IN THE SPIRIT OF HAPPINESS, by the Monks of New Skete

1999. Rating: 9 1/2

I may be a little biased since I discovered this book literally one day before my life hit a rough patch. But if you're looking for something inspirational, this is it.

The Monks of New Skete (who have their monastery in northern New York state, close to the Vermont border) are best known throughout the world for their books on raising dogs (their financial livelihood is primarily centered around breeding German Shepherds). While I'd long ago shed my stereotypes about monastery life--the days of robed men hunched over dimly-lit tables copying books and flogging themselves are long past--I still didn't expect the picture of monastic life this book brought me. It was a pleasant introduction.

What I expected was a book about leading a quiet, contemplative life and using that inner peace towards improving my life in general. That was there, of course, but the whole point of writing the book was to translate the cloistered life of the monastery into practical terms that those of us harried souls in the "outside" world could use in a modern, fast-paced existence. At first glimpse they seem to be very liberal Christians (of the Eastern Orthodox persuasion), but that isn't the case. What becomes apparent throughout the book is that their intentions are to rediscover the earliest roots of the simple Christian life...and again, tell us how we can do the same thing without joining a monastery.

For example, they devote one chapter of the book to ascetism. The stereotype of the ascetic monk is one who fasts for months, whips himself, and so on, which the New Skete monks find ridiculously extreme. Eating good food is essential to good health, they'll tell you, and whipping yourself is just downright unhealthy. The true definition of asceticism is self-discipline without all the faddish stuff inserted by modern popular culture. Instead of fasting, it can be as simple as giving somebody on the telephone your full attention when you'd rather be watching your favorite television show.

They tell us that the keys to happiness are self-discipline, gratitude for life, appreciation of what we have been given (our lives, that is, not material possesions), and love of God. The book's continual and deceptively simple message is that happiness is not dependent on what we do or what we have, but by cultivating what is inside in our relationship with God and the rest of creation. If that sounds overly simplistic or too easy to be true, the fault lies in my description, not the message of the book.

In the Spirit of Happiness grabbed me from the very beginning because the ongoing quests in our lives it describes--which in itself can give us happiness--paralleled exactly both my own spiritual and secular quests alike, including the inevitable disappointments and the way we should face and accept them as natural...for they aren't truly let-downs, only opening doors to new experiences and understandings. And I suspect if you read the book you'll find the description of the life quest holds true for you, too. Every one of us is still human, after all.

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