davehershey 's review for:

The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Ávila

3.0

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I tend to read books too quickly, wanting to get the gist of it, or get something out of it to apply to my life, and move on to the next book. Hey, there are a lot of books out there! As I read this book I was reminded of the need to read slowly. Often I limited myself to two chapters a day, or maybe a bit in the morning and a bit in the evening. This is not fun and exciting reading. But it is a text on the spiritual life, on prayer and communing with God, by one of the great mystics of the historic Christian church. Often I asked myself what I, a 21st century married Protestant male, could learn from a 16th century nun. Then I kept reading and found nuggets of truth and beauty. Most of all, this book reminded me of the love of God, a theme in books I have read recently ranging from Brother Lawrence to John Wesley to Bernard of Clairvaux.