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Comment by Dries Cronje on August 5, 2009 at 10:45am

Ai... hier gaan al my boeke. Dit gaan die hele Kaapstad rondlê!

:-D

Dries

Comment by Antoon de Klerk on March 17, 2010 at 6:22pm

Book Review – Everything Belongs
The Gift of Contemplative Prayer
Author — Richard Rohr, OFM
Publisher - Crossroad

Review by Tom Gilbert — © July, 2009

Everything Belongs is the one book by Richard Rohr (noted author, speaker and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation) I recommend more than any of his others. He has written many wonderful books, but this one contains several of the oft-repeated themes found in his other writings.

Subtitled The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, this work helps us to see a number of things that we often have been blinded to, even if we think we are good Christians. Each chapter has many nuggets of insight which help us discover, or remind us again of the existence of what I call the Great Mystery of Divine Reality.

The book reminds me of several important things about life and God.

Life is not about me; I am about life. It is about participation in the great dance of life. And how I participate reveals whether I get it or not, because in my interaction with people and creation I reveal my true motives. Selfish or of service?

God is not out there. Where is God? Everywhere! Right here, right now. In you and in me. Jesus and the Incarnation - God as human as the rest of us - is to show us that God is one of us, in us and always among us. That's radical to embrace because then our response to life and to others must be love. Otherwise we are not really loving God (1 John).

God seems to be all about mercy and forgiveness. This is how He expresses His constant love to us. He hopes for us to turn away from "darkness" (our sin) and embrace the "light" (reality). God forgives us before we even ask, but I believe it takes recognizing this reality and our sin (repentance) and accepting the forgiveness to have any effect. And of course God asks us to forgive others just as we are forgiven.

We don't come to God by doing it right. It's not a performance thing; we can't earn it. We should strive to do right because that is love, but God is waiting for us to recognize our imperfection and powerlessness. As Rohr says, "We come to God by doing it wrong!"

We have to learn to really see. Clean the lens. Change our perspective. Understand that our limited "small" mind wants to protect our ego and is counterintuitive to the "big" mind of the Divine. Religion should be teaching us this, especially Christianity which should proclaim the Truth that is found in all of Creation. We are wrong to condemn the spiritual path and seeking of others. God is bigger than our religion. God doesn't only use Christians to proclaim His message. But Christianity can add to all religions and spiritual seekers the truth that God chooses relationship with us to the point that as Jesus Christ He became one of us and willingly suffered and died for us. In his humanity Jesus also shows us how to live.

We all come to the Great Mystery through our own experience - our own story. The Bible is God revealed inside a great story. Over and over again we learn about others seeking and discovering God, but still failing and making mistakes, sinning and God calling them back with forgiveness to teach us not to give up.

It is a safe universe. We should not live in fear. Over and over again throughout the Bible God's messengers say "Don't be afraid".

Contemplation allows us to be still and to be aware of God's presence. It is not about saying the right words. According to Rohr, prayer is a stance. It is a stance of humble awe; it is not about being for or against something. How different from the way we usually live. If we call ourselves Christian and yet spend most of our time pointing out what is right and what is wrong we are missing the point. God judges - it is not our job. We need to do the interior work of changing and transforming so that we truly live in Christ. Only God has the power to do this in us. And only God has the power to do this with everyone else. Can we accept the task of being instruments of God's love and grace?

God is like a great flowing river of love. We cannot control the flow. It is useless to swim against the flow. We can only be a part of it. We should be in a constant state of humility at the enormity of God's love.

What we discover about God is important, but what we do with what we know about God is more important.

God uses all things and redeems all things for His vast and infinite goodness. Everyone is invited. God is not threatened by diversity; instead he seems to encourage it! We don't get to say who is "in" and who is "out". Everything is right here, right now and all that is needed is surrender and gratitude. When we truly embrace that everything belongs we can see that all is sacred.

Richard Rohr, O.F.M., is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province. He has authored many books on a variety of spiritual and religious topics. He is an in-demand speaker and retreat leader. He presently serves as the founding director of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More at www.cacradicalgrace.org.

Comment by Antoon de Klerk on March 17, 2010 at 6:27pm

Book Review - The Naked Now
An Excerpt from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr

Richard Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, challenges religions to foster mysticism, nonduality, and the contemplative mind. Here is an excerpt on the spiritual practice of joy.

"Joy and mind. Those are not words that you would normally put together, but they inspired the eleventh-century Richard of St. Victor, a Scottish canon teaching in Paris, and became the themes of his two books on the contemplative mind, Benjamin Major and Benjamin Minor. The titles are taken from one obscure passage from Psalm 68:27, where 'Benjamin' is described as leading a procession into the temple in mentis excessu, which was translated as 'with a joyful mind' or 'with an ecstatic mind.' This made me ask:

What might a joyful mind be?

"When your mind does not need to be right.

"When you no longer need to compare yourself with others.

"When you no longer need to compete — not even in your own head.

"When your mind can be creative, but without needing anyone to know.

"When you can live in contentment with whatever the moment offers.

"When you do not need to analyze or judge things in or out, positive or negative.

"When your mind does not need to be in charge, but can serve the moment with gracious and affirming information.

"When your mind follows the intelligent lead of your heart.

"When your mind is curious and interested, not suspicious and interrogating.

"When your mind does not 'brood over injuries.'

"When you do not need to humiliate, critique, or defeat those who have hurt you — not even in your mind.

"When your mind does not need to create self-justifying story lines.

"When your mind does not need the future to be better than today.

"When your mind can let go of obsessive or negative thoughts.

"When your mind can think well of itself, but without needing to.

"When your mind can accept yourself as you are, warts and all.

"When your mind can surrender to what is.

"When your mind does not divide and always condemn one side or group.

"When your mind can find truth on both sides.

"When your mind fills in the gaps with 'the benefit of the doubt' for both friend and enemy.

"When your mind can critique and also detach from the critique.

"When your mind can wait, listen, and learn.

"When your mind can live satisfied without resolution or closure.

"When your mind can forgive and actually 'forget.'

"When your mind can admit it was wrong and change.

"When your mind can stop judging and critiquing itself.

"When you don't need to complain or worry to get motivated.

"When you can observe your mind contracting into self-preservation or self-validation, and then laugh or weep over it.

"When you can actually love with your mind.

"When your mind can find God in all things."

Comment by Ingrid Bremer on March 20, 2011 at 12:27pm

ek het 'n hele paar boeke  as julle wil leen, o.a. Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, Frank Viola, Anthony de Mello, en die versameling groei gereeld, ek's erg 'n bibliophile! sal ook vir julle 'n paar book reviews post soos ek die boeke klaar lees. 

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