Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God (Cloister Books)

This is a grace-filled book for those who are learning to swim in the deep waters of God's mercy and love-waters in which we already swim but hardly know it. Cynthia Bourgeault shows us the road to a deep and lasting hope -- Alan W. Jones, Dean Emeritus, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; author of Soul Making It is unusual to encounter a book that brings together to this degree metaphysical depth, practical spirituality, and sparkling writing. True to the dynamic of the spiritual life, Cynthia Bourgeault follows the path of hope inward to the center and then back outward to the world. -- Bruno Barnhart, OSB Cam. Dr. Bourgeault, an experienced guide to centering prayer, offers some profound and amazing insights into an inner joy that can be found in the midst of personal disappointment. She reveals friendship as living together in hope, which she experiences as God's `warm-heartedness.' -- Beatrice Bruteau Compelling! This is the one book I asked the entire parish to read, and it has initiated us into the deepest part of our spiritual vision of how to live with meaning with one another. Provocative and insightful, this book partners the head and heart in such a way that real transformation in daily living is not simply a possibility, but the longing from which one cannot escape. Ms. Bourgeault has captured a sense of Wisdom here that brings the Teacher into the lived moment. Hope and Mercy are no longer marginalized words, lost in an over-worked and trite lexicon of simplicity. They bounce and dance with life, and make sense for practicing this great faith we so desperately seek. -- David E. Stringer, Rector, All Saints' Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi, TX This is a lovely little book that invites the reader to undertake an inner journey that can be transformative if one gives oneself to its demands. [Mystical Hope] remains a thought-provoking book likely to be of interest to those who practice centering prayer as well as to those who are serious seekers after God. In a time when hope is frequently threatened and is seemingly more necessary than ever, it is good to hear her encouraging words: `. . . hope, the hidden spring of mercy deep within us . . . flows out from the center; . . . we discover within ourselves the mysterious plentitude to live into action what ordinary hearts and minds could not possible sustain. -- M. Zita Wenker, OSB * Cistercian Studies Quarterly * A highly condensed book by an experienced guide to the practice of Centering Prayer as taught by Fr. Thomas Keating. The book will be of enduring interest to mature meditators seriously committed to contemplative prayer. * Schola * In this illuminating volume on the dynamics of hope, Bourgeault suggests a new way of envisioning this Christian virtue that plays a major role in the Biblical account of God's dealings with humankind. . . . The author challenges the church `to become a sign of hope in a broken world,' to walk the talk of love, compassion, forgiveness, and compassion. * Values and Visions Reviews Service * This short book is easily read, but putting its teaching into practice is the work of a lifetime and I, for one, will be happy to spend the rest of my life in practicing what Cynthia Bourgeault so gracefully preaches. * Salt, The Monthly Newsletter Of The Anglican Parish Of Salt * Mystical Hope is an inviting, warmhearted, and reflective introduction to Christian mysticism....Bourgeault's book beautifully balances teaching with illuminatingly illustrative autobiographical anecdotes. -- H. Talat Halman, Central Michigan University

In five interwoven meditations, Mystical Hope shows how to recognize hope in our own lives, where it comes from, how to deepen it through prayer, and how to carry it into the world as a source of strength and renewal.