want to use the book in class, or provide activity pages each week for completion at home or as a worship activity. They may, however, wish to double-check activities before distributing them, as one or two misspelling may create confusion.

Besides the activity pages, the book includes more detailed information on Lent and the church year as well as resources.

THE PRAYER-GIVEN LIFE

By Edward Stone Gleason, Church Publishing, 191 pp., $16
REVIEWED BY Lois Sibley

"The goal of prayer is always the same -- the practice of the presence of God," writes Edward Gleason. But there are many different paths. In Gleason's case, he probably has always been keeping a journal, a collection of personal incidents and happenings in his life. Now he weaves them into the fabric of his book on prayers, collects and opening sentences of the Daily Offices in Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer.

Gleason, a retired Episcopal priest who was a former director of Forward Movement Publications, begins with the Collect for Purity at the beginning of the Holy Eucharist (BCP, 323). He reminds readers that for more than 500 years and through the writings of hundreds of people, with repeated revisions, the prayer book has created forms and patterns to touch and guide one's life in prayer.

Working through the various prayer sentences and collects, he suggests opportunities for daily prayer that occur when we allow the words of the prayer book to enter our lives. He blends in many personal stories and illustrations to fit with the prayers.

Chapter titles come from phrases in the prayers themselves, such as: "erred and strayed;" "guide our feet;" "now in the time of this mortal life;" "direct and rule our hearts;" "thine inestimable love;" "unto whom all hearts are open;" and "he loved them to the end." He concludes with "grant us safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last" and final prayers of "thanks for all things."

These prayers are reminders of the person and work of each member of the Trinity, and Gleason is quick to point that out. Reminders range from "God of all power, Ruler of the Universe ..." (Eucharistic Prayer C, p. 370) to "Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit" (Collect for Purity, p. 323), as well as many references to the "comfortable words" our Savior Jesus Christ says to all who truly turn to him.

THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY
One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

By A.J. Jacobs, Simon and Schuster, 390 pp., $25
REVIEWED BY Martha K. Baker

For one whole year, A.J. Jacobs tried faithfully to live by the rules outlined in his ex-girlfriend's 1,536-page, left-behind Bible with onion-skin-thin pages. He reports his findings in The Year of Living Biblically.

Jacobs takes the Bible literally, starting with the Ten known Commandments, then considers hundreds of barely known rules, like binding money to his hand.

This exemplary book both delights and instructs. Delights dance from Jacobs' humor, which ranges from self-deprecating (see: lust discussion) to farcical (see: stoning an adulterer).

Instruction comes from his being an outsider: Jacobs is clean-shaven – facially and theologically. For the former, he grows a Mosaic beard, "the most noticeable manifestation of [his] spiritual journey." As for theology, he is by culture Jewish, but by practice not so much of anything, so he convenes an "advisory board" of rabbis and ministers, including a retired clergyman who calls himself "the pastor out to pasture." Entering his spiritual journey from an unpaved byway, Jacobs poses sensible questions; they are especially meaningful when he shifts from the Hebrew Scriptures to the New Testament. "The year showed me beyond a doubt," he concludes, "that everyone practices cafeteria religion."

Jacobs' conclusions manifest his maturation as an honest seeker. He remains funny, curious (he flies to Tennessee to visit a snake handler) and responsible throughout the book, and his unique style – part objective journalism, part subjective journal – benefits from reins as much as rants.

What makes The Year of Living Biblically endearing is watching how the Bible changes the man, manifested notably in his responses to his first son's circumcision versus those of his twins, born during Jacobs' journey (the Bible says, "Be fruitful and multiply"). He changes from a theologically addlepated agnostic to a quasi-agnostic, puppy-happy to say his prayers of thanks.

HUMILITY, THE QUIET VIRTUE

By Everett L. Worthington Jr., Templeton Foundation, 124 pp., $12.95
REVIEWED BY Lois Sibley

"What does God require of you?" asks the prophet Micah. "To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God," he answers in Micah 6:8.

Everett Worthington must know about this. A professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, he long has been interested in the study and teaching of forgiveness and justice and their relationship. He has written more than 20 books on these and other topics, as well as more than 200 scientific articles and multimedia resources and productions.

In this new book, he tackles the subject of humility, what he calls the "quiet virtue." Because there is no scientific definition or description or understanding of humility, it cannot be measured easily.

Worthington knows readers will not be looking to rate themselves on their personal humility. Rather, he asks readers to think of individuals they know who might be described as humble.

Who are your heroes of humility, he asks. Describe them. Why do they inspire you? He describes people he knows and explains why he admires them for their humility. He provides quotes from many famous authors, historical figures, well-known celebrities and just ordinary people -- all to inspire us into a spirit of humility.

"Humility is a spiritual activity," he claims. As we open our hands in love, extend our hands to others, lift our hands upward to God, we may receive that spirit of humility, the quiet virtue that can inspire others.