The Monks of New Skete: In the Spirit of Happiness, by the monks of New Skete (HC, 1999, $2)
"For our part, we understand happiness as a deep and lasting interior peace. It is one that comes only with the struggle to search out and accept the will of God in our lives...
Happiness, then is ultimately what this book is all about. It is about attaining happiness, true happiness, not only in the world to come, but in this world as well, even in the midst of suffering. Through this book we offer the reader an inside look at how to go about attaining true happiness in life...
Attaining happiness is indeed the struggle of a lifetime. Yet the difficulties and all the stumbling blocks aside, we can honestly see that we were indeed created to be happy, that happiness arises from its very pursuit...
Thus, the reader should be prepared to be challenged, provoked, goaded, perhaps even angered. These issues will not be taken lightly. There have been some retreatants who have gone home from a visit to our monastery highly disturbed because their experience here did not pander to pious religious presumptions, but instead confronted them with the need to look at things anew...
But if you are determined to pursue spiritual understanding and wisdom no matter how difficult the quest, then this book will be of help to you. It is born of our struggle, and of our own journey in the wilderness."
Wow! I wish I had found this book ten years ago when I was trying to find the way through my own wilderness. Look for this on the new non-fiction table, avail. 3/14. (later in the self-help section)
