Benedict was not a speculative thinker, a philosopher-theologian. He was a very practical spiritual father, who worked in a down to earth way to help his fellow Christians find their way back to their heavenly homeland. This beautiful summary of Benedict's teaching is by a man who faithfully lived the Benedictine life for more than half a century. It is a valuable and clear presentation of the spirit of Saint Benedict and his sons who not only brought the scriptures but also the works of the Fathers and the elements of civilisation to the dark forests of the north. It was largely in Benedictine abbeys that Christianity and culture was kept alive. Father Julian has carefully selected several substantial elements of the Benedictine corpus of writings and has commented on these with wisdom and wit. Each chapter stands by itself and presents another aspect of the Saint's thought. You will find the chapter on God most intriguing, and the chapters on Humanity painfully enlightening. It was only a few decades ago that students of church history or of apologetics paused to give an admiring nod to Saint Benedict and the monks of the West for saving civilisation during the Dark Ages, the five or six centuries extending from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the bright dawn of Medieval culture in the 12th century. Catholic Reformation and the surprising spiritual revival that marked the end of the 19th century carried on until after the Second World War. This book recalls that even in such times there were places of refreshment, light, peace and discipleship. Father Julian has done an admirable job of showing why the Rule of Saint Benedict remains a classic. 160pp, paperback.

This inspirational new translation of the 6th century Chinese classic is accompanied by 81 beautiful black and white photos by mountaineer photographer John Cleare, each one illustrating the 81 sections of the Tao Te Ching, the path to living in concordance with the unity of the universe. According to Lao Tzu, an inextricable partnership of every part with the whole means living in synchronicity with processes, and being completely authentic, sincere, natural and innocent. The translator's own interpretation of the title Tao Te Ching is "a guide to the theory and practice of the Great Integrity". Lao Tzu invites us to transcend names: "In the infancy of the universe, there were no names." Paradox is the principal mode of his thought processes, and in fact it is possible that he did not himself write the Tao, but that it was compiled from his sayings by followers. We have exchanged our natural harmony with the universe for ego-oriented lifestyles, but we will not return to our previous state by consciously going back, but by reorienting our whole life so that integrity is the final result. "The Great Integrity never strives, but always fulfils itself." We need to be ready, willing and able to be agents of change for ourselves, for others and the planet. The Great Integrity is ultimately love, but there are negative forms of love such as possessiveness, co-dependency and the escapism of romantic love. These need to be balanced with subjective love, with no reservations or ulterior motives, so that in the end we become love itself. "There is no greater calamity than acquisitiveness racing out of control. Only those who know when enough is enough can ever have enough". 16 x 24cm, 172pp, beautiful photography on every double spread, colour.

A neat, pocket-sized Watkins publication with easily assimilated aphorisms and a continuous source of spiritual guidance and nourishment. The Tao Te Ching is universally renowned as a sublimely poetic spiritual teaching by the legendary sage, Lao Tzu. Taoism affirms that each human being is a reflection of the whole universe, a microcosm within the macrocosm, and that all of us live under the same cosmic laws of the Tao. The Taoist follows the path of non-action (Wu Wei). The Ancient Chinese book was composed of only 5,000 characters and written perhaps as early as the 6th century BCE. Tao means path. To live life in accord with the Tao is to be in harmony with all others, with the environment and with one's self. It is to live in synchronicity with the processes, and to be completely authentic, sincere, natural and innocent. The word integrity embraces all these characteristics. Tao also implies the inexhaustible greatness and wonderfulness of the Universe and every part of it. Ching means a classic book or guide. Every section appeals to an innate holistic wisdom that our innermost being has longed for and offers us a path to a more harmonious life. 'When these interpretations are in full attendance, we will pass the gates of naming notions in our journey towards transcendence.' 'The spirit of life never dies. It is the infinite gateway to mysteries within mysteries.' 222pp.

'This would be a good place to die. As I look at the stars I start to pray. I am, after all, a priest. I ask the God I thought I had been serving for the whole of my life to give me some measure of comfort, of absolution...Where is the white light, the tunnel, the voices, the angels? Nothing... God is not here, he isn't anywhere... I am born again. I am renewed.' Seth served as a priest for 10 years and 163 days and then he decided to die. Beginning with his bungled suicide attempt, his book charts a true story of poverty, haunting, exorcism, birth, death and murder, the incidents within his ministry that led him to that point. From dealing with a cult leader to performing an exorcism in a haunted house, an attempt on his life by a man who showed signs of being possessed, he fought with a wife-beating alcoholic and helped to rebuild a family after their baby died and their other children were all taken into care - Seth has seen the unimaginable. These incidents in his life have one common thread - a young man with little life experience struggling to find the right thing to do in desperate situations. All the time, his once boundless faith was dwindling, as logic and tragedy forced him onto a different path, and into a new life. If you have ever wondered about the spiritual realm and if it really exists or wondered about the life of a priest and what they experience while walking through a journey with God, Faithless bares all with a raw truth of experience. There is warmth and even hilarity as we get to know the characters who inhabit the estate, and a pastoral heart shines through. 284pp, paperback.

'The greatest living writer on the English countryside...Blythe's writing dances with self-deprecating wit, rebellious asides, sharp portraits of fellow writers and notes of worldliness.' - Patrick Barkham, Guardian. With all the charm, wonder and eccentricity, here is country life in which to immerse yourself in an East Anglian year as we are reminded of why we love and value the rhythms and realities of rural life. Light as air and full of philosophy, the book is time travel within a sentence, a latter-day Book of Hours to turn to for amusement, inspiration and comfort. Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Year's Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Ronald Blythe invites us to witness a simple life richly lived. He meditates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and our place in the landscape. Blythe lived at the end of an overgrown farm track deep in the rolling countryside of the Stour Valley, on the border between Suffolk and Essex. His home was Bottengoms Farm, a sturdy yeoman's house once owned by the artist John Nash. From here, Blythe spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries. With many biblical and literary references from the enthusiastic church warden, author of Akenfield and the Word column in Church Times. 472pp woodcut illus.