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Seeking Surrender: How My Friendship with a Trappist Monk Taught Me to Trust and Embrace Life
An unlikely friendship between Colette Lafia and a silent monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived, comes to life through seven years of shared letters. Lafia's palpable openness and warm storytelling lead readers through the same compassionate process that led the author to accept herself, find peace with life, and strive for an ever-deepening relationship with God.
Folded within the deep friendship cultivated through letters exchanged between Colette Lafia, a spiritual director and retreat leader, and Brother Rene, a Trappist monk, is Lafia's struggle with infertility, insomnia, the loss of her sister, the declining health and eventual death of her father, and her role as caregiver. Brother Rene's compassion and guidance throughout these trials--and Lafia's responses--provide a template for helping readers to surrender to God in their own struggles.
Readers will find simple exercises and profound advice for living a more conscious and intentional life, with tips such as, "look at yourself through God's eyes," "notice when fear arrives at your door," and "trust all is well." Readers will ultimately discover a new attitude of acceptance and letting go.
Folded within the deep friendship cultivated through letters exchanged between Colette Lafia, a spiritual director and retreat leader, and Brother Rene, a Trappist monk, is Lafia's struggle with infertility, insomnia, the loss of her sister, the declining health and eventual death of her father, and her role as caregiver. Brother Rene's compassion and guidance throughout these trials--and Lafia's responses--provide a template for helping readers to surrender to God in their own struggles.
Readers will find simple exercises and profound advice for living a more conscious and intentional life, with tips such as, "look at yourself through God's eyes," "notice when fear arrives at your door," and "trust all is well." Readers will ultimately discover a new attitude of acceptance and letting go.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2015
A lovely, practical book on Lafia's experience navigating both infertility and the deteriorating condition of her aging father, as she receives encouragement from her pen pal Brother Rene, a Trappist monk in Kentucky. Lafia writes beautifully and deeply about learning to surrender and find acceptance in difficult times. I loved the practical tips she gives at the end of each section - exercises to try as you move toward surrendering the things in in your own life that you can't control. This is a book I will come back to.
November 10, 2015
I really found this book thought provoking and yet consoling. A very good read.
March 10, 2016
Very good book in the tradition of My Sisters, the Saints. Interesting exercises that I will use when I need them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews