A monastery is not just for monks. Laypeople enjoy visiting monasteries and learning from the women and men who live there. The silence of the monastery is a retreat from the clatter and bluster of city and suburb. In No End to the Search Mark Plaiss, married with a wife, children, and grandchildren, writes of his visits to various monasteries while striving to delve into the experience and meaning of monasticism. What is behind that wall? What is the appeal of monastic life? To what degree can such a life be lived by persons who are married, and why would they wish to do so? This book explores the relationship between the vowed life of monks and the life of laypersons who are unable to live such vows but desire to share just a sliver of it.

This is a collection of reminiscences from visitors to the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California, a Trappist monastery These contributions bring to life that tension between the secular and the holy; between inside and outside the monastic enclosure. These essays are about being in the moment as one walks to the chapel, or has a cup of tea; and about coming to or leaving the monastery, away from the place and desiring to be there. These are simple, straightforward poems, notes and diary extracts. None of the writers is an expert in theology or church history, or any master of the divine. None is a best-selling author. These are just people who have found something strange and wonderful, and write from the heart. They may remind you of something in your own life.