The Joy of Being: Daily Readings with John Main (Modern Spirituality Series)

A favorite of a Deacon I know, the book "The Joy of Being: Daily Readings with John Main," was not given to me by her, but loaned. "The John Main one I would like back," she wrote me in a note. Not only do I have a short book of readings, by the well-known Monk and spiritual writer John Main, but a loan with underlining by my friend. This Deacon I know has a lot of love, love for Christ, love for others, and love for her ministry. So does this 60 page, pocket sized book published by Darton, Longman and Todd, 1982. It is part of their Modern Spirituality series. As evidence of her love, she notes after this quote, "Our effectiveness in trying to turn back the tide of fear and hatred in the world depends upon our own insertion into the mystery of Christ." She adds, "...infused with that mystery, to bring the love that is its fruit back into the world." It is a diaconal statement she makes, and as a reader I had my time of reflection and enlargement for these readings. They do that for one, create reflection and enlargement. John Main believes we can help the world through the spirit. In a section but a page long, like all the readings are a page long (short), she notes this quote from the pages of the book, giving a hint to her concerns: "The Church witnesses in every generation not to a system of dry doctrines but to the Presence of the living Christ in its midst and its principal message is that this living Presence is a wholly contemporary reality." As a reader, one will find a vision out of many visions that are personal since the book speaks to a broad area. I think the readings are really about Christ, and coming to live in the world, in the Church, in ones life in Christ. Living in the Church is also part of the writings in the book. I think you will agree, should you buy the book. I am going to focus a little on the relationship of individual and group to Church as the book offers it for another moment, so this quote from the introduction by Laurence Freemen explaining the book. Keep in mind that a serious focus of the book is ones contemplative and meditative practice, and prayer, with relationship to the joy of believing in faith. "Of all the world's religious families, Christianity has most directly and courageously encountered modernity. It is shaking her institutions to their foundations but also proving the vitality and contemporaneity of her tradition. No one can be a Christian today without sensing the power of resurrection at work in the mortal structures of the Church." Reprinted three times, last in 1998 by my edition, the series of readings remains relevant today and speaks to Christians in our decade. By the way, isn't that a surprising and good word, "contemporaneity," indicative of the uplifting and surprising way John Main has managed to write these inspiring and interesting creative readings. There is a flavor to his writing, a distinctiveness that moves the reader long. My practice with the book has been to read mor