Full name: Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel

Author: Thomas Keating Year: 1988 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Spirituality, Religion, Christianity, Non Fiction Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780826406965 0826406963

First published in 1986 and in print--and immensely popular--ever since, Open Mind, Open Heart, by the Trappist Monk Thomas Keating, remains one of the best introductions to a specifically Christian form of meditation. Father Keating gives the reader an overview of what contemplative prayer both is and isn't; he discusses the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and then explores step by step the process of Centering Prayer, briefly exploring its origins in the ancient church and then demonstrating its use as "a sign of one's intention" to surrender to God. Each chapter concludes with questions and answers that provide useful information in an informal context. Here in particular we get a sense of Keating's clarity--and his sense of humor. For example, in response to a question about the sudden experience of happiness in prayer, Keating responds, "You should not take prayer too seriously. There is something playful about God. You only have to look at a penguin ... to realize that He likes to play little jokes on creatures." --Doug Thorpe Similar books: Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller Heaven by Randy Alcorn Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace Believing God by Beth Moore The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer Desiring God by John Piper Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott King's Cross by Timothy Keller