This book is on the shelf at The Roscoe Library, 233 Milton Rd Milton!
Many of us are so absorbed and taken up with life, and all its minute by minute demands, we may well ask “why bother?” with Christian contemplation. Martin Laird’s recounting of the story of a young male prisoner with a habit of self-harming made my mind up in a way nothing else ever has. Read about the young man’s experience of regular Christian meditation, and how it caused hope to flicker to light inside him. A month of guided contemplation caused him to find something about himself that he liked, that he thought worthwhile...for the first time ever.
REVIEW BY Fiona Hammond - Lay Ed Project Officer
And now for Amazon’s...
Sitting in stillness, the practice of meditation, and the cultivation of awareness are commonly thought to be the preserves of Hindus and Buddhists. Martin Laird shows that the Christian tradition of contemplation has its own refined teachings on using a prayer word to focus the mind, working with the breath to cultivate stillness, and the practice of inner vigilance or awareness. But this book is not a mere historical survey of these teachings. In Into the Silent Land, we see the ancient wisdom of both the Christian East and West brought sharply to bear on the modern-day longing for radical openness to God in the depths of the heart.
Laird's book is not like the many presentations for beginners. While useful for those just starting out, this book serves especially as a guide for those who desire to journey yet deeper into the silence of God. The heart of the book focuses on negotiating key moments of struggle on the contemplative path, when the whirlwind of distractions or the brick wall of boredom makes it difficult to continue. Laird shows that these inner struggles, even wounds, that any person of prayer must face, are like riddles, trying to draw out of us our own inner silence. Ultimately Laird shows how the wounds we loathe become vehicles of the healing silence we seek, beyond technique and achievement. Throughout the language is fresh, direct, and focused on real-life examples of people whose lives are incomparably enriched by the practice of contemplation.