August Turak. Brother John. Franklin TN: Clovercroft, 2018. Print.

In 2004 the author won a Templeton Prize for this essay entitled “Brother John.” Some people found copies of it and read it and enthusiastically shared it, but it was not widely available. Now the essay has been published in a colorful format.

The essay is very simple. Indeed, some of the blogs on this web site are longer. The author occasionally takes retreat at a Catholic monastery. There he met Brother John who exemplified Matthew 20:25-27:

Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave…”

Turak notes that most people make objections to following God or believing in Him, but Turak gets to the heart of the matter. Like Dr. George Wald, quoted in an earlier blog entry, they simply do not want to follow God. But Brother John has discovered something radically different and better when they do…

This is not a mere sketch of a monk. We really learn very little about that man. But perhaps we will learn something about ourselves. If there is a key, Ecclesiastes 3:11 perhaps explains it best, that God has put eternity in the hearts of mankind.

This edition is accompanied by paintings of Brother John and other monks at the monastery. They are a little unusual in that the monks are always painted from behind. We never see their faces. That may well be just the way Brother John would want it.