Another World: A Retreat in the Ozarks

by William Claassen

Overview

Another World explores day to day life in a small Trappist monastery tucked away in the Ozark foothills. Interweaving memoir with conversations with the monks, observations of community life, and relationships with other visitors, Claassen provides a window into contemporary monastic life. Each chapter describes a day in the monastery. The reading experience is like spending time away from the world in a real community that is very human and gently inspiring. Eighteen black&white photos by the author further evoke the experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461635215
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/15/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

William Claassen is a longtime social activist, writer, traveler, and photographer. He now lives at Pendle Hill, the Quaker center for spiritual growth, study, and service in Pennsylvania. His website is www.williamclaassen.com.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter One: Visitors Welcome
Chapter 2 Chapter Two: Trappist Geography Unfolds
Chapter 3 Reflection: Father Cyprian—Abbot
Chapter 4 Chapter Three: War No More
Chapter 5 Reflection: Brother Boniface—Woodsman
Chapter 6 Chapter Four: Silence Spoken Here
Chapter 7 Reflection: Father Richard—Guest Master
Chapter 8 Chapter Five: Lay Down My Burden
Chapter 9 Reflection: Father Robert—Hermit
Chapter 10 Chapter Six: Holy Land
Chapter 11 Reflection: Father Theodore—Business Manager
Chapter 12 Chapter Seven: Women in the House
Chapter 13 Chapter Eight: A Circle Unbroken

Editorial Reviews

After his first stay at a monastery 25 years ago, writer and social activist Claassen knew monastic retreats were destined to become a significant part of his life. Having found a community that understood his hunger for silence and solitude, he went on to repeat the experience many times at monasteries in North and South America. This book, an account of one such retreat at Assumption Abbey in Missouri, brings together Claassen's many and diverse experiences both inside and outside various monastery walls. In the context of his own retreat, the author skillfully mingles details from his life with those of the monks and monastery visitors he meets during his stay, adding flashbacks to his past and sketches of his dreams. In so doing, he shows how "The retreats are not an escape, but rather an opportunity to come face to face with my shadows and with my light." Claassen, who was raised as a Protestant, confirmed as a Catholic and now attends Quaker meetings, writes appreciatively of the welcome he has always received at the various monasteries he has visited. Such communities, he says, are inclusive and nonjudgmental, rejecting the "conquer and convert" approach to religion. Claassen's blended religious background and perspective make this an inviting book for readers of any or no faith, and his photographs provide added visual interest. (Nov.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

A welcome addition to the burgeoning literature by lay people who make a strong and loving case for the continuing pertinence of the monastic life for contemporary seekers. This is a well-researched, finely observed, and sympathetically written volume.

Lawrence S. Cunningham

For years, discussions of faith have been dominated by right-wing Christians. But William Claassen's Another World shows two alternative Christian faith traditions—one of contemplation and thoughtful community engagement; one of liberation theology and commitment to freedom from opression and hate.

Eugene Weekly

Readers. .. will appreciate finding this volume on library shelves.

Congregational Libraries Today

[Claassen] weaves his own musings with those of the monks and fellow visitors while observing the time-honored rhythms of the community. Reading this book feels a bit like a retreat unto itself.

Newhouse News

As Claassen describes his walks around the winter grounds—often blanketed in snow—a reader can sense how his own spirituality seems wrapped in a down of comfort and protection. 'Each retreat day I peel back yet another layer of conciousness and, in doing so, reach a deeper level of awareness and vulnerability.

Columbia Daily Tribune

In an age when everyone is discovering the monk within, it is refreshing to read William Claassen's Another World: A Retreat in the Ozarks. Claassen, a lay visitor and retreatant, writes with great empathy and insight as he relates his monastic adventure. It deserves a wide readership.

Br. Patrick Hart

Another World is, among the countless books published this year, a stand out volume, a wonderful book that deserves countless readers.

Catholic News Service

Claassen writes in such a way that it places you there while experiencing everything in the monastery.. .. Author William Claassen is an appealing writer for religion and spirituality book enthusiasts as well as travelers who enjoy finding destinations off the beaten path.. .. Another World is just that—a spiritual journey into a completely different plane of existence. Views

Another Wolrd takes the reader behind the scenes of Assumption Abbey, a secluded Trappist monastary in the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, where 14 monks live in prayerful community and bake fruitcakes to support themselves.. .. He (Claassen) participates in the daily schedule of prayer and worship and gradually finds himself quieting down. As new visitors arrive, he detects a difference between his newfound peace and their city tension....The book is written without advocacy for this way of life, but the reader comes to understand its appeal.

Erie Times-News

Claassen believes the monks have much to teach our society.. .. More people visit monasteries than call them home. Claassen's book shows why such visits can offer spiritual refreshment.

Kansas City Star - January 30

His thoughtful prose shows both monk and visitor in deep reflection, using time apart from the world as a means to understand it better.

The Sunday Oregonian

William Claassen's reflections show that monasticism has a radical signpost for all of us to live in greater concordance with one another and with the world around us.

Charles Fracchia

An affectionate, insightful look into monastic life. Here is the opportunity for anyone to tag along with William Claassen to experience the quiet miracles happening in monasteries today.

Paul Wilkes

Classen was given the talent to describe this lifetime process of bridging both worlds, acting for social justice causes on the outside, and being renewed spiritually and psychologically on the inside. Even his musical references are bilateral.. .. All these mental meanderings have culminated in the birth of this small, to-be-treasured volume, including selected quotes from many titles in its refined bibliography. In total, they represent Classen's six-decade milestone, a gift to his readers and himself.

The Bloomsbury Review

As Claassen describes his walks around the winter grounds—often blanketed in snow—a reader can sense how his own spirituality seems wrapped in a down of comfort and protection. 'Each retreat day I peel back yet another layer of conciousness and, in doing so, reach a deeper level of awareness and vulnerability.

December 2007 Columbia Daily Tribune

Readers. .. will appreciate finding this volume on library shelves.

July / August 2008 Congregational Libraries Today

Classen was given the talent to describe this lifetime process of bridging both worlds, acting for social justice causes on the outside, and being renewed spiritually and psychologically on the inside. Even his musical references are bilateral.. .. All these mental meanderings have culminated in the birth of this small, to-be-treasured volume, including selected quotes from many titles in its refined bibliography. In total, they represent Classen's six-decade milestone, a gift to his readers and himself.

August 2008 The Bloomsbury Review

His thoughtful prose shows both monk and visitor in deep reflection, using time apart from the world as a means to understand it better.

January 2009 The Sunday Oregonian