January 21, 2016 Book Discussion: How Dante Can Save Your Life

One way to break up the monotony of cold weather is to encounter a book that takes one on a journey. The book selection for January, 2016 is one such book; however, the journey has a destination that is not in this physical world! How Dante Can Save Your Life takes the reader on a unique spiritual journey of a contemporary Orthodox Christian man. His travel itinerary was inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. No, it is not necessary to have read The Divine Comedy to find enjoyment and meaning from this book!

Here is how the book is described from the book cover:

'Dante Alighieri had done all the right things, according to the story of his culture. He had written beautiful poems that won him fame and respect. He married and had children, and he was a man of the church, faithful to his God. Later he took up political leadership in his city and tried to govern justly, even when it meant sending his trouble-making best friend into exile. And what had this gotten him? He lost everything: his wealth, his power, and his family. If he hadn't fled into exile, Dante would have lost his life.
       Few of us will suffer a fall from grace quite like Dante's, but our day will assuredly come. Loss of a loved one, betrayal, divorce, bankruptcy, addiction, personal or professional failures, depression, a health crisis--whatever loss or tragedy befalls you-- it will provoke a crisis from which you may feel you will never recover.
        Rod Dreher was in the midst of such a personal crisis  when he came across The Divine Comedy while wandering through a bookstore. Finding himself "in a dark wood," he read the 700-year-old poem. The life-changing wisdom of this medieval masterpiece launched Dreher on a spiritual and intellectual journey that helped him see the mistakes that had devastated him, and showed him that he had the power to change his life. (He eventually converted to Orthodoxy.)
           History's greatest poem provides an inspired road map for the journey of the soul toward goodness and describes the recognition and rejection of sin... Dante told his patron that he wrote  The Divine Comedy to bring readers from misery to happiness. "

        Join us to discuss Orthodox perspectives on  How Dante Can Save Your Life.  How Dante Can Save Your Life  is now available in the church bookstore and library. It makes a great Christmas gift!

        The book discussion will be held January 21, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the church parlor. Check your email for cancellations in the event of a snow storm.

Please note: If you cannot attend the book discussion, in accordance with the wisdom of the Church mothers and fathers, we strongly encourage discussions of spiritual material with your father confessor or spiritual father or mother.