In seven chapters, the author expands her definition of prayer to include the intricacies and obstacles inherent in such a pursuit. The determining impulse behind the cross is not sacrifice but obedience. Small things matter to Herman. Take silence, for example. In order to hear the voice of God in our individual lives, we must eliminate the background noise of modern life.
Prayer is never an abstract rambling to be gotten through in a hurry.
It is a noble activity, a completely human form of interaction between the human and the Divine. Through prayer, we are bound to share in the creative energy of God and increase our own. Herman's message touches us over the decades like a meteorite, skimming the surface of the century. What started out as a simple spiritual musing terminates in a serious, sophisticated study open to all. Joan McIntyre Distel, a Roman Catholic, belongs to Tuesday Scholars, and Episcopal study group.