THE
P RTAL
December 2016
Page 23
Book Review
The Virgin Eye:
Towards a Contemplative
View of Life
Sr Margaret Atkins CRSA, Boarbank Hall
Robin Daniels
was a man of wide interests and wide experience. His working life included
periods as a music critic, a social worker and a psychoanalyst. His previous books covered sport, music
and religion, for example, his Conversations with [Yehudi] Menuhin.
He had a deep interest in
contemplative
prayer
and
contemplative living. Late in life
he married, and became a Catholic
just 18 months before his death.
The Virgin Eye, edited by his
widow, is the fruit of this rich life.
Daniels wants us to practise the
presence of God. For this, he says,
we need above all to slow down.
‘Pause’ is one of his favourite
words; ‘stillness’ and ‘relaxed’ are
two others.
To slow down and to attend;
to see the everyday world as a
painter or writer or child sees it,
with fresh, innocent eyes, without
preconceptions, and then to be
grateful and give praise. Daniels’
psychotherapeutic experience is evident in his
awareness of the pervasiveness of stress in modern
life, and in his attention to the ways in which we allow
false, often hidden, emotions to drive us along paths
we would prefer to avoid.
through, but rather pondered
selectively, following the titles
of its short sections. It is packed
with quotations, poetry and
prose, often from unexpected
sources: George Bernard Shaw
rubs shoulders with St Francis
de Sales.
Daniels challenges us to
the highest standards of selfdedication and self-awareness,
in our use of time, of the material
world, of the opportunities
offered by every encounter,
however small or uncongenial.
It is not a book for the fainthearted, or for those with only
a casual interest in spiritual
progress.
There are also passages which busy parents, for
example, or those committed to difficult marriages,
may find over-optimistic. The Virgin Eye comes
highly recommended by authorities such as Sr Wendy
Beckett, who wrote the Foreword, Bishop Brian Noble
and Fr Vincent O’Hara.
His solution is first to focus on God in prayer; second
to focus on oneself in gentle self-correction and reIf you are serious in your search for a deeper spiritual
education (‘self-work’ is his term); and third to focus life, and prepared and able to give this real time and
on others in generous self-giving. Another theme is effort, this could be the book for you.
lack of possessiveness, related to a delight in letting
others be and flourish, by listening without judgement
Robin Daniels, The Virgin Eye: Towards a
and encouraging without rivalry.
Contemplative View of Life, edited by Katherine
Daniels, Instant Apostle, £9.99, paperback, 416 pages
This is a big book, which plays out variations on the - ISBN: 978-1909728523 -Reproduced courtesy of the
main theme at an unhurried tempo, from a range of “Catholic Voice of Lancaster”. To order a copy visit
overlapping perspectives. It is not best read straight www.mindfulnessforchristians.com