Saint Benedict For The Laity

This is a really interesting little book. But know that it is more about principles than practices. It's about how the philosophy and sentiment behind Benedictine monasticism can sort of inspire different rhythms of life for us non-monastics. But it does not offer specific activities one can take on that gives us a kind of “Benedict” light. For example, his Chapter entitled, “Singing the Psalms” offers no practical ways of incorporating the Psalter into our every day lives. The whole chapter is about the history of how Benedictines structure their prayer times, and then talks about the wisdom of having SOME structure to our times of prayer, and he encourages us to consider going to bed and waking up much earlier than we normally would. Again–more principles than practices. But that's not bad. We can get obsessed with “practical application”, and I appreciate the attempt to more create an ethos than give us every little act we ought to do in response to this. The book is good. It has gems of pastoral wisdom throughout and some beautiful pieces of writing. It's also a quick read, so if you get the chance to read this–do it; just have the right expectations.