Finding the Language of Grace

Dom Christopher Jamison OSB is Australian by birth but moved to England as a child. After graduating from Oxford, he joined the Benedictine community at Worth and later became Abbot. He currently serves as Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation and is much in demand as a speaker and broadcaster.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionWhy transcendence?Why the language of grace?Language: a pathway to graceLanguage four way1 What is Grace?Mistrust: graceless livingGrace: trust restored'Our minds are not our own'Reclaiming Our Minds2 ListeningWhat is language?Silence: Shusaka endoListening to silence: contemplationListening to words: discernment3 SpeakingThe legend of not speakingFinding your voiceSpeaking with people along the roadJesus the storytellerSpeaking well today4 WritingWhat is writing?St John of the Cross: The Spiritual CanticleSt John of the Cross: Dark NightSt Teresa of AvilaBeing human, the way to the divine'We do not write to be understood; we write to understand' (c. day lewis) writing exercises5 ReadingWays of readingReasons for readingReading for graceReading Gilead6 Reading the SituationLanguage beyond wordsGlorious languageThe language of songLanguage that builds consensusAuthenticityThe PastThe FutureConclusionBibliography

Christopher Jamison demonstrates brilliantly how poetry and literature, whether St Teresa of Avila or Marilynne Robinson, open for us a language of grace, transforming how we listen and speak, read and write.