The Art of Christian Alchemy

Book excerpt: The Art of Christian Alchemy is a witty and provocative book that explores, in twentieth-century terms, the spiritual yearnings of modern people. It is a magic tour through evolutionary theory and the bi-cameral brain, with detours into such areas as handicrafts, dieting, and sex. But in all of these travels, Roger Corless is tracking down an ancient and rich vein: The Spiritual life, he says, is the transfiguration of the ordinary. Through prayer, meditation, and ascetical practices, we can take the ordinary stuff of life and change it into something more noble--just as alchemists of old sought to transform base metals into gold. The key to this transfiguration is the threefold way of work, listening, and praise outlined by St. Benedict in the sixth century and still practiced by communities of Benedictines in the U.S. and elsewhere. Corless initiates us into their method. Ultimately, he brings us to the place where St. Francis, Teilhard de Chardin, Buddha, Benedict, and Jesus dwell together at the table of unity.