Beyond the Walls : Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Honest
Review: Ever since 1954 when I visited my first Trappist monastery, I wanted to be a Monk. I'm not. I'm a married father of eight children. Paul helped me realize that I too can be a Monk. Just live the spirit of the Monk in the world. It's the new monastic way.

Rating:
Summary: Practical applications are gems.
Review: I have had a hard time thinking of this book by it's main title: Beyond the Walls. I have been calling it (in my mind) Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life which is, of course, its subtitle.

I had hoped for more personal stories of life at the monastery, and then life outside the monastery with the author putting his monastic lessons into practice. While there was a good bit of that, there was also a lot of philosophizing which I often found tedious. I felt as if I had to slog through the theory to get to the next practical application.

Nonetheless, the lessons learned were valuable, and I'm glad I own this book.

Rating:
Summary: I have mixed thoughts
Review: Mr. Wilkes takes the essentials of monastic life and demonstrates how the practices of the monks he has come to know can be incorporated into his own life as a layman with a family. These essentials, such as prayer, discernment, stability, community, are neatly arranged in individual chapters or essays. This is a beautiful, thought-provoking and spiritual book.

Rating:
Summary: I have mixed thoughts
Review: This book contains a lot of substance in terms of applying monastic principles to daily life. It is well thought out and I extracted some useful information from it.

However, being a Traditional Catholic, certain things in the book were major sources of irritation for me. The author regards Karl Rahner and Teilhard de Chardin as brilliant theologians! There is also a lot said about Catholic Monks learning from Buddist Monks! This book is definately a product of post concilliar thinking.

Your position on eccumenism will determine whether you like or dislike this book.

Rating:
Summary: Benedictine Wisdom for the Home
Review: Wilkes offers us an invitation into monastic spirituality, not for monks this time, but for you and me, for our daily lives, right where we live, in the midst of day-timers, cell-phones and soccer practices. For another book like "Beyond the Walls", look up THE FAMILY CLOISTER: BENEDICTINE WISDOM FOR THE HOME, by David Robinson (New York, NY: Crossroad, 2000, 192pp., trade paperback). Welcome to the cloister without walls!