In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson

This is an excellent book --you read a couple of pages and then you stop and think about what you have finished reading. It is thought-provoking from beginning to end. The author relates his pilgrimage while, at the same time, encouraging his reader to live out his/her own pilgrimage. One identifies with the author's faults and frailities by thinking of one's own. The author makes no attempt to set himself up as an authority on all things sacred but talks about his own questions, conditions and ponderings. I must confess that I had no concept of the "Daily Office" before reading this book so much of it was transformative in my ideas about prayer.

During my reading and later scanning, I was amazed at the few pages without my personal markings on them. I made note after note of provocative ideas which demanded my further thinking. One of the sections I marked read: "There is a temptation for all of us to feel as though worship is not really worth much unless we are personally moved by it. If we are not somehow emotionally touched, then our worship does not seem spiritual to us. It helps to remember that liturgy is the work of the people, not the magic wand of God."

This book is more than worth the reading. It makes you think from beginning to end. Keep your pencil handy to make your own notes. Excellent work. So was the Foreward. If this book is any indication of the calibre of work and authorship involved, I want to read the rest of The Ancient Practices series.