Monday, June 02, 2008

The Noonday Devil: Coming Soon!

Well, not the noonday devil, exactly, but a new book by Kathleen Norris dealing with the dread temptation of acedia--a spiritual threat understood in so nuanced a fashion by the desert fathers that no one since has ever succeeded in translating the word. "Noonday devil" sounds so much more enticing, though. I was able to get (joy of joys) an advance copy of the book, Acedia and Me, which will be released in September. I started reading it yesterday and the edges are already bristling with red sticky tape flags. You wouldn't think that a book that sums up years of research on a vice usually called "sloth" would make for riveting reading, but this is Kathleen Norris.
I can tell that Acedia and Me is going to be one of those books I will recommend far and wide to those who are interested in spirituality.

1 comment:

Jon Swanson said...

You have brightened my evening immensely. I read Amazing Grace and The Cloister walk almost like devotionals. Her chapter on acedia in the latter is wonderful in it's capturing of moments of my walk. Thank you for the advance notice