That is a mistake, writes Dennis Okholm, in Monk Habits for Everyday People. While on retreat in a Benedictine abbey, the author, a professor who was raised as a Pentecostal and a Baptist, observed how the meditative and ordered life of a monk lifted Jesus'' teachings off the printed page and put them into daily practice. Vital aspects of devotion, humility, obedience, hospitality, and evangelism took on new clarity and meaning. Paralleling that experience, Okholm guides the reader on a focused and instructive journey that can revitalize the devotional life of any Christian who wants to slow down and dig deeper.
^Monk Habits For Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality For ProtestantsIndigo. ISBN 9781587431852 (revised Dec 2022)
^Dennis Okholm (2007). Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants, Brazos Press. Amazon. ISBN 9781587431852 (revised Dec 2016)
This concise, dense, thoughtful book provides a good introduction to Benedictine spirituality for those of us raised on the prejudices of the Reformation. If you are a fan of the recent books on Christian community by writers like Shane Claiborne or Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, but you've been frustrated trying to actually make such a community, this book might set you on the right path.Unlike many recent books on the New Monasticism, which a..
Monk Habits for Everyday People is a very readable and interesting look at how Protestants (and more particularly Evangelicals that are often most interesting in evangelism and salvation) can learn from Benedictines about how to live as Christians. This is an ongoing theme for me this year. Not intentionally, but I think it is something that God is doing in me. As Okholm says near the beginning of the book:"We have become consumers of religion rather ..
