Book excerpt: Revised 15th Anniversary Edition Edition Foreword by Phyllis Tickle This book holds timeless appeal for readers who hunger for a meaningful and creatively balanced framework for life. It offers a simple blueprint, based on the Rule of St. Benedict, to order one's time and create physical and inner space, to step back from the demands and pressures of the moment, and to step into a place of peace. While strict adherence to the Rule may be possible only in a monastic setting, its bedrock, the ordering of each day, is accessible to seekers of any creed or of no creed at all. The brief readings and meditations in this small book offer a bridge between a busy day and a moment of restorative and blessed silence. "The original edition emphasized thankfulness, and this revision emphasizes loving-kindness... It continues to be my hope to put the wisdom of the Rule to work in my life, and when I fail (as I do consistently) to begin again." -From the Preface