Sojourner's Magazine, March 2005
"...beautifully crafted series of meditations...fresh depth that keeps us focused on path that takes us closer to...God."

Book Description
So often in the rush and bustle of our busyness, we miss the best of life----the sights and sounds and silences that can breathe new meaning into our experience of the world. In this collection of soul-filling meditations and stunning photographs, the Monks of New Skete once again reach out and reawaken the warmest places of our hearts, offering profound but simple lessons in the art of living well. "A quiet call stirs the depths of who we are: Rise Up! Come then and rise up---with laughter and from sorrow, with good reading and with music. From doing nothing to catching the power of a breaking wave." Every awe-inspiring page of this book will give you fresh glimpses of the treasures of hope hidden in our daily lives. With their gentle guidance, the Monks of New Skete offer new strategies for turning sadness into meaning, loneliness into fulfillment, alienations into a renewed sense of belonging in this wondrous world.

From the Publisher
Uplifting and inspiring meditations on the theme RISE UP help the reader to RISE UP To a New Day, RISE UP with Love, RISE UP with Energy, RISE UP with Radiance, RISE UP with Renewal, and many other subjects. The comforting text of the Monks and the attractive gift package, make RISE UP a valuable addition to the category.

Excerpted from Rise up with a Listening Heart: A Book of Meditations by The Monks of New Skete. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
RISE UP with GOOD READING When we consider sources of re-creation, perhaps none is so close at hand as reading. Whether it be the classics or modern mysteries, reading helps form and re-form us. Fortunate indeed are we when we recognize the power of words and take care what we put in our line of sight. Selecting good literature not only nourishes the soul, it sparks new thoughts and possibilities and ever inspires us to become better human beings. Why feast on hours of television when some of the most insightful reflection ever crafted by human beings lies as close as your bookshelf? Take the time. Good Literature engages the whole person, body, mind and spirit, and lets us enter into intimate dialogue with perennial masters whose thought never dies. By reading and re-reading their words, we make them partners in our journey, helping us rise to more abundant life. RISE UP with MUSIC What can soothe the soul as much as the grace of music? Music allows us to express and deal with our feelings constructively, lifting them to a new place, a new level of integration. Whether our feelings at the moment are joy, sorrow, or even heartache, the enchantment of music helps free the soul to sing, and its energy becomes an infectious catalyst to change. On the wings of a beautiful melody, suddenly we feel different, ready to move forward. No doubt this is why classical music is such a natural for the start of the day: It clears our head and brings us to a calm center. Surprisingly, this can even take place in your car. With today’s astonishing advances in sound quality, rush hour can suddenly become a front row seat at symphony hall, letting you arrive at work focused and ready to do your best. All you need do is open yourself to enrichment. RISE UP from LOW SELF-ESTEEM The image makers of this world parade before us visions of life and health that are ever young, ever successful, clothed in a seamless tapestry of cheerfulness and glee. The mirror on the wall portrays a vision with many more blemishes. Measured against popular standards, we can easily undervalue our own worth. But the diary of daily life is a drama of infinite variations of both joy and frustration. To be whole is to be perfectly human, with all its vitality and weaknesses. The judge of that perfection is the Higher Power who sees into our hearts and who knows our nature and loves us, no matter what. To measure up to our own standards is an inhuman task, so leave that judgment to a Higher Power. Rise up to the life we are all called to: to be perfectly human as the Creator intended, just as all the other living beings with whom we share this world are perfect in their intended way.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Uplifting and inspiring meditations on the theme of RISE UP including RISE UP with a New Day, RISE UP Amidst Life's Abundance, RISE UP from Temptation, RISE UP with Beauty, RISE UP with Kindness, RISE UP with Creativity, RISE UP from Loneliness, RISE UP with Laughter, RISE UP in Nature, RISE UP in Daily Life, RISE UP from Fear, RISE UP with Silence, RISE UP from the Loss of a Friend, RISE UP with Music, RISE UP with Good Reading, and many more.

SYNOPSIS

So often in the rush and bustle of our busyness, we miss the best of life----the sights and sounds and silences that can breathe new meaning into our experience of the world.  In this collection of soul-filling meditations and stunning photographs, the Monks of New Skete once again reach out and reawaken the warmest places of our hearts, offering profound but simple lessons in the art of living well.

"A quiet call stirs the depths of who we are: Rise Up! Come then and rise up---with laughter and from sorrow, with good reading and with music.  From doing nothing to catching the power of a breaking wave."

Every awe-inspiring page of this book will give you fresh glimpses of the treasures of hope hidden in our daily lives.  With their gentle guidance, the Monks of New Skete offer new strategies for turning sadness into meaning, loneliness into fulfillment, alienations into a renewed sense of belonging in this wondrous world.

FROM THE CRITICS

Molly Marsh - Sojourners Magazine, March 2005