In their zeal for reform, early Protestant leaders tended to throw out Saint Benedict with the holy water. That is a mistake, writes Dennis Okholm, in Monk Habits for Everyday People. While on retreat in a Benedictine abbey, the author, a professor who was raised as a Pentecostal and a Baptist, observed how the meditative and ordered life of a monk lifted Jesus' teachings off the printed page and put them into daily practice. Vital aspects of devotion, humility, obedience, hospitality, and evangelism took on new clarity and meaning. Paralleling that experience, Okholm guides the reader on a focused and instructive journey that can revitalize the devotional life of any Christian who wants to slow down and dig deeper.
An excerpt from the
Circuit Rider review: "With the growing literature on “emergent church,” “missional church,” and “ancient-future church,” and with the increasing concentration on the importance of practices for the “concrete church,” Okholm’s book offers a welcomed voice. His work can definitely serve as a necessary counter-balance to what can easily become another consumer “fad” or “trend.” Indeed, in a consumerist society, the temptation can all too easily become one of making the monastic option one more commodity in a line of spiritual experiences."
(Click here to read the entire review.)
