This handy manual presents everything you might want to know about spiritual direction. But its focus is technical rather than inspirational. This being understood, it would be hard to find a more comprehensive treatment of the subject. The qualities of the good spiritual director are clearly set forth. Above all, the authors note, there must be a willingness to love and to listen with patience and gentleness, yet with courage to speak the often unpalatable truth. On the directee's side, there must be openness to the unexpected and willingness to wait with patience and sometimes pain for signs of progress. There must be the realization that God is the ultimate spiritual director, guiding every soul according to his timetable of what is best suited to the uniqueness of the individual.

Description: This work focuses on a reality central to each human life and basic to every branch of theology; namely, the immanent transcendence of God. This study begins by exploring that theme of mystery hidden yet revealed from the perspective of the interrelationship of transcendence, self-actualization and creative expression. The book goes on to describe the interplay of those three elements in the lives and the works of, Thomas Merton, monk and writer, and Georgia O'Keeffe, artist. People from a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions will find this study a stimulating source of insight for their spiritual quest. Endorsements: What is missing so badly in our current culture is a sensitive, deeply intuitive yet compelling understanding of how meaning and transcendence work and support our ordinary efforts to be the best persons we are called to be. What Dr. Coombs so vividly describes for us, through two very valuable case studies - Thomas Merton and Georgia O'Keeffe - is that we are never alone on this journey. Dr. Michael Rock University of Guelph M.A. and MBA programs Guelph, Ontario, Canada 'Mystery Hidden Yet Revealed' is a dynamically engaging work of art. Coombs weaves the threads of paradox into a tapestry of beauty. Like all art, this work needs to be contemplated over and over. Each line, each paragraph opens new insight and wonder, causing the reader to stand back in awe only to be drawn deeper into the creative process which makes this book unique. Through presenting Merton and O'Keeffe as icons, Coombs helps us experience Mystery unfolding and finding expression throughout their lives and their particular works. This book is a mystical vision of the interrelatedness within all of life. Readers will be captivated by its message and excited about its possibilities. --Jean Springer EREMOS, A center of Contemplative Life www.eremos.org About the Contributor(s): Marie Theresa Coombs lives as a canonically recognized hermit at Lebh Shomea, a contemplative-eremitical house of prayer in the desert region of south Texas. She earned a Ph.D. in Theological Studies from Graduate Theological Foundation, South Bend, Indiana. Besides co-authoring several books on prayer and spirituality, she is a frequented spiritual director.

Of the many contemporary books published on the spiritual life, most will pass quietly and quickly from the scene. Those that survive are rooted in the writers' intimate knowledge of the spiritual legacy of the past, on their appreciation of the best spiritual work of our era, and on a willingness to "take over" the wisdom of behavioral psychology and the social sciences. The best and most helpful writings on spirituality are vitalized by the personal experience of the authors. That is what gives this work the aura of authenticity which imparts to the reader the confidence that what is written in its pages has been lived and experienced deeply.