The Hawk and the Dove series by Penelope Wilcock is unusual, and that's a very good thing. The stories are more literary in style, yet they have an easy flow and are very entertaining. Descriptive words like thought provoking, merciful, unapologetically honest, moving, insightful and timeless come to mind. I highly recommend this series. Book #4, The Hardest Thing to Do, can stand alone, but reading from the beginning will give a much better understanding of characters and setting.
Set in the 14th-century Benedictine monastery of St. Alcuin's on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, The Hardest Thing to Do gives a vivid view of monastic life from worship, study and prayer, to gifted areas of service (obedience), and surprisingly to the same faith and community struggles that we face today.
This story covers the entire season of Lent, something that I found fascinating because I've never been in a church that observes this practice. These words of Brother Theo convey its essence: "The slow, painful journey of Lent takes us from ashes, through fire, to Easter light: reversing our tendency to fall asleep and neglect the flame, to let the fire go out."
The Hardest Thing to Do is indeed timeless and relevant because it explores the essence and struggles of obedience to Christ's teachings probably better than anything I've ever read. Drawing from circumstances between Father Peregrine (now deceased), Brother Tom and Prior William in book #2, The Wounds of God, this story delves into human nature with great insight, along with the need for repentance, confession, and forgiveness. It also left me pondering a question for which I have no answer as of yet: Is it harder to forgive a person who has wronged someone we deeply care about, rather than if we ourselves had been wronged?
What a memorable, seemingly unlovable character is William! A man of calculating self-interest, he "had lost his hold on most of what is good and true a long time ago, and what's left that could have been redeemed is all seared and terrified and shuttered away now." William is just one of several richly-drawn characters.
One of the most moving parts of this story is the way the monastery's infimarians Brother Michael, Brother John (now Abbot), and other helpers treat the elderly and dying with tender care, honor and respect, never letting frailty or illness define who they have become. William had found that the earth was no longer a safe place for him, and Brother Michael's prayer for this seriously ill man was especially beautiful to me: "May you be robed in Christ's grace. May his love be a cloak about you and his peace be the robe of your true self. May you touch and know his healing, find for sure his forgiveness, wherever you are, and whatever happens now. Find thy lamb, O Jesu, good Shepherd, in thy love, and free him of the thorns that bind and cling."
With forgiveness being at the heart of this story both the giving and receiving of it I found Theo's thoughts worthy of remembering: "It's a matter of trying to stand where the other man is standing and seeing it how he sees it, and then it starts to make some sense."
The Hardest Thing to Do is a book that fans of historical and character-driven inspirational stories will enjoy. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Kregel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Set in the 14th-century Benedictine monastery of St. Alcuin's on the edge of the Yorkshire moors, The Hardest Thing to Do gives a vivid view of monastic life from worship, study and prayer, to gifted areas of service (obedience), and surprisingly to the same faith and community struggles that we face today.
This story covers the entire season of Lent, something that I found fascinating because I've never been in a church that observes this practice. These words of Brother Theo convey its essence: "The slow, painful journey of Lent takes us from ashes, through fire, to Easter light: reversing our tendency to fall asleep and neglect the flame, to let the fire go out."
The Hardest Thing to Do is indeed timeless and relevant because it explores the essence and struggles of obedience to Christ's teachings probably better than anything I've ever read. Drawing from circumstances between Father Peregrine (now deceased), Brother Tom and Prior William in book #2, The Wounds of God, this story delves into human nature with great insight, along with the need for repentance, confession, and forgiveness. It also left me pondering a question for which I have no answer as of yet: Is it harder to forgive a person who has wronged someone we deeply care about, rather than if we ourselves had been wronged?
What a memorable, seemingly unlovable character is William! A man of calculating self-interest, he "had lost his hold on most of what is good and true a long time ago, and what's left that could have been redeemed is all seared and terrified and shuttered away now." William is just one of several richly-drawn characters.
One of the most moving parts of this story is the way the monastery's infimarians Brother Michael, Brother John (now Abbot), and other helpers treat the elderly and dying with tender care, honor and respect, never letting frailty or illness define who they have become. William had found that the earth was no longer a safe place for him, and Brother Michael's prayer for this seriously ill man was especially beautiful to me: "May you be robed in Christ's grace. May his love be a cloak about you and his peace be the robe of your true self. May you touch and know his healing, find for sure his forgiveness, wherever you are, and whatever happens now. Find thy lamb, O Jesu, good Shepherd, in thy love, and free him of the thorns that bind and cling."
With forgiveness being at the heart of this story both the giving and receiving of it I found Theo's thoughts worthy of remembering: "It's a matter of trying to stand where the other man is standing and seeing it how he sees it, and then it starts to make some sense."
The Hardest Thing to Do is a book that fans of historical and character-driven inspirational stories will enjoy. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Kregel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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