"It's so easy to read spirituality and in the reading to decieve ourselves into thinking that
we live it. This book leaves us no bolt hole for self-deception. David Torkington is concerned
with the reality of love, its failures, its desires, its need to trust and let Jesus take
possession. He is absolutely certain that we cannot do it, but that God can, and in communicating
that certainty, so humbly and so surely, he gives us confidence to turn the floating desire for
God into prayer and acts of goodness. This book should be mandatory reading."
--Sister Wendy Beckett in the Foreword of the book
"A popular columnist in Great Britain, David Torkington here brings his down-to-earth style to this
collection of 52 meditations on the life of prayer. With an irresistible combination of common sense
and clear-headed insight, Torkington offers a companionable text that will interest and benefit
any 'fellow-traveler.' Like many authors, Torkington draws heavily on his own experiences (the
chapters, in fact, move chronologically through his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood). Thankfully,
these reminiscences are never self-serving or glib; rather, they offer honest and often amusing glimpses
of a lifetime of spiritual development. And even more important, Torkington offers insights that
transcend the particulars of his own story to offer encouragement -- and sometimes reproof -- to
his readers. It is simply an added bonus that his writing style is so engaging. One of the reflections
begins with the following sentence: 'I don't think Mr. Hogg would have been employed in the first
place had his predecessor not suddenly dropped dead on the way to school.' How can one not read
further? Peppered with practical advice on prayer and on the spiritual life in general, Inner
Life is a book you will find yourself recalling and recommending to others far into the future."
--Spiritual Book News, December 1998
"Anyone serious about prayer ought to read Inner Life. It is a compendium on prayer framed in the
author's experiences from youth through adolescence to adulthood. Torkington shares with us the
lessons he gleaned in his own spiritual life. Inner Life is not a theological treatise on prayer;
it is a compilation of 52 pieces which appeared in the British Catholic Herald, written in a witty,
popular style with some deep implications for everyday living. Torkington's views on prayer and
spirituality are based on the thoughts of the Desert Fathers, Dom John Chapman, Bernard Basset, SJ.,
St. Augustine, Martin Buber and others. Torkington is a master of prayer, having previously written
a trilogy on the subject. His engrossing style masks the depth of his practical
advice and specifics about many forms of prayer from the traditional to the new. Inner Life
will be particularly appreciated by busy people on the run with the 2 to 3 page chapters. It deserves
a wide readership. In the Foreword, Sr. Wendy Beckett of Public TV fame, gives the best recommendation
for the work: 'All this book will torpedo is our complacency, our lethargy and our reluctance to let
God love us and make us loving in return. It should be mandatory reading.'" --Stanley
M. Grabowski, Ph.D. in Pastoral Life, February 1999
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