Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World

Peace Be with You has 69 ratings and 19 reviews. Katherine said: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in exchange for an h.
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Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. I just hope that there are people who are ready to hear what he has to share, what his discussions with devoted people of faith - monks and nuns and re - I received this book free from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.

I just hope that there are people who are ready to hear what he has to share, what his discussions with devoted people of faith - monks and nuns and retreatants, etc - helped to stir in him, and through the pages, causes to stir in us That being said, though, I didn't feel this book comes across preachy or overly pious. It reads easily and moves you - at least it did me. While I already agreed with the author before reading, I did feel enriched by doing so. How they are what will bring an end to the animosity we see. But, like I said, this book wasn't about educating us on Islam.

Instead it was about the idea of love and peace in a world of terror, how love and compassion - "honoring the sacred value of all humans" page 87 - are what we need to achieve peace. In our triumphalism we had denied the cross.

Pointing fingers and calling for vengeance is easy, Jesus calls us to a harder way, because only radical love can heal the world. It's about how "peace is not the absence of anyone or anything — not the absence of Osama bin Laden, not the absence of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, not the absence of all adversaries who come to mind. By the end of the journey, my own divided heart was beginning to heal.

I still remember hearing those words from Alan Jackson on live TV. I was emotionally bare and yet unaffected by what happened. As most Americans, I wanted vengeance and I wanted it to be big and loud and violent. But as I have reflected a lot over these last 10 years, I have began to realize that the world isn't bla I still remember hearing those words from Alan Jackson on live TV. But as I have reflected a lot over these last 10 years, I have began to realize that the world isn't black and white like that. What they did was horrible.

But our response has been just as horrible with just as many civilians killed. We took the path of Rome. But books on the subject have been few and far between. Books on the contemplative response to terror. But I do have one I would highly recommend. These thoughts and more have been spurred by my reading of 'Peace Be With You: As part of his research for this book, Dr.

Throughout his journey, Dr. Carlson discovers a more mystical and universal Jesus who's love engulfs the whole world. The most amazing parts to me are his thoughts on the workings of the Incarnation and how that event was more than God coming to earth but of God continuing to come to earth. It's part of the 'Cosmic Christ' of Merton where we look to discover Christ in all those around us. It's not that we are helping another human, it's that we are helping Christ Matt I don't want to quote a lot of his book but I do have to include this passage: They were the same options that the Amish had after the schoolhouse shooting.

Vengeance on God's part, on the Amish's part, is one possible response to suffering, to crucifixion. But in seeking to punish our enemies, we leave Christ, we abandon Him, on the cross. In contrast, the act of forgiveness, two thousand years ago at Golgotha, and just months before in the Amish community, brought and brings resurrection. That is what mercy and redemption mean, the passing from death to life.

In our insecurity, we have instead sought revenge abroad and built a wall at home Here was the "word of life," fully clarified, that I had been seeking over the past year. The God whom Jesus embodied had made a far different choice. God had chosen forgiveness. God did not condemn the world for crucifying His Son, but raised Jesus for the sake of the world--for the sake of us who continue to crucify Christ in our actions toward others.

So does that mean we just let the people who did this go?

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No, I don't believe so and I don't believe that's what Dr. I believe he is saying: Forgiveness must mean, as South African activist Malusi Mpumlwana suggest, helping our adversaires recover their humanity. I would give it 4. It's a book that I will continually go back to over and over to glean and gain wisdom on the art and beauty of forgiveness.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. This is a difficult book to read, not in style but in content. It might be easy to dismiss the book as blame America first, but that response is for those who use Christianity as a bat to bludgeon others. Rather, the reflection that Carlson shares are about examining oneself and changing oneself first rather then seeing how others are to blame. The access point is unique through the use of monks.

By accepting the reflection of monks, and in an typically Orthodox fashion, the reflection include the words of the living and the dead. If you are looking for a book that says the United States is justified in what it has done in the name of fighting terrorism, then you should not read this book. In addition, if you have an ounce of integrity you should not call yourself a Christian either, for in reality you probably worship America and not God.

But if you wish to be challenged as to reflect on how you need change and I include myself in that you then read it immediately. If I could recommend only one "must read" this year, this would be the one. Especially important if you consider yourself a Christian, but helpful in forwarding understanding regardless of your religious orientation or lack thereof. A pretty different perspective from many Americans I would guess, and very thought provoking. Apr 06, Bob Price rated it liked it. The Way of the New Monastics.

The Story of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Reflections on the Lord's Prayer - eBook. In Praise of Folly - eBook. The Story of Monasticism: Retrieving an Ancient Tradition for Contemporary Spirituality. Are Christianity and Islam destined to confront one other as clashing civilizations? Hear the wisdom of these men and women in their own words as they speak with hope to a suffering world. Follow Carlson's moving and at times difficult journey to discover a new, yet ancient basis for genuine peace between Christianity and other religions, especially Islam.

But Jesus as the banner-carrier of Christendom or Christian culture has, from the beginning, been unacceptable to me. Also unacceptable is the belief that Jesus gives the Coalition Forces some advantage.

Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World

Jesus would neither be dressed in military khaki nor would He carry a weapon. This image, to others as well as me, is that of a false Christ. Thomas Nelson Publication Date: A Tale of Two Monasteries: Spiritual Friendship Lawrence C. Braceland , Marsha Dutton. This book left me convicted and informed.

Religious studies professor Carlson investigates varieties of monastic response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, , and their aftermath. Looking for "A Word of Life" from religious communities devoted to prayerful reflection, he finds these communities, even if physically isolated, intensely connected to the world's troubles. Over several years, Carlson visits numerous monasteries and abbeys, interviewing monks, nuns, a Mennonite pastor, and a community's potter, who share their immediate personal reactions to the attack and their communities' response.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Sep 09, Rob rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a difficult book to read, not in style but in content. It might be easy to dismiss the book as blame America first, but that response is for those who use Christianity as a bat to bludgeon others. Rather, the reflection that Carlson shares are about examining oneself and changing oneself first rather then seeing how others are to blame.

Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World - David Carlson - Google Книги

The access point is unique through the use of monks. By accepting the reflection of monks, and in an typically Orthodox fashion, the reflection include the words of the living and the dead. If you are looking for a book that says the United States is justified in what it has done in the name of fighting terrorism, then you should not read this book.

In addition, if you have an ounce of integrity you should not call yourself a Christian either, for in reality you probably worship America and not God.

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But if you wish to be challenged as to reflect on how you need change and I include myself in that you then read it immediately. Oct 23, Sue rated it it was amazing.

If I could recommend only one "must read" this year, this would be the one. Especially important if you consider yourself a Christian, but helpful in forwarding understanding regardless of your religious orientation or lack thereof. A pretty different perspective from many Americans I would guess, and very thought provoking. How should the world Carlson rightfully regrets that Jesus has been brought into this war as a banner around which many Christians justify their persecution of Muslims and the invasion of foreign countries.

Isn't there a better way to approach the current crisis before us and have we missed an opportunity presented to us? Carlson makes no bones about where he stands on the issue and where he has come down. Instead of declaring war, we, as a country, should have offered forgiveness and sought a peaceful solution for the world.

Deeply influenced by Thomas Merton, Carlson reflects on the fear and isolationism that gives rise to such hatred. Hell, for Carlson, is present in the world mainly through isolationism withdrawing into one's self. Of course, I question how he might deal with Sartre's observation that 'hell is other people. This is evident in our actions as a nation and in the rhetoric that both President Bush and Pope Benedict have used. The answer lies in love.

We ought to love our enemies and we ought to express that love through action. He cites the example of rebuilding after the Tsunami as a helpful corrective action rather than the "War on Terror". This love is exemplified in the lives of the monks at the monasteries he visited. Rather than being withdrawn from the world, Carlson found them engaged in the world through love.

Carlson does have numerous unresolved issues, however. First and foremost might be the nature of current war. No matter how wronged the Islamists may have been, their current incarnation does not seem to be moved by acts of love. Whenever you have a group of people who are bent on world domination and dedicated to their cause to death They have spurned our acts of charity and made it impossible for some populations to receive gifts of food and water.

How can we engage with a population of people who have their goal to kill us? I think this is the question that plagued Dietrich Bonhoeffer and ultimately led him to abandon some of his pacifist understanding and engage with the plot to kill Hitler. How does the world truly engage peace and can peace start with any violence at all? Shane Clairborne dealt with this issue by volunteering to be a human shield in Iraq. And I think that might be the broader question that is at stake here Can we fix the problem without fixing the people The monastic life is about changing the hearts and lives of people.

If enough people engaged in this deeper contemplation, perhaps then the world can truly be changed. Carlson's writing is very personal and personable. Like Thomas Merton, I felt like I had a good insight into the character, strengths and struggles of Dr. It is a very accessible book and can be read in a short period of time, but like the monks he spends time with, perhaps needs to be thought over more deeply.


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I recommend this book for all Christians, especially pastors, and those interested in creating a world of peace out of a world filled with terror. Feb 09, Robert Stump rated it it was amazing. Homo Homini Lupus http: After a series of seemingly disconnected promptings Carlson set his mind to travel around to a number of monasteries--a practice that was already familiar to this convert to Greek Orthodox--to find a word of life, much like those pilgrims long ago who sought out the desert Fathers.

This is a read that will be painful for many, or if not painful, then revolting and rejected out of hand. Such is the way that darkness hates the light, yet the call within these pages is like that of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, that we would love our neighbors and pray for our enemies. For me this was one of the most powerful moments of the narrative. He says that God the Father, when Christ gave up the ghost, had a choice to make at that very moment--and that this choice is the same we each make every time that we are wronged--whether to retaliate or to forgive, to seek vengeance or to grant love.

Yesterday I saw a headline that said the number two man for Al-Qaeda had been killed. I imagine a number of people reading the same line were glad, or even celebrating as in May when bin Laden was killed, but my mind turned toward the monasteries. I wonder what response Christ would have, what response we are called to have, and my mind quickly went to this man's family.

Did he have a wife? No doubt, he had a mother, a father, maybe brothers and sisters. How many people did he have who loved him in spite of his faults? How would they react to such a tragedy? And so I prayed, and in that moment pray for one's enemies became something real and not just an oft-heard, oft-spoke platitude. Were the message itself misplaced this book would be worth reading for its kind and familiar narrative style. Carlson comes through in his choice of words so that in this quasi-memoir, part life part travelogue, one can find the man and the journey making the road a pleasure to walk.

Aug 26, Stephanie Berbec rated it really liked it. Every person of appropriate age remembers where they were on the morning of September 11, , after having learned of the transpiring events of that day.


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Each individual experienced a reaction of sorts.