This book brings together John Main's insights into a range of issues: prayer, community, monasticism, the spiritual relevance of Mary, and death and dying. John Main's approach to modern dilemmas combines authority with respect for individual freedom. This makes him a spiritual guide for the twenty-first century bringing the richness of a great tradition and the depth of his own wisdom to the lives of men and women facing the many challenges of our time.  

John Main effectively put the desert tradition of prayer to work in our own day. The roots of his distinctive spirituality lie deep in the fourth and fifth centuries, especially in the works of that great expositor of the desert world, John Cassian. The World Community for Christian Meditation which continues his mission is for me, as for many throughout the world, a taste of what a committedly contemplative church might look and feel like. (Rowan Williams)  

John Main is saying a lot more than a superficial reading might allow one to see. By going to the roots of spirituality he laid a solid and radical foundation for social critique and social involvement. John Main teaches us to move beyond all images for the sake of powerlessness. I have personally been gifted by the wisdom of this man. (Richard Rohr)