Taste of Silence : How I Came to Be at Home with Myself

A the taste of silence t the youthful age of nineteen Bieke Vandekerckhove wasdiagnosed with ALS (a degenerative neurological disease,aka Lou Gehrig''s disease). Unexpectedly, three years later herdisease went into remission and, even though partially paralyzed,she has lived with ALS now for more than twenty years.In twenty-seven short chapters, written at various points inher life, the author shares her search for meaning and strength.Much to her own surprise, she found both in the stillnessof contemplation, in the richness of silence. The practice ofBenedictine spirituality and Zen meditation became, as she says,the two lungs through which she breathes.Along the way of her painful but illuminating journey, sheshares insights learned from artists of all stripes, whetherpoets, painters, sculptors, or moviemakers, and from greatcontemplatives and thinkers. The result is a work that offers adeep trove of spiritual wisdom for every reader, whether affl ictedwith debilitating illness or in perfect health.