Esther de Waal

This was one of those books I picked up at the "Borders is Going out of Business Sale" a few months ago. I've been refocusing my reading lately, digging into books on prayer, simplicity, and heart-work. And this was a nice counterpoint to so many books on the latest fads in Christian ministry.

Going back a millennium, the Cistercians are the Catholic order that gave us both Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Merton. With a focus on living out the Rule of St. Benedict, focusing on communal living show more and simple faith, the Cistercians offer a deep, rich faith that speaks well to our fast-paced, disposable society.

In The Way of Simplicity, Esther De Waal mines the writings of the Cistercians to reveal the heartbeat of their order. These are a people grounded in a place (she spends an entire chapter speaking to Cistercian architecture), motivated with the simple desire of living as Christ, informed by the Word, seeking to love God and love neighbor in all they do. De Waal explains the prayer and study habits of these monks (and nuns); she shares their writings both to support her work, and as poetic prayer guides (a la lectio) in an addendum at the back.

The Cistercians teach us that the Christian life is not easy, but neither is it drudgery. We live in a tension of Mary (attentive to Christ) and Martha (attentive to the other). We are called to love, but only because we are first called forth by the great Love. We are called to live in a community of faith, even while we are all responsible to walk our own journey with Christ. Mostly, we are called to lay aside our own striving, our own desires for comfort and success on our terms, and allow Christ to mold us and shape us as he desires - a process that is never easy but is rich with reward.

The Way of Simplicity is but a mere introduction to a much richer, deeper tradition, and the book gives only a taste of those who have lived out its path. But it was certainly thought-provoking and challenging, as the men and women on its pages become a witness to 'forsaking all else' for the sake of Christ and his people. show less

Esther de Waal's Seeking God will appear as a godsend to those interested in encouraging and deepening the Protestant rediscovery of monasticism that has taken place over the past few years. It is an appreciation and exposition of the Rule of St. Benedict undertaken, in the spirit of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from the middle of existence.

One of the great strengths of the book is the connection it forges between the way in which “the pattern of the day was established by the opus Dei, the work show more of God, the purpose of the monastic life” and “the mingling of the enclosed life with the life outside the walls.” The Protestant rediscovery of monasticism is intrinsically connected with a recovery of spirituality, a renewal of the Church that is also a transformation of the world. De Waal successfully describes an Order that is not a retreat into the cloister. Whether St. Benedict foresaw the mingling or not, his rule became a vehicle by which that mingling took on profound political as well as spiritual significance.

In an age that must concern itself with the politics of spirituality as well as the spirituality of politics, this has revolutionary potential. It is no retreat, no conforming to the world; it is a forming, a transforming. “The Rule,” de Waal says, “continually points beyond itself to Christ . . . ”; and, in the pointing, it becomes a catalyst by which Christ informs the world. Christians whose ecclesiology, ethics, and politics have been profoundly influenced by spiritual guides who forsook the monastery need to hear this: this Order is evangelical, not legalistic. “Christ is the beginning, the way and the end.” This is practical material for those interested in ethics as formation.

It should probably not surprise us that a Rule composed by one convinced of the presence of God and God's work in the midst of a crumbling world should appear relevant in our time. The contemporary concern with spirituality is itself a struggle for wholeness in the midst of fragmentation. Benedict's great insight is that the wholeness is there, even in the midst of fragmentation, because God is there. De Waal communicates this insight effectively in her careful development of an image of all our action taking place in God's presence. St. Benedict, she tells us, hopes that our whole lives will become “prayer in action.” (How appropriate that Benedict's Rule, in de Waal's hands, looks like Augustine's Confessions in action!) This image is most clear in the treatment of the Benedictine vows: obedience, stability, and conversion. Those vows recognize that, as creatures called by God, we exist in the creative tension between stability and change. Nothing could be more dependable than God; and it is precisely that dependability that makes flexibility possible. The point, to borrow an image from Kierkegaard, is to “be like the bird who, feeling the bough give way beneath her feet, is not afraid, because she knows she has wings to fly.”

At a time when the ground seems particularly shaky, this book is a reminder that we have wings--and a good picture of a forerunner who gave practical advice on using them. show less

Esther de Waal is one of today's most beloved spiritual writers. In The White Stone, she reflects on the changes and losses that come with growing older. Esther reflects on solitude and, following a period of illness, saying goodbye to a family home and the Welsh border landscape she had known for decades which inspired some of her greatest writing, and adjusting to a new city environment.

I'm sorry, I was attracted by the title, and the content is valid, but the book overall is far too bland, simplistic and vague. There are too many incredibly abstract, sweeping statements, without any real life practical example. The connection to the Rule of Saint Benedict is loose and disorganized. Finally, I couldn't shake the feeling of listening to someone telling you how great a movie was (the Rule), and all you want to do is watch the movie yourself instead of getting it second-hand show more from this person. show less