Living Prayer

Benson (Between the Dreaming and the Coming True) narrates the story of his quest across ecumenical and denominational lines in search of windows into the mystery of prayer. He illustrates the full power of prayer, illuminates the reasons we are drawn to pray and bears witness to the grace of leading a life attuned to the voice of God. Throughout his story, Benson describes the life of prayer as a dance. He urges us to discover the rhythms of life that can be found in the Ancient Dance of the Ancient Days: the liturgy; the Eucharist; the calendar and the mass; the prayers of confession, intercession, recollection and contemplation; the habits of reading and retreat and working with our hands; the practices of hospitality and forgiveness and being with the poor. Benson also contends that place is one of the steps in the Ancient Dance. Prayer has been most meaningful to him in places that have been set aside for God to inhabit, places that have been marked for worship and prayer and places to which those who are seeking God have been called forth to hope and rest and listen. Benson discovers a way of prayer that is both old and new, and he shows that living prayer is the beginning of a journey that starts with learning to listen. Benson's beautifully measured prose lures readers into the prayer as a dynamic dance of life. (Sept.)