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How do you follow Jesus without burning out? In this guidebook Dorothy Day offers hard-earned wisdom and practical advice gained through decades of seeking to know Jesus and to follow his example and teachings in her own life.
Gold Medal, 2018 Illumination Awards, Christian Living
Finalist, 2018 Excellence in Publishing Awards, Assoc. of Catholic Publishers
In this guidebook Dorothy Day offers hard-earned wisdom and practical advice gained through decades of seeking to know Jesus and to follow his example and teachings in her own life.
Unlike larger collections and biographies, which cover her radical views, exceptional deeds, and amazing life story, this book focuses on a more personal dimension of her life: Where did she receive strength to stay true to her God-given calling despite her own doubts and inadequacies and the demands of an activist life? What was the unquenchable wellspring of her deep faith and her love for humanity?
View Table of ContentsOn the back cover, The Reckless Way of Love is described as a guidebook. Very fitting. Dorothy Day’s heart is transparent, her wording is simple, and her core message is clear – “…the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”
In the first place, you really can't go wrong reading a book about or by Dorothy Day. And this one happens to be a hybrid of both – but mainly a collection of Dorothy's musings on love. In the second place, D.L. Mayfield's introduction is a really good one. Mayfield is herself an accomplished writer who, like Dorothy, writes from experience. Finally, kudos must go out to Carolyn Kurtz of Plough Publishing House, for her magnificent editing of this collection.
The last two books Plough sent to me for review are collections of writings by two very unusual but passionate Catholics, the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (English, 1844-1889) and the unsinkable Dorothy Day (American, 1897-1980). . . . Dorothy Day’s life-long advocacy of the poor and downtrodden in her Catholic Worker Movement, when combined with a life of ascetic simplicity, puts her at the center of Plough’s wheelhouse. The reader can, of course, expect selections which match the publisher’s priorities. Nonetheless, we have here a collection of considerable interest to Catholics. . . . It is relevant, I am quite sure, that both of these powerfully Catholic figures had their share of interior discouragement. Their dark nights were not as severe as Mother Teresa’s, but they were enough to prompt impressive spiritual growth, learning to love not the consolations God sends, but God Himself. We should be thankful that Plough has transplanted into its own garden such exotic yet incomparably hardy Catholic blooms!
Day's writings are normally scattered across a number of publications. That makes the accessibility of this collection even more significant. Day's vision of Christian simplicity is a vision that needs a wider sharing. And Plough has given the Church a beautiful gift in this little collection, so that that voice may be widely heard.
