Wonderfully insightful and endearing. Norris exposes herself with such heart and touches the soul with her gentleness of spirit and forcefulness of the truth of her pain. ( )

This is a powerful and profound book. I recommend it for readers over 40. While the problems of acedia may exist at any age, I don't think we perceive them as clearly until we reach the "noonday" of our lives: middle age. This is a book about what it means to be in it for the long haul, in life, in a relationship (a marriage), on a spiritual path. Our culture doesn't appreciate the repetitive, day to day activities, but, Norris argues, Christians should. The book does not give us precise instructions on how to do that, but it does present the wisdom of centuries of theology that has somehow fallen by the wayside. She's done a remarkable job of unearthing a myriad of references to acedia (the condition that devolved into the sin of sloth, but is so much more and, as Norris teaches, naming one's demon can be a step towards liberation), She has learned these truths the only way to learn them, the hard way, and tells her story with her usual skill. ( )

not your typical offering from Kathleen Norris ( )

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion...

There is a story told of the Buddha encountering a woman who had lost all her presence of mind, after enduring enormous suffering in her life. With great maitri, Buddha said to tier, "Sister, regain your state of mind." A friend of mine has that on her computer screen, as a screen saver. When she is at work and the demon acedia has entered, and she is wondering when lunchtime is going to come, and pliancy and joyfulness seem far away, then, being a Good Friend to her own self, she can say, "Sister, regain your state of mind." Recover your presence of mind. We have the ability to do this.

I picked this book up when I was suffering a bout of depression and looking for a handhold or two to aid in my climb out. It's not so much a self-help book as it is a memoir, but there are always lessons in other people's struggles, and there were lots of valuable lessons shared here. I was thrilled just to learn the word, "acedia", and to know that the particular kind of dark ennui/depression I was fighting had a name and a history, relieved to find out it was not my own personal hell but something people have always had to fight. I'm not Christian and I find a lot of scripture rubs me the wrong way, but the Psalms shared here, as well as the common sense of the monastic wisdom, really did provide comfort and helpful advice for dealing with these moods that take hold of me. Thanks to Norris' sharing what she's experienced and learned, I now feel more capable of keeping those dark moods at bay. ( )