The Cloister Walk

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In the book’s preface, author Kathleen Norris admits that in the past she has employed literature as a substitute for religion in her life (p.

In one of The Cloister Walk’s essays , Norris refers to the Incarnation as “the ultimate metaphor,” noting, “To a literalist, I have just said that the Incarnation isn’t ‘real. you want to share this great discovery, giving her work as a gift-- or you simply shove a copy in the face of a friend, saying, 'Read this.

Soon after moving to the rural prairie, Norris developed a relationship with the nearby Benedictine abbey, which led to her eventually becoming an oblate. Norris is more interested in her own thoughts and feelings about the subjects of monasticism and religion than in what anyone else has to say about them. If you enjoyed The Cloister Walk, you’ll want to read these other works by Kathleen Norris, all available from Riverhead. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage.

Like the liturgy she loves, this meandering, often repetitive book is perhaps best approached through the lectio divina practiced by the Benedictines, in which one tries to ""surrender to whatever word or phrase captures the attention. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Norris spends a lot of time explaining how a cloister is set-up to reinforce the bonds of community and human love, beyond merely liking or disliking someone.Many of the most powerful insights from The Cloister Walk address the limits of intellect when it comes to matters of religious belief. She’s got at something there, I think, not only about poetry, but about anyone’s encounter with the divine. This well presented property with high ceilings and tall windows comprises of; large lounge/dining room, modern fitted kitchen, two double bedrooms and shower room.

All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Part record of her time among the Benedictines, part meditation on various aspects of monastic life, The Cloister Walk demonstrates, from the rare persp The author is continually amazed by the perspective of time in a monastery as compared to that of the world outside. The readings appropriately follow the wheel of the year, and the saint’s days and feast days that mark its change.

For those of us like yours truly, who could happily live in a fortress of solitude surrounded by books and cats, this is an interesting take on the strength of human bonds and the necessity of community. Are there any of your own childhood experiences in established religion that have interfered with your spiritual development?

But of course I get why now, now that I’m older, what they lived through, what men made them go through every day, what academia must have been like, and that we’re finally talking about everything we’re talking about and men can’t make it go away. There’s a reason Margaret Atwood is popular again, and nobody’s brushing what she has to say under the rug anymore. In reading Norris, one comse to feel like a spiritual collaborate and, when one's spirit fails, like a spiritual rebel. I experienced being a part of the sea breeze, the movement of the water and the fish, the light rays cast by the sun, the colors of the palms and tropical flowers. They gossip, crack jokes, fall asleep in church, suffer through depression and doubt like the rest of us.

Norris also asks some of the other big questions: namely how can these people who accept lifelong chastity get by without loneliness and still be able to help those, many of whom are married or struggling with a relationship, that come to them seeking advice and spiritual insight? We hope it will prove to be a valuable accompaniment to Kathleen Norris’s unique work — “a gift of insight… one of those rare books too rich to race through” ( The Kansas City Star). In this stirring and lyrical work, the monastery becomes immediate, accessible, and relevant to us, no matter what our faith may be. In her view, the metaphors of scripture are the beating heart of religious understanding, permitting us to glimpse some shred of the divine nature through a human lens. And in the essays of The Cloister Walk, Norris is concerned with the question of how we read and interpret the language of scripture, of liturgy, knowing that our grasp on its meaning will always be imperfect.