This book was pretty fantastic, and it makes me want to return to his The Holy Longing, as well as pick up some other of his writings. Like some other Christian contemplatives, there are parts of his outlook that would give some conservative Christian readers fits for their lack of Christian particularity/specificity. ( )

Rolheiser points readers to the proximity of God in the seeming insignificance of life. He sheds new light on issues such as marriage and family life and the presence of God, loneliness and sexuality, language and prayer, and most of all, the all-encompassing, unconditional love of God.

Sometimes it was hard to see how the parts of this book fit together; I found myself re-skimming the chapters to reassure myself that I hadn't missed anything. However, feeling a need to re-read some of it is also a good thing; I found most of this book worth remembering. Rolheiser gave great advice about maintaining healthy spirituality--realizing the limitations of life, mourning those limitations, recognizing the role of religion and spirituality in filling our emptiness. He strikes an admirable balance between the typical attitude of the Catholic Church and the typical attitude of secular society to sexuality. The former devalues passion, the latter devalues restraint. I found that Rolheiser described the power of sex very well. Overall, this was a refreshing view of Catholic spirituality that reawakens my appreciation of that tradition. Many more Catholics should read this book; it's the sanest and most insightful thing I've seen in Catholic writing in months.