Reviews: The Holy Way

"Paula Huston, a woman of many talents—professor, wife, mother, and author—offers this outstanding Christian guide to voluntary simplicity. Right from the start we know we are being led by a woman who walks the talk (and is honest about it when she stumbles). . . . The highlights are [her] personal reflections, especially as she reveals the challenges and the rewards of 'the holy way.' This is a highly inspirational life story that becomes more and more rich with every step on the path."
(Amazon.com)

"Paula Huston has much in common with Kathleen Norris and Henri Nouwen, two major stars in the constellation of contemporary writers on the spiritual journey. That's good company for Huston and good news for us. At least on the evidence of The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life, Huston appears to have the insight and originality to make her own important contribution as a credible witness to what happens when God is chosen as the center of one's life."
(America: The National Catholic Weekly, March 1, 2004. Review by Doris Donnelly, professor of theology and director of the Cardinal Suenens Center)

"Can we buy what we truly wish for? Are our heart’s desires for sale? Not according to Paula Huston, whose personal narrative, The Holy Way, suggests we take time out to consider the societal pressures surrounding us and make the conscious choice for a simpler, more spiritually connected life. . . . Step by step, Huston takes her readers with her as she explores age-old ways of living simply and consciously by following the practices of Catholic monasticism . . . . These behaviors may seem archaic but can be instrumental in showing us how to pare back the busyness of 21st century life. . . . With honesty and an open-armed embrace of her own fallibility, Huston pulls readers in, showing how odd and downright contrary it can feel to engage in a monastic discipline—and yet how fulfilling. The Holy Way is a good reminder, amid the chaotic demands of the modern world, of the reasons to simplify our lives and quiet our inner selves."
(Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2003)

"This spiritual autobiography partakes of an ancient and honored literary genre. Ms. Huston tells of her journey . . . with a decided preference for the Christian tradition that values renunciation, retreat, and interior formation. By all appearances, her life as a wife, mother, homemaker, author, and professor was happy and successful, even if shadowed by an angry agnosticism. But she came to see that life as self-sufficient, self-asserting and self-centered. She found a way forward through the ministry of the New Camaldoli hermitage in Big Sur, California. Through retreats, readings, and relentless searching, she 'discovered' such practices as solitude, silence, celibacy and service. In 11 well-written and perceptive chapters, she discusses these practices, illuminating each with her own experience and the witness of such saints as Pachomius, Anthony, Bernard, and Catherine of Siena. . . . Music, art, and a few Protestant resources would have helped this very good book reach an even larger public in dire need of her wisdom."
(Dwight L. Moody, "Reviewer’s Choice," The Dallas Morning News, January 16, 2004)

"A wonderful synthesis of self-reflection and monastic learning, of conscience and character formation. The Holy Way is simply one of the best applications of the lives of the saints to contemporary experience that I have ever read."
(Robert Inchausti, author, Thomas Merton’s American Prophecy and Seeds)

"Spirituality written with the grace and personal vividness of a novelist, with down-to-earth practicality. This book will give solace and guidance to those who have felt the interior call to simplicity, the intense gravitational pull of the God within."
(Fr. Bruno Barnhart, Camaldolese monk and author, Second Simplicity)

"The clutter of our everyday life, the cacophony assaulting our senses on a daily basis, spiritual aridity if not vacuity are reasons enough to buy and read this new book. The Holy Way is a solid, engaging, practical and motivating book that provides specific means—applicable for all of us—to simplifying our life. . . .The book draws generously from the examples of the Desert Fathers, monastics and saints—including Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis of Assisi, Augustine and Aelred of Rievaulx, as well as contemporary writers and Scripture. Additionally, and this is a strength of the book, are the author’s personal, autobiographical experiences and lessons that are often brutally honest; above all, this gives [The Holy Way] continuity and a contemporary sensibility. . . Books about the spiritual life, about prayer and meditation and about 'the simple life' fill many shelves in bookstores across the land. Some of these are helpful resources. Some are not. But one thing is certain, The Holy Way stands apart. It is no quick fix and no quick read. It is a book that you’ll keep for a long, long time."
(America: The National Catholic Weekly—Catholic Book Club book of the month). For entire review, click on http://www.americamagazine.org/cbc.cfm)

"Paula Huston’s The Holy Way illustrates beautifully through her personal story how the life of simplicity is a life of conversion, a life-long process that is about letting God rearrange your whole self. Huston embarks on this simple path with the reader in tow, leading, but also herself a pilgrim, learning from the saints and from the deep Christian ascetical tradition."
(Fr. Murray Bodo, O.F.M., author, The Way of St. Francis: the Challenge of Franciscan Spirituality for Everyone and Landscape of Prayer)

"Written with remarkable courage and clarity, this work traces a personal spiritual journey immensely enriched by deep prayer and insight, and the careful study of a range of spiritual classics. Paula Huston is a professional woman, a wife and mother who in the ‘creative complexity’ of her own life has discovered ‘blessed simplicity.’ Whoever reads these pages slowly, meditatively and prayerfully will undoubtedly be helped on their own way towards personal integration and union with God."—
(Fr. Robert Hale, O.S.B. Cam, monk and author, Love On the Mountain; professor of spirituality, Graduate Theological Union)

"Using the Christian tradition of solitude, silence, and contemplation as her foundation, Huston offers one of the best books available on living the simple life. Voluntary simplicity may sound like an enormous personal sacrifice--downscaling material purchases, unplugging the phone, turning off the TV and pursuing meaningful work instead of high-income drudgery. But according to Huston, the payoff is so enormous that it's hard to understand why anyone wouldn't jump on the bandwagon. In each chapter, Huston offers healthy doses of self-disclosure, giving readers the sense that if she can make these small, yet profound, steps toward a simpler life, anyone can. Each chapter includes an inspirational story about a saint as well as just the right seasonings of scripture. This excellent guidebook will motivate many readers to take at least one small step toward living a simpler life." (Publishers Weekly, Sept. 15, 2003- Starred Review).

"Eloquently intuited and elegantly crafted, Paula Huston’s weaving of autobiography and principles of Christian spirituality is a delight. Here is real spiritual nourishment for contemporary Christian women and men. We can all be grateful for her obvious gifts and profound sharing."
(Peter-Damian Belisle, editor and co-author of The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality)