The Search for a Christian Spirituality - The Holy Longing

This book is just stuffed with interesting thoughts and perspectives that are wonderful to consider and discuss. Not everyone will agree with all of them, but the ideas are well-presented and argued. Very enjoyable read.

Among the many beautiful things in this book, I appreciated Rolheiser's discussion of spirituality as the eros energy within us. Whether one is religious or not, there is a certain life force that gives meaning, purpose, and passion to life. This, according to Rolheiser, better defines spirituality than doctrines or religion.

I also especially appreciated the section on the "Spirituality of the Paschal Mystery" as it helps us to leave behind the good things that have died (or need to die) and take up new things that are more appropriate to the present. It is a beautiful recipe for spiritual maturity.

I found the sections on "Nonnegotiable Essentials" and "A Spirituality of Ecclesiology" to be a bit dry, so I've reserved the fifth star. But definitely worth the read. Lots of great one-liners and distinctions as well.

This is a challenging book . Rolheiser poses a lot of questions that most of us have but don't want to ask . He doesn't just supply pat answers , but makes us work to arrive at answers for ourselves . Every priest , pastor and minister should read this one .

I found the book disappointing and i am returning it. I find some humor in the fact that the author cites heresy in others but does not see his own questionable points. Perhaps if you are not Catholic this book will be of value to you - but the author is just left of center on some points that he makes. I would love someone to justify his comment that Mother Teresa is erotic. Does that even make sense to anyone???

I found the book disappointing and i am returning it. I find some humor in the fact that the author cites heresy in others but does not see his own questionable points. Perhaps if you are not Catholic this book will be of value to you - but the author is just left of center on some points that he makes. I would love someone to justify his comment that Mother Teresa is erotic. Does that even make sense to anyone???

Rolheiser has written the most challenging and most comprehensive book on spirituality that I have encountered in years. He raises the hard questions and addresses them. One may not agree with all he says, but one will certainly be challenged to think it through for oneself.

I was very pleased with the condition of the "slightly used" book received. It looked as though it had not ever been opened and the cover perfect. And the cost was very, very reasonable. And, I received it exactly as I was told. I definitely would use this service in the future and tell others about it. Dottie

The first part of this book is excellent and well worth reading. The idea of spirituality being about what we chose to do with our life energy is intriguing and enlightening and consciousness expanding. After that, however, the book goes downhill and becomes a series of injunctions and imperatives and exhortations, all based on the author's ideas of what's right. What could have been an enriching exploration turned into just another dogmatic approach to religion.

The book ordered was NOT delivered within the specified time period. It was ONLY delivered AFTER I had requested an explanation and then it was apologetically sent priority mail. It arrived in excellent condition but I was very displeased with the fact that the sender needed a reminder to check the status!! What if I hadn't contacted the sender?? Would the item NOT have been forthcoming???

I just finished reading this book for the second time in 6 months—it is THAT good.

First off, let me say that I read this book because I am a disillusioned evangelical Christian, looking for a new way to envision my faith. I have found that some Catholic authors, Rohlheiser, Rohr,and Nouwen, to name a few, have a depth of insight about the Christian life that I have not often seen in contemporary Protestant writers.

“The Holy Longing” gave me hope and brought meaning out of my spiritual struggles. I particularly benefited from Rohlheiser’s chapters on Incarnational Spirituality and Christian Sexuality.

In the chapter on Incarnational Spirituality, Rohlheiser says that the Body of Christ, in Scripture, refers to 3 things—Jesus, the Eucharist, and the Body of believers. To greatly simplify his point, he says the incarnation was not a one time event, taking place 2000 years ago. It is still going on today, in us, the body of believers, as we help answer the Lord’s Prayer when we pray “thy Kingdom come”. This concept infuses every moment of my life with meaning—every time I am kind to someone or serve them or work towards social justice, I am helping to bring Christ’s kingdom to earth. This idea was not new to me, as other authors such as NT Wright have taught similar theological interpretations. But Rohlheiser explains it in such beautiful way that it inspired me anew to live my life with this in mind.

The chapter on Christian Sexuality had material in it that was completely new to me. For Rolheiser, “sexuality” is more that just “having sex” ( which he terms “genitality”). Sexuality is an all-encompassing energy inside us—the drive for love, community, wholeness, joy. We are born “cut off” from the whole, alone and lonely. Sexuality is the drive to end that aloneness and obtain self-transcendence. A key point of his is that we will NOT completely overcome this separateness here in this life, and we should not expect to do so. He quotes Karl Rahner’s “Life is an unfinished symphony” and says we need to understand there will always be at least a bit of dissatisfaction and restlessness in this life. This chapter resonated with me because at a deeper, gut level I have sensed this, and to have someone articulate and confirm my feelings brought comfort and peace to me.

For those readers used to Christian authors backing up each and every point with Bible verses, you will not find Rolheiser doing this, although he clearly has a deep and thorough understanding of Scripture. But he does not hesitate to go beyond what the Bible clearly teaches. This was frustrating to my husband, especially in the first chapters where Rohlheiser spends a great deal of time detailing his thoughts on spiritual “energy”. I think I am becoming more of a “mystic” in my Christian beliefs, and was less bothered by this chapter’s lack of Biblical basis, although it was not nearly as helpful to me as the following chapters were.

In short, for those who, like me , are tired of simplistic pat answers as to what it means to be a Christian, I think you will find this book to be immensely thought provoking and helpful. There is so much more than I could write about in this review—really , nuggets of wisdom on almost every page.

From the first paragraph of the preface to the final quote by Julian of Norwich, The Holy Longing was both tender hearted and intellectually stimulating. There was something to underline on 99% of it's 257 pages, and I crammed the margins with notes.

(That great line from the preface was a quote from Tielhard de Chardin, who said that most sincere people who lack belief in God lack Him because they have never heard about Him in a correct way.)

The Holy Longing compels engaged reading. This book contains the best annotation on The Lord's Prayer that I have ever read, and I love his chapter on participating in the Incarnation. As one person said, half in wonder, half in objection, "It can't be true because it is too good to be true!"

As Ronald Rolheiser quotes from the Goethe poem in the first chapter, we are troubled guests on a dark earth. That is the state of everyone at one point or another, often over and over again. We are born with longings and desires, some that can be satisfied here and some which never seem to be. You can tell me that you don't have a spirituality, but as a human being you do have a spirit, with those desires and fears and hopes, and you are doing something about it. From Mother Theresa to Janis Joplin to Princess Diana, no human being- Religious or Irreligious- gets away from being spiritual.
The question is, in those three women's lives, did their spirituality make them whole or did it help tear them apart?

This fascinating first part would make great dialogue with any seeker, and once Mr. Rolheiser starts talking about specific Christian spirituality I don't think they would stop reading. He carries us from the general to the particular so gently that we can all make the journey.

Once he has laid this framework he applies his winsome, conversational tone to the Church as a body of believers, the Paschal Mystery, and social justice and peace…. among other things.
He writes real and he writes with reverence, just like he explains that the body of Christ contains the delightful and the unpalatable, and we are called to be in communion with both.

And I'd recommend this book. Get ready to ask questions. Reading a good book is an experience, and not a passive one.

(Just for example, these are some thoughts that this book inspired: "We live in a grand, detailed, singing world, and it begs us to respond to it. How can we not throw up our arms and embrace the pale blue sky?"
"Like Ravi Zacharias asks, are we promised exactly what we want from the prayer vending machine, or are we promised the presence of Christ?"
"If Christianity did not revolve around sacrifice, crucifixion, and stigmata all pointing to redemption, then all people in pain, depression, abandonment and illness, all those hospital bound and divorced and dying, they'd know we were lying about Divine and human nature." )

Thank you Blogging for Books for my review copy!

Wow. This book. This. BOOK.

I'm struggling with words that can describe the beauty and longing that's held in these pages. Ronald Rohlheiser may have just peered into my soul and put his finger on the pulse and whispered some love-words into it. And then I cried several times while reading it. From one perspective, this is just another book about the search for Christian spirituality from a Roman Catholic spiritual writer. And yet--Rolheiser gets it--he gets that we're all born with this holy longing that is so hard to describe, and that we hate the unfinished symphonies that have us waiting for God to show up with baited breath. He gets passionate about social justice, even while pointing out that justice without love is Marxism (thank you, Pope Francis)--even linking it with the idea that those who refuse to help the poor (or simply give to charity) are like the parent who stands silent while their spouse abuses their child. Convicting, and filled with love.

Or should I talk about his understanding of the 5 steps in the Paschal Mystery? Simply put, it seems to me that evangelicals get stuck in the idea of Christian spirituality/discipleship of naming and claiming Christ's ownership, instead of getting dirty by taking the time to mourn our specific sin damages from our families childhood wounds. Only then can we take part in Christ's life that we're already living.

I must resist the urge to buy 20 copies for my family and friends this Christmas. *sigh*

"Everyone has to have a spirituality - either a life-giving one or a destructive one."

So begins Author Ronald Rolheiser's examination of Christian Spirituality in what has become his classic work, "The Holy Longing." Rolheiser writes with uncommon clarity in providing a foundation for Christian Spirituality and in stimulating us to rethink spirituality and our own spiritual journey. Rolheiser shows us that it is not enough to be "spiritual but not religious." The book will either be a reawakening or a disappointment to those who describe themselves this way.

Spirituality, Rolheiser points out, is about what we do with our souls and is subject of concern for all of us. "Spirituality is about being integrated or falling apart, about being within community or being lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or being alienated from her. Spirituality shapes our actions, and in turn, our desire. Desire makes us act and when we act what we do will either lead to greater integration or disintegration within our personalities, minds, bodies...and to a strengthening or deterioration of our relationship to God, others, or the cosmic world."

Our age constitutes a virtual conspiracy against the interior life - narcissism, pragmatism, and unbridled restlessness. And today's secular society looks on Christian Spirituality with suspicion so in its place we now have cults of physical health, new gods (celebrities, star athletes) and new shrines (stadiums, pageants, reality TV). So, how are we to satisfy our fundamental dis-ease, that holy longing - that unquenchable fire that renders us incapable, in this life, of ever coming to full peace?

Rolheiser points the way. After defining the situation and the current struggle for our soul, Rolheiser provides an outline for a Christian Sprituality, the basis for Christian Spirituality (the Incarnation), and key spiritualities within a spirituality including ecclesiology, the Paschal Mystery, justice and peacemaking, and sexuality.

Rolheiser in "The Holy Longing" shows how true Christian Spirituality can come close to quenching the unquenchable and how spirituality is essential to having a healthy soul which holds us together and keeps us energized.

Simply astounding work. If you're a baby-boomer Catholic, you know how it felt to be caught between the fifteenth and twentieth centuries when Vatican II changed the face of the Church. Ron Rolheiser was certainly one such person. The Holy Longing bridges the gap between the old and new Church. He describes in modern thought and language a wonderful way to be a spiritual "adult," and the role of community in the growth of that spirituality. I think the essence of the book comes from these two quotes:

"... Jesus was prescribing four things as an essential praxis for a healthy spiritual life: a) private prayer and private morality; b) social justice; c) mellowness of heart and spirit; and d) community as a constitutive element of true worship.

"You cannot deal with a perfect, all-loving, all-forgiving, all-understanding God in heaven if you cannot deal with a less-than-perfect, less-than-forgiving, and less-than-understanding community here on earth. You cannot pretend to be dealing with an invisible God if you refuse to deal with a visible family."

If you like the works of C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, and Thomas Merton you'll love this book. Required reading for anyone on a genuine search for spiritual meaning.

Rolheiser begins by making a case for certain essential elements of a Christian spirituality. I didn't buy everything he said in this section, as some of his points were unsupported assertions that assumed a shared theological background, but I enjoyed his chapters on the roots of spirituality in the incarnation of Christ.

There's an excellent chapter on social justice, and despite Rolheiser's celibacy, he has a remarkably insightful and comprehensive perspective on human sexuality in the latter portion of the book. While reminiscent of the writings of Henri Nouwen, The Holy Longing strikes a balance with the average person that Nouwen - who, like Rolheiser, led a deeply contemplative life - never did for me.

The core of Rolheiser's argument is that spirituality is about channeling our desires, our passions, in life-giving ways. If these desires are either out of control or dampened entirely, inflation or depression - explosion or implosion - inevitably occurs, leading to a fractured self.

In an age when arguments for or against a particular practice on strictly moral grounds seem tired or antiquated, The Holy Longing masterfully links time-honored mores with an insightful analysis of the influence on the self that these practices have. It's not a book about morals or spiritual disciplines per se, but about nurturing a spiritual life that is truly life-giving.

If you've read dozens of books on spiritual disciplines, or are just getting started in the topic, The Holy Longing will be worth your time for its refreshing perspective and readable, almost meditative prose.

The search for spirituality has captivated many people in recent years, more than many other topic. Perhaps it is indicative of the aging of our population, as Baby Boomers and others contemplate the question of their own mortality. There have been countless books on discovering one's spirituality and cultivating our souls: primitive, modern, inner, outer, hidden, manifest, secular, ecclesiological, reflexive, contemplative, meditative . . . well you get the picture. For many, spirituality has been sought in the same way that one buys a computer: select the hardware; customize the software; choose the accessories; and hope the darn thing works when you plug it in. Truth - well after all, what is truth?

Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, author of THE RESTLESS HEART and a featured columnist and frequent magazine contributor on spirituality, provides a classic offering on Christian spirituality. This spirituality - founded on the objective truth of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery - provides a Christ-centered focus. The author moves from the essentials, the "non-negotiables" of Christian spirituality, to differing modes within the overall Christian context. Rolheiser explores various aspects: the solitary, the communal, the institutional, the contemplative. He provides reflection and practical suggestions.

The book is designed to lead the reader to a deeper relationship with God, ourselves and others.

I enjoy the writing of Fr. Rolheiser and this book captures his eloquent writing style which takes an intellectual look at Catholicism, yet manages to cut to the heart of the matter in simplicity of language. He delves into the eternal longing that we all experience as humans on earth and considers how it's an essential part of life since we were not made for this world, but rather heaven. He offers tips for how to accept and move forward with peace in your life despite the inconsummation of many of our dreams and deepest desires. I highly recommend if you enjoy delving into Catholic theology and philosophy in general.

This is an excellent and very accessible book. Rolheiser's discussion of the meaning and implications of the incarnational nature of Christianity and Christian Spirituality provides profound and important insights that help interpret and shed light upon lived experience. His discussion of "theistic" vs. "Christian" responses to prayer, forgiveness, anointing and suffering, helps illuminate the constant argument between a pious legalistic view of Church, and an understanding of Christian faith that necessarily involves engagement in a community through which we experience Jesus in our brothers and sisters, particularly in "the least of these" - with whom Jesus identifies himself. It is the presence of Christ incarnated in Christians that empowers them to continue his work.
Ronald Rolheiser is a fine author and spiritual teacher of much wisdom and experience. I highly recommend this book.The Holy Longing: Guidelines for a Christian Spirituality

For those who have often shook their heads in dismay at the constant schitzophrenic warmongering between secular ideals and Christian beliefs, this book is a breath of fresh spiritual air. It is written in a straightforward comprehensive language and yet does not attempt to dismantle the basic tenets of Christian belief. Those who want a deeper understanding of the essential ideas which religion couches in antiquated and dogmatic terms will find in this book a blessing. Rolheiser, like any good writer, puts into simple and precise terms the anxiety and anguish that those who stand in the razor thin neutral zone between the religious and secular worlds feel. He is also refreshingly non-judgemental, reflexive and intelligent in his approach. This book is a wonder.