Praying Naked: The Spirituality of Anthony de Mello - J. Francis Stroud, S.J.
Anthony de Mello is a great story teller and an even greater spiritual teacher. His emphases on contemplative prayer, the apophatic way, the illusion of attachments, the true and false self, God in the ordinary, and the power of love are truly moving. The Title, Praying Naked alludes to the fact that "[w]henever you stand before God in prayer, you must stand stripped of everything – your possessions, your ego, your clothes” (xvi). Truly, the best thing in life aren't things: "Life is a banquet, but most people are starving to death" (97). God is found in the present - in the people, circumstances, joys, and even sorrows of "the now": "Just remember, yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, and today is a present, a gift from God." Spirituality is about escaping the world's programming and "waking up" to this divine presence. Part of this will even include renouncing the idol of our own God-concept. To paraphase St. Thomas Aquinas: “This much is certain, whatever you say about God is more wrong than right” (107). This does not lead to despair or agnosticism, it results in enlightened ignorance and true faith - trust in the divine mystery. Risk, not certainty, rooted in a yearning for relationship with the Divine. Without this pursuit, we die a slow death. As Dag Hammarskjold, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, once said, “God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity. But we die on the day our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder which is beyond all reason” (213). This is an easy and accessible summary of de Mello's spirituality.