High time also that I told you all about the next Dock Book Group, giving you plenty of time to scour the bookshops for your copy!

You’ll remember that Book Group started because a whole sequence of conversations all seemed to be expressing the same frustration, or ‘itch’: that there must be more to life, and church, and faith, than what we know…  We’ve looked at authors who have all struggled with, lived with, and sometimes (even partially) answered that question themselves, from Andy Freeman’s New Monasticism, to Shane Claiborne’s radical community, to Don Miller’s “church for smug trendies” (a quote from the last book group – not mine, honest!)

Next book group we’ll be looking at someone whose answers come from a completely different tradition: Thomas Merton, after struggling with the emptiness of materialistic American life, found his soul fed by the silence of monastic life.  His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is the first ‘classic’ (ie written ages ago) we’ve read in Dock Book Group, and promises to give a whole new perspective – and lots more discussion – on that lasting question.  We’ll gather to share our thoughts at 12:00 on Saturday 12th March at the TQ Premier Inn.

The Amazon link is here – and if you poke around a bit, you can get a second-hand copy from America – I’ve just ordered mine for £1:45!