Forgotten Among the Lilies: Learning to Love Beyond Our Fears

By Ronald Rolheiser

Book Overview

The author of The Holy Longing explores the debilitating obsessions that often dominate our lives and offers down-to-earth guidance for learning to leave our fears, anxieties, and guilt "forgotten among the lilies.""Rarely do we taste the food we eat or the coffee we drink. Instead we go through our days too preoccupied, too compulsive, and too dissatisfied to really be able to be present for and celebrate our own lives," Ronald Rolheiser writes in the introduction to this powerful collection of essays. Forgotten Among the Lilies shows that there is a better way to find contentment and joy. Only by trusting in God's grace and providence, Rolheiser argues, can we move beyond our obsessions and rejoice in what we have and who we are.With his trademark blend of insight, compassion, and honesty laced with humor, the author teaches that it is possible to experience freedom instead of anxiety, solitude instead of loneliness, and a generosity of spirit that returns to the giver far more than it costs.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385512325
• ISBN13: 9780385512329
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, The
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Forgotten Among the Lilies ...

I received this book in a timely manner & in great shape. The book is an easy read with very helpful information.

Spiritual Gift

I found this book to be very helpful and one to reflect on. I think this is one of Rolheiser's best.

Forgotten Among the Lilies

This is a wonderful book for readers who have enjoyed other works of Ron Rohlheiser. The title comes from the last stanza of the pem "Dark Night of the Soul" and assures us that we can leave our fears, guilt, anxieties, compulsions, etc. to be "forgotten among the lilies" when we rest our heats on the bossom of Jesus. It is a contemporary book on Providence.

A Timely Collection of Essays Regarding the Spiritual Life

Ronald Rolheiser has many gifts he brings to spiritual writing. First he is a person of deep faith. He is also aware of the world we live in today, both its good points and its flaws. Combine this with a keen insight into people and a Catholicism that combines the best of the Catholic tradition with current insights into what feeds and nourishes people and you get an idea of what he brings to the table. FORGOTTEN AMONG THE LILIES is a departure from some of his other works. Instead of being a monograph about a certain subject, it is a collection of essays based on article sand columns he has written over the years and talks he has given. He divides them into thirteen categories and in each category there is a selection of essays. Most are short and can be read in one sitting and used for reflection. The themes of Rolheisser's earlier works such as the emptiness we can experience without God, the need for a fruitful prayer life, and the importance of belonging to a community of believers can be found in this volume. His writings reflect the concerns of the time including the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and the clergy sexual abuse scandal facing the Catholic Church but are focused solely on the two situations. At times I have been in discussion groups where articles by Rolheiser have been used to begin the debate. I have found that lively and interesting conversations have followed reading his works. This book which is ideal for either individual or group reading will certainly enliven a reading group or adult education class.

Helpful to an old parish priest

This new book is a collection of his columns on spirituality. Ron Rolheiser continues to invite me deeper into intimacy with God, by considering my deep passions, addictions, longings, and to believe that God is present in all things. By his own honesty and transparency in this book, Father Rolheiser invites you and me to be real and honest with God and ourselves. Father Brad Karelius, Pastor, Messiah Episcopal Church, Santa Ana, CA