From Fear to Serenity with Anthony de Mello

The approach of this book—which was de Mello’s approach—is to offer the reader freedom from both the daily grind of the workday world and to be deeply at peace with ourselves. Through the stories and prayers of Tony de Mello (and others), we realize that the scramble of life is already over: The serenity we claim that we so desperately crave is already ours to have. Thus the urgency and compulsion we impress on our quotidian realities wind up seeming foolish in light of the awareness experience Tony de Mello preached and practiced: there is no “journey;" rather, the scales fall from our eyes and we “see” for the very first time. The guideposts to awareness are simple prayers and breathing exercises with memorable key phrases to hold in front of the mind’s eye of readers. The ultimate result is that readers winds up feeling as though they’ve spent a week in the mountains or gazing at the sea or the feet of a dear, wise old friend—which is exactly who Anthony de Mello was to the Church. †