Susan Annette Muto

Drawing from her own lived experience as a laywoman answering God’s call of holiness, Dr. Muto, an executive director of the Epiphany Association and the Dean of the Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality, wrote about the path of Contemplative spiritual living. She takes her readers by the hand, step by step beginning from the desert silence, formative reading, journaling, approaching contemplation, contemplation, living contemplatively, union with God, and ending with the serving God in the World.

Her writings are easy to read and easy to relate to, especially for beginners on the contemplative faith journey. She gives plenty of sensible warnings, concrete examples, and a mysterious joy awaiting at the end:

Page 53: “Silence can be an escape from the functional responsibilities and physical demands of listening and conversing with colleagues, friends, and family members. But it can also be an opening to God.”
Page 57: “The deep silence is not meant to produce spiritual highs. It doesn’t feel much like any emotion. It simply warms our heart and we know, without being able to prove why, we stand on the firm ground of God’s unchanging love. … We wait upon God as He waits upon us.”
I wish I had read this book before but I am very grateful to have found it now. (D.)… (more)