The Abbey Up the Hill: A Year in the Life of a Monastic Day-Tripper

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read...Even for a Southern-California WASP
Review: A Good Read...Even for a Southern-California WASP

Even for a young woman who's attended only a handful of Catholic masses, had never heard of St. Benedict, knows she should keep a diary, but doesn't, and grew up where "the desert meets the ocean" (a place that the author initially hated), The Abbey Up the Hill was a pleasure.

Bonomo is open enough to talk about her own demons and the painful and boring parts of worship and devotion, while at the same time underscoring the fact that she takes all of this stuff seriously. She is on a path, though it isn't her first, and it may not be her last.

With this book, I saw, smelled, and tasted the monastery. I felt the sharp winter winds coming off the Pacific as Bonomo journeyed along the prayer path, and my own fingers started tapping in agitation as she struggled through yet another trying service. I also experienced her pleasure as she curled up in the oversized chair in the oblate library for her private study, and was touched by the true reverence she feels for her abbott.

Although the ritual and Catholic "baggage" is foreign to me, the basic search for meaningful connections, affirmation, and a sense of home that Bonomo describes speaks directly to me, and to anyone who ever felt they still had something to find.

Rating:
Summary: The Gospel of Hope
Review: Carol Bonomo has written a book for "the rest of us!" I have a lot of books on the spiritual life. Some of them are enlightening; some are even helpful. Most of them leave me with the feeling that the author has never stuggled with the problems of my life Not so with this book.

Bonomo uses both her personal journal and the Rule of St. Benedict to frame her spiritual journey. It is easy to follow her during the year as she makes her way "day-tripping" up to her local Benedictine abey. She engagingly weaves personal story, memories and her experiences as an oblate into a narrative that is intensely personal and yet deeply engaged with her chosen path: the Rule of St. Benedict.

For those unfamiliar with the Rule, this focus will be new and may therefore may occasionally seem strange or artificial. Why all the bother to focus on and struggle with one particular such way to God? The Rule of St. Bendict is not complicated, however, and the concepts would prjobably be familiar to anyone likely to pick up this book in the first place. Bonomo's real strength is that she does struggle. She takes this stuff seriously, and she invites us to take it seriously, too. Ultimately, this engaged me because, as Bonomo herself recognizes, the Rule points to Christ. To take it seriously and struggle to observe it is therefore to take Christ seriously and begin to participate in a fully Christian existence. There is real engagement here, and it shows in every page.

This is a very personal book which is nevertheless not ultimately about the author. I appreciated Bonomo's honesty and openess in talking about her struggles with alcholism, the death of her faither, and her sometimes wandering church life. Bomono makes no attempt to artifically smooth the rough edges of life. She obviously believes that God is not to found through generalities, but rather in the day to day struggle. Her growing commitment to and understanding of the Rule provides space for here personal story to also deepen and grow. Bonomo is searching for a way to understand herself and the world. I found it fascinating to watch Bonomo encounter Christ in this way. I am neither Roman Catholic nor a Benedictine myself, but I could see a lot of myself in all of this. I suspect this is because this book is ultimately about learning to see beyond self to the Christ in others. I think others may see that, too.

If this book has any fault, at least for me, it is perhaps less a fault than a limitation. The Rule and this particular Abey obviously helped Bonomo make an important spiritual transition. This does not mean than she idealizes this particular abey, although she is certainly grateful to Abot Anthony for his help. It does means, however, that Bonomo sometimes writes like any new convert. This can be very engaging and Bonomo is certainly not blind to faults, hers or anyone elses. Still, it brought back the early Thomas Merton for me. This book sometimes has a similar freshness, and, perhaps, at times, a similar lack of perspective. The Merton of the Seven Story Mountain was not the same Merton as the person who wrote the Asian Journals. Readers of Esther de Waal will not find here the ease and sophistication of someone fully conversant with the Benedictine tradition and its role in the western Church.

On the other hand, I personally hope Bonomo never looses the her freshness and sense of discovery. I really liked this book. I highly recommend it. It is serious. It is funny. It is personal. It is written by someone who has the soul of an artist without being at all "artsy". It is a good read and it may make you look at your own life differently. I know it did that for me.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read...Even for a Southern-California WASP
Review: I wasn't sure I'd like this book. Raised Catholic but no longer practicing, and not much of a seeker after things spiritual, I had little in common with the author but being a speechwriter and having a couple of friends who were helped by Alcoholics Anonymous. So, why read it? I'm curious about how people go about finding meaning and purpose in life -- whether in real life or in fiction, whether in religion or therapy, whatever it takes. In this quest to follow someone's personal journey to find meaning, I was not disappointed. As the author "chases the choices laid out for her" by her spiritual guide, Abbott Antony, I was drawn in by her disarming honesty about herself. The confessional nature of the book, however, is not expressed in a self-indulgent way. Far from it! The disarmingly honest moments are humorously self-deprecating in a way that I found more refreshing and engaging than Kathleen Norris's account of her sojourn with the Benedictines in Cloister Walk. With Abbey up the Hill, even if you know next to nothing about the Rule of St. Benedict, the Twelve Steps in AA, Episcopalians, or any of the other touchstones the author uses to fulfill her self-described "need to put things into her own words in order to trust them," you will not be lost in allusions, or illusions (for that matter), for long. While a chapter may begin with a reflection on a passage in the Rule that does not seem very clear at first, her journey through memory to find meaning or relevance to her own life never fails to draw you in and take you along. Even obscure allusions or difficult-to-comprehend Biblical passages, which may be off-putting at first, gradually become illumined as the author searches for, or sometimes seemingly stumbles upon, just the right metaphor or anecdote to make the meaning clear. It is her grasp of metaphor and analogy that I admired most. Her metaphors are not designed to impress us with their cleverness but seem to appear to her mind's eye as though a lamp comes on unbidden to elucidate self-discovery. Through her self-disclosures, you feel you're experiencing the journey to understanding along with her as you follow her thought processes. The symbolism she chooses seems ever so precise in characterizing the new insight gained. As she searches for understanding in her own "remembered-in-tranquillity" mistakes, misjudgments, and missteps, your understanding takes shape in step with hers. Advice: Don't be stalled by allusions that aren't clear at first. Persevere. By the end of the chapter, the point will be clear. She gets you there every time. In short, I recommend this book very highly.

Rating:
Summary: Chasing the Choices by Tagging Along
Review: I wasn't sure I'd like this book. Raised Catholic but no longer practicing, and not much of a seeker after things spiritual, I had little in common with the author but being a speechwriter and having a couple of friends who were helped by Alcoholics Anonymous. So, why read it? I'm curious about how people go about finding meaning and purpose in life -- whether in real life or in fiction, whether in religion or therapy, whatever it takes. In this quest to follow someone's personal journey to find meaning, I was not disappointed. As the author "chases the choices laid out for her" by her spiritual guide, Abbott Antony, I was drawn in by her disarming honesty about herself. The confessional nature of the book, however, is not expressed in a self-indulgent way. Far from it! The disarmingly honest moments are humorously self-deprecating in a way that I found more refreshing and engaging than Kathleen Norris's account of her sojourn with the Benedictines in Cloister Walk. With Abbey up the Hill, even if you know next to nothing about the Rule of St. Benedict, the Twelve Steps in AA, Episcopalians, or any of the other touchstones the author uses to fulfill her self-described "need to put things into her own words in order to trust them," you will not be lost in allusions, or illusions (for that matter), for long. While a chapter may begin with a reflection on a passage in the Rule that does not seem very clear at first, her journey through memory to find meaning or relevance to her own life never fails to draw you in and take you along. Even obscure allusions or difficult-to-comprehend Biblical passages, which may be off-putting at first, gradually become illumined as the author searches for, or sometimes seemingly stumbles upon, just the right metaphor or anecdote to make the meaning clear. It is her grasp of metaphor and analogy that I admired most. Her metaphors are not designed to impress us with their cleverness but seem to appear to her mind's eye as though a lamp comes on unbidden to elucidate self-discovery. Through her self-disclosures, you feel you're experiencing the journey to understanding along with her as you follow her thought processes. The symbolism she chooses seems ever so precise in characterizing the new insight gained. As she searches for understanding in her own "remembered-in-tranquillity" mistakes, misjudgments, and missteps, your understanding takes shape in step with hers. Advice: Don't be stalled by allusions that aren't clear at first. Persevere. By the end of the chapter, the point will be clear. She gets you there every time. In short, I recommend this book very highly.

Rating:
Summary: Personal memoir and testimony as a recovering alcoholic
Review: The Abbey Up The Hill: A Year In The Life Of A Monastic Day-Tripper by lobbyist and speech writer Carol Bonomo is her personal memoir and testimony as a recovering alcoholic and depicts her compelling quest for spiritual enlightenment. It was her restless search for a spiritual home which brought her into contact with the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as an attempt to become a lay associate of the Franciscans, and then, at last, to a Benedictine abbey where she found her spiritual home, a state of acceptance, and a hard won wealth of personal insight. The Abbey Up The Hill is recommended as an emotionally moving, sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant saga presented with a reverent love and a spirit of appreciation.