The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality

Though I found a some important things with which to disagree in this book, overall I found it a very compelling and enriching approach to Christian spirituality. Rolheiser's writing is very lucid and wise. He defines spirituality along the lines of things all people experience within themselves. It's "more about whether or not we can sleep at night, than about whether or not we go to church." It's what shapes our actions, what we do with our desire (eros), whether or not we can shape it in a creative, life-giving way; whether "the disciplines and habits we choose to live by ... lead to a greater integration or disintegration within our bodies, minds and souls, and ... in the way we are related to God, others and the cosmic world." "The opposite of being spiritual is to have no energy, is to have lost all zest for living..." Rolheiser says that, "Our soul is not something we have, it is more something we are. It is the very life pulse within us, that which makes us alive ... It is also the adhesive that holds us together, the principle of integration and individuation within us." I couldn't help but notice the similarity between this and the way Dallas Willard describes the soul in his book  Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ .I'm always a little annoyed when Christian writers on spirituality seem to apologize for their Christian point of view as Rolheiser seems to do on p. 41 when he says that, "God speaks in many and diverse ways and no one person or religion has a monopoly on the truth." This statement is fine with me on the face of it. There are plenty of things one can learn from other religions. But I wonder how far people who talk like this take this reasoning in practice. Does he think he has good reasons for being a Christian and not a Buddhist or Muslim? Would he suggest that adherents of other religions take a similarly relativistic view of their own faith? While it's all fine and humble not to think of one's religion as having a complete monopoly on the truth, I wouldn't care much to listen to anyone who didn't have at least enough confidence in their religion to believe that it's the hub of truth, if not the whole wheel. It may be difficult to place a high value on both the pursuit of truth and a loving acceptance of others who don't accept our view of it, but that's the line I see Jesus walking in the Gospels. The way in following him is a narrow one. Whether or not Rolheiser believes this, his book is very valuable for Christians who do. His nonnegotiable essentials of Christian Spirituality describe a very balanced and mature spirituality with Christ as the center and the incarnation of Christ in the lives of believers as the vehicle of his ministry in the world today.Rolheiser helpfully applies Christian spirituality to several areas of life that are "key spiritualities within a spirituality. In these he illuminates how we can work out our spirituality in our relationship to the church, in the face of suffering and death, in doing justice and peacemaking, in our sexuality, and in caring for our own spiritual life. I found the chapters on suffering and death and sexuality to be especially helpful and insightful. There are some very good words in the chapter on justice and peacemaking, but I had a little bit of trouble with Rolheiser's faith in the transformation of systems to accomplish those aims. To me, all systems seem inherently flawed and limited. The transformation of systemic evil into good depends more on the health of the moral fiber of the community and the character of the individuals who make it up. It's easy to see examples systemic injustice. I don't think I've ever seen systemic justice. A system can't make us good. How can a system change the inherent problem that Rolheiser sees with abortion (p. 171) where "a whole culture ... has chosen to dissociate sex from marriage and procreation ... wherein sex is an extension of dating, abortion will always happen."?In spite of minor reservations, I value Rolheiser's perspective on Christian spirituality very much. This is a book I will turn to again for refreshment and spiritual sustenance.

Excerpts from : Rolheiser, Ronald. The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality. New York:Doubleday, 2nd ed. 2014Page 11 “Spirituality is about what we do with the fire inside of us, about how we channel our eros.”Page 196 “The ancient Greek philosophers gave us the word eros.”Page 206 “What Jesus is saying is not that we will be celibate in heaven, but rather that, in heaven, all will be married to all.”Page 206 “In heaven, everyone will make love to everyone else and , already now, we hunger for that within every cell of our being.”Page 206 “Sexually our hungers are very wide. We are built to ultimately embrace the universe and everthing in it.”Page 207 “Only God can sleep with everyone and , thus, only in God can we sleep with everyone.”Page 210 “To sleep alone, as Thomas Merton once put it, is to live in a loneliness that God himself condemned”.Page 204 “Ultimately, as Freud suggested, everyone is sexually frustrated in that we all have sexual needs that can never be met, regardless of how much sex we have.”Page 204 “Our sexual hungers are simply too wide and all-encompassing to ever be fulfilled and they are of such a complex nature that sometimes having sex does little to fulfill them.”Page 198 “When you see God, having just created the earth or just seen Jesus baptized in the Jordan river, look down on what has just happened and say, “It is good. In this I take delight!” you are seeing sexuality in its mature bloom.”Page 130 “What does it mean to be catholic? Jesus gave the best definition of the term when he said : “In my Father’s house there are many rooms.”16 This is not a description of a certain geography in heaven by a revelation of the breadth of God’s heart. The bosom of God is not a ghetto. God has a catholic-heart in that catholic means universal, wide, all-encompassing. The opposite of a catholic is a fundamentalist, a person who has a heart with one room. Thus, any spirituality of the church needs to emphasize wide loyalties and inclusivity."Page 130 “To belong to a church is to be loyal to many things, not just to one thing.”Page 131 “but who with us, share one faith, on Lord, one baptism, and one God who is Father and Mother of all.”Page 247 Citation “A paraphrase interpretation of John 21:18)Page 89 “If you are a member of the Body of Christ, when you forgive someone, he or she is forgiven; if you hold someone in love, he or she is held to the Body of Christ.”Page 89 “If a child or a brother or sister of a loved one of yours strays from the church in terms of faith practice and morality, as long as you continue to love that person, and him or her in union and forgiveness, he or she is touching the hem of the garmet, is held to the Body of Christ, and is forgiven by God, irrespective of his or her official external relationship to the church and Christian morality.”Page 89 “Your touch is Christ’s touch. When you love someone, unless that someone actively rejects your love and forgiveness, she or he is sustained in salvation. And this is true even beyond death. If someone close to you dies in a state which, externally at least, has her or him at odds ecclesially and morally with the visible church, your love and forgiveness will continue to bind that person to the Body of Christ and continue to bind that person to the Body of Christ and continue to forgive that individual, even after death.”

I have not finished reading the book yet. The first two chapters were confusing and not well written, I was tempted to give up but as I got into the next chapter is was much better. I have not finished reading it yet but I think it was worth while.The seller represented the product well and it was in better condition then I expected. It arrived in a timely manner.

While the author is a Catholic and is approaching this topic from that perspective, I believe that anyone who longs to go deeper into Christian spirituality will benefit from this book. It is a very deep book with difficult concepts but they are explained in digestible ways that feed the soul. Strong recommend.

Transformational read that. only got better as the book progressed. Truly, some of the best writing I've ever read on mature spirituality, especially in how it applies to the church and on sexuality. Although I have moved on to his third book; this is still my favorite of the three. A book I will revisit again and again; provided formational concepts for my own writing.

For me Ronald Rolheiser is one of the best writers on Christian Spirituality writing today.I myself and others to whom I have recommended the book, have found it very helpful. In simple, yet very profound ways the author traces out what is asked of those who wish to be disciples, followers of Jesus in today's world.

Excellent Read

very good

Wonderfully inspiring.

I do not come from a Catholic background, in fact, was a pastor serving an Evangelical Protestant denomination for 17 years. The Holy Longing was given to me by a friend and then sat on my self for 2 years. At the right time, I picked up the book and began to read. Ron Rolheiser has speaks to the spiritual realities behind their external expressions. So many times throughout the book I found myself saying, "yes, this is what I've been trying to say," or when reading the chapter "The Spirituality of Sexuality with my wife, "oh if only someone had explained it like this when I was younger." Rolheiser is well versed in literature, philosophy, psychology as well as theology and brings a wealth of knowledge to the spiritual journey in a warm and accessible way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make the inward journey that moves beyond knowing and accumulating information ABOUT God, to actually EXPERIENCING his love as life.