James Tolhurst

Climbing the Mountain James Tolhurst

Edith Stein admitted that there was time when she 'consciously and deliberately lost the habit of praying'. She tells us this because she re-discovered it during the journey which brought her to Carmel. We all need to make our own spiritual way through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, with guides who help us to see the pitfalls and inspire us to persevere. The journey of prayer is one of the great adventures which we should all undertake because it leads us to the mountain which is God himself. In this book we find a sure companion for this journey, showing us how to begin to pray, exploring the many sources of prayer that we may encounter, and sharing the experience of the saints and other spiritual writers from both Eastern and Western Christianity. The great variety of prayer, meditation and mystical experience in the Christian tradition is expertly treated, as well as the many stumbling blocks and obstacles that may come our way. Christian prayer needs to be discovered, or in many cases, rediscovered - it is that mountain waiting to be climbed. It is essential for us today to realize that life is more than the frenzied bustle of activity in which all sometimes find ourselves. We must begin with the interior life ... This is a fine book, drawing from many rich sources in the lives of great spiritual leaders. I commend it to those who are undertaking a serious prayer life for the first time and to those who are looking for a fresh beginning in their own lives of prayer. ? John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark