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PATHS IN SOLITUDE
Eve Baker
Solitude and silence are hard to find in the modern world, which regards
both as aberrations which must be avoided. Yet solitude has never been
more sought after, as the growth of the retreat movement shows. Increasingly,
people are experiencing an interior call to solitude which, although it
was a commonplace in the Middle Ages, is strange to today's religious
concerns, with their emphasis on community. The solitary, standing outside
these concerns, witnesses to a God who is divinely other and not a commodity
to be possessed by the world for its own ends.
The mystery of God is encountered in silence and solitude. The creative artists
make raids into this unknown world of mystery, and return bearing artefacts.
Others make solitude their home; these are the contemplatives. This book
examines firstly various aspects of solitude: solitude and society, the
artist as solitary, and physical solitude. Part II looks at the historical
roots of the solitary life, the monastic path, travellers and wanderers,
hermits and institutions. The final part is a guide to the Christian solitary
life, the practicalities and the prayer of the solitary.
Published by: St Pauls Price £5.95 ISBN 085439 513 x
Can
be ordered in UK from all good booksellers, including St Pauls Bookshop, near
Westminster Cathedral.
Available online from amazon.co.uk
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