What do you think?
Rate this book
The Way of the Mystics: Ancient Wisdom for Experiencing God Today Paperback – June 2, 2006
In The Way of the Mystics we are invited to take a journey to the heart of our faith by examining the stories of thirteen of Christian history’s most revered mystics. These spiritual pioneers devoted their lives to exploring a deeper communion with God and through their examples show us how we can apply spiritual wisdom to our own lives. The mystics featured in this book are from different centuries, countries, and Christian traditions but all have been divinely blessed to transcend the limitations of worldly concerns and fully enter the spiritual realm¾a place that so often seems closed off to us. The Way of the Mystics offers insights into the lives of such familiar figures as St. Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Merton, and others. The authors explore these spiritual giants’ experiences, the movements they founded or influenced, and the controversies they generated, offering nuggets of truth distilled from their voluminous and often enigmatic writings. In addition, the book offers practical suggestions for applying the mystics' wisdom to our lives, enabling us to better pursue a deeper relationship with God.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
11 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
John Michael Talbot
89 books44 followersTalbot was born into a Methodist family with a musical background in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and started learning to play the guitar at an early age. At age 15 he dropped out of school and was performing as a guitarist for Mason Proffit, a country folk-rock band formed with his older brother Terry.
Talbot embarked on a spiritual journey that led him through Native American religion and Buddhism to Christianity. At this point he and his brother, Terry, joined the Jesus Movement, recording the album Reborn which was re-released by Sparrow Records (originally released as "The Talbot Bros." on the Warner Brothers label).
Two solo albums followed for Talbot: John Michael Talbot (1976) and The New Earth (1977). Both of these were produced by Billy Ray Hearn. Reading the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, he was inspired to begin studying at a Franciscan center in Indianapolis. He became a Roman Catholic and joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1978. He started a house of prayer, The Little Portion.
Talbot moved The Little Portion to Eureka Springs, Arkansas on land he had purchased during his Mason Proffit days. He formed his own community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, at Little Portion Hermitage as an "integrated monastic community" with celibate brothers and sisters, singles, and families. By 1989, Talbot had married Viola Pratka (with the permission of the Catholic Church). Pratka was a former Incarnate Word Sister who had come to the community in 1986.
Talbot's title is General Minister and Spiritual Father. For many years, he has promoted the work of Mercy Corps.
The hermitage suffered a fire in April 2008 in which the library and many common areas were destroyed.
Talbot embarked on a spiritual journey that led him through Native American religion and Buddhism to Christianity. At this point he and his brother, Terry, joined the Jesus Movement, recording the album Reborn which was re-released by Sparrow Records (originally released as "The Talbot Bros." on the Warner Brothers label).
Two solo albums followed for Talbot: John Michael Talbot (1976) and The New Earth (1977). Both of these were produced by Billy Ray Hearn. Reading the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, he was inspired to begin studying at a Franciscan center in Indianapolis. He became a Roman Catholic and joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1978. He started a house of prayer, The Little Portion.
Talbot moved The Little Portion to Eureka Springs, Arkansas on land he had purchased during his Mason Proffit days. He formed his own community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, at Little Portion Hermitage as an "integrated monastic community" with celibate brothers and sisters, singles, and families. By 1989, Talbot had married Viola Pratka (with the permission of the Catholic Church). Pratka was a former Incarnate Word Sister who had come to the community in 1986.
Talbot's title is General Minister and Spiritual Father. For many years, he has promoted the work of Mercy Corps.
The hermitage suffered a fire in April 2008 in which the library and many common areas were destroyed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 18, 2008
Talbot is a singer guitarist who founded the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, a Franciscan community devoted to revitalizing ancient contemplative and monastic traditions. A high school drop out he helped form the folk rock group Mason Proffit, a band which jammed with the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin. Eventually Talbot concluded that the "rock star" life seemed empty and sad and turned to producing Christian music. His website is www.johnmichaeltalbot.com and Amazon allows you to listen to sections of his many recordings.
The Way of the Mystic is an introduction to 13 men and women mystics including Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Merton, Teresa of Lisieux, George Fox, John Donne, John of the Cross, and The Anonymous Pilgrim who, following the admonition of Paul to "pray without ceasing," recited the Jesus Prayer thousands of times a day like a mantra: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Talbot defines a mystic as someone who believes there are realities to life that are beyond what can be perceived by our rational minds or described in words.
The Way of the Mystics covers nearly two thousand years of Christian history exploring a tradition that has all but vanished in today's church. Each chapter provides an overview of the person's life and background, their thought--including quotations from their writings--and a summary of additional resources for further study. Each essay contains a valuable time chart showing the life of the mystic alongside important concurrent world events
Talbot begins in the 3rd century with the story of Anthony of the Desert whose faith was influenced by the desert experience of Jesus and John the Baptist. Anthony lived for some 70 years in the searing deserts of Egypt with little water and food and long hours kneeling in prayer. He was the model for thousands who followed him away from the moral pollution of the cities eventually forming small communities that were the advent of monasticism.
Talbot is quite candid about the lives he writes about, sharing their faults as well as their blessings. Bernard of Clairvaux, for example, the famed monastic reformer of the 12th century, suffered personal embarrassment and humiliation "to his lasting regret," for his part in organizing the disastrous 2nd crusade that failed and cost so much slaughter.
Fourteenth century Spanish mystic, Catherine of Siena, was one of 25 siblings who was born in the year that the Black Death reached Europe and grew up at a time and in a culture that equated saintliness with harsh ascetic practices. She practiced beating out the devil by daily scourging her body with a chain tipped with sharp hooks. She slept every other day and fasted to the point of anorexia, which ended her life at age 33.
George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, lived a peripatetic lifestyle not unlike a 60's hippy roaming the country preaching nonviolence. This fervent anti-Catholic did not believe in worshiping in church buildings, which he referred to "steeple houses." To him the Bible was less reliable in knowing God than personal inner revelation. In a sermon to the people of Leicestershire, England, he announced his mission to bring people off their old ways . . . from their churches . . . from all the world's religions . . . from all the worlds' fellowships, and prayings, and singings . . . from heathenish fables, and from men's inventions and windy doctrines . . . and all their images and crosses, and sprinkling of infants, with all their holy days . . . and all their vain traditions. (p.169)
John Donne, the great English metaphysical poet sought to use his art for the greater glory of God. A convert to Anglicanism, he was later ordained as a priest and deacon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. His most famous piece, No man is an island . . . came from his wondering about the impact of a soul's departure upon those who remain behind.
Talbot invites his readers to consider the role God plays in their lives, asking, is God a living and breathing reality in the core of your being or merely a cold theological abstraction? Do you experience the fullness of Christ or are you snacking on Christianity lite? This book offers practical suggestions for applying the mystics' wisdom to our lives, enabling us to better pursue a deeper relationship with God
The Way of the Mystic is an introduction to 13 men and women mystics including Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Merton, Teresa of Lisieux, George Fox, John Donne, John of the Cross, and The Anonymous Pilgrim who, following the admonition of Paul to "pray without ceasing," recited the Jesus Prayer thousands of times a day like a mantra: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Talbot defines a mystic as someone who believes there are realities to life that are beyond what can be perceived by our rational minds or described in words.
The Way of the Mystics covers nearly two thousand years of Christian history exploring a tradition that has all but vanished in today's church. Each chapter provides an overview of the person's life and background, their thought--including quotations from their writings--and a summary of additional resources for further study. Each essay contains a valuable time chart showing the life of the mystic alongside important concurrent world events
Talbot begins in the 3rd century with the story of Anthony of the Desert whose faith was influenced by the desert experience of Jesus and John the Baptist. Anthony lived for some 70 years in the searing deserts of Egypt with little water and food and long hours kneeling in prayer. He was the model for thousands who followed him away from the moral pollution of the cities eventually forming small communities that were the advent of monasticism.
Talbot is quite candid about the lives he writes about, sharing their faults as well as their blessings. Bernard of Clairvaux, for example, the famed monastic reformer of the 12th century, suffered personal embarrassment and humiliation "to his lasting regret," for his part in organizing the disastrous 2nd crusade that failed and cost so much slaughter.
Fourteenth century Spanish mystic, Catherine of Siena, was one of 25 siblings who was born in the year that the Black Death reached Europe and grew up at a time and in a culture that equated saintliness with harsh ascetic practices. She practiced beating out the devil by daily scourging her body with a chain tipped with sharp hooks. She slept every other day and fasted to the point of anorexia, which ended her life at age 33.
George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, lived a peripatetic lifestyle not unlike a 60's hippy roaming the country preaching nonviolence. This fervent anti-Catholic did not believe in worshiping in church buildings, which he referred to "steeple houses." To him the Bible was less reliable in knowing God than personal inner revelation. In a sermon to the people of Leicestershire, England, he announced his mission to bring people off their old ways . . . from their churches . . . from all the world's religions . . . from all the worlds' fellowships, and prayings, and singings . . . from heathenish fables, and from men's inventions and windy doctrines . . . and all their images and crosses, and sprinkling of infants, with all their holy days . . . and all their vain traditions. (p.169)
John Donne, the great English metaphysical poet sought to use his art for the greater glory of God. A convert to Anglicanism, he was later ordained as a priest and deacon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. His most famous piece, No man is an island . . . came from his wondering about the impact of a soul's departure upon those who remain behind.
Talbot invites his readers to consider the role God plays in their lives, asking, is God a living and breathing reality in the core of your being or merely a cold theological abstraction? Do you experience the fullness of Christ or are you snacking on Christianity lite? This book offers practical suggestions for applying the mystics' wisdom to our lives, enabling us to better pursue a deeper relationship with God
May 6, 2024
Not my usual fare, but John Michael Talbot is an interesting fellow, having dropped out from Mason Proffitt, a country-rock band (who the Eagles ripped off) and on a major label in the early 1970s, he became a Franciscan hermit in the Ozarks. This little guide parallels Bonaventure, the pioneering theologian, who road mapped the way to God, literally the title of his famous treatise. JMT by the analogy familiar to many of us as attraction, courtship, marriage, consummation, childbearing and raising, maturity, and ups and downs in the committed relationship, and the decision to stick it out and to stick together. This allows the reader to follow along in a more conversational.way the spiritual truths Bonaventure teaches. By relating the mystic path to a long-term love relationship, JMT brings its lessons home to us in today's society. This appeared in 1984. I notice how the pace of contemporary, and decidedly non-contemplative, and too frivolous a too-hectic life most of us find ourselves trapped in, has accelerated in the couple of generations since its publication. Which may mean it needs to be rediscovered.
September 6, 2018
This book presents different ways they various famous religious figures have gotten closer to God. The book is written from a Catholic perspective although not all the figures are Roman Catholic. I found the book interesting although several of the people are difficult for a contemporary person to really understand. The masochistic seeming tendencies of some of the characters are particularly hard to relate to. The author does not gloss over them but does try to put them in perspective.
April 23, 2025
Great book!
August 30, 2007
These lessons from thirteen holy men and women of God encourage us to continue on our journey to both love God and Be of service to others. They provide examples of prayer, solitude, reflection, spiritual direction, practicing the Presence of God, issues of suffering, enduring dark nights of the soul and they continue to mentor and guide millions by
their lives and models.
Some examples of their heart, words and actions:
Theresa of Avila, “This Lord of ours is so anxious that we desire Him and strive after His companionship that He calls us in the Love of God an our neighbor and the more nearly perfect is our observance of these two commandments, the nearer to Perfection we will be. Pg. 122.
Anthony and the desert fathers – pg 40 -”Renunciation is a key concept of desert spirituality/ Anthony and his disciples renounced many Things: the devil, the allure of worldly pleasures, basic bodily appetites for food and sleep, and the enticements of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth, lust, avarice and gluttony). Is there anything in your life you need to renounce? What has a hold on your soul?”
Francis of Assisi – pg 73 - “Francis wasn’t a masochist, but he understood that affliction could teach us much about love, patience, humility, and service to others. ‘ Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to his friends is that of conquering oneself and Willingly enduring suffering, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ,’ he said.”
God says, Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. If you seek me you will find me.... May we continue in closeness to God and point others to Him in both word and deed.
June 18, 2010
This is a nice overview of the lives and writings of many mystics, both canonized saints and others, including non-Catholics. The writing is clear and simple, the way JMT seems always to write. On that score, it is just a tad on the intellectually unchallenging/boring side to me. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't great insights to be gleaned. There are. One thing that was most helpful to me was commentary that made me realize these mystics are just regular folk -- specifically I mean how JMT pointed out certain areas where they seemed to either be slightly off balance or in balance with their age but not ours. In other words, he shows how these folks were fully human, and that didn't conflict with their canonization, but yet it doesn't mean that every detail of the way they lived is meant for us to imitate. We are to be led by the Spirit of God and imitate Christ. For example, he points out how the Desert Fathers were often severe in their treatment of the body as evil. How St. Catherine of Siena may indeed have suffered from anorexia. How many of these saints and their writings can easily be exploited by those who miss the One they are all about.
December 26, 2010
This book was a very insightful look at key figures who played major roles in shaping Christian history; and not just Catholic history. I was surprised to see people like John Donne and George Fox covered. The book doesn't just blindly praise these figures as great people, but fleshes them out and presents them as the people they were. Sometimes this means giving sharp criticisms where needed. It also has great recommended reading lists and personal insights from the authors. The only things I can think of that would have improved this book were for it to be much longer, or more focused on a particular time period. The authors were obviously going for a "high points" approach. Maybe I'm just nit-picking. That aside, this is definitely a good addition to one's spiritual reading library.
July 12, 2009
Quite a well done book about "lessons from thirteen holy men and women."
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews