Alphonsus says, 'a single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery or convent.' If some of our priests, sisters, religious and lay people seem confused in regard to their identities, it can surely be traced to the unavailability and limited circulation of books such as this one. This great spiritual classic will show us the road to follow."

    Creative spiritual development represents a new principle which signifies an offering of human freedom to God, an offering which God expects from us. The life of the spirit is a creative and dynamic process. Spiritual development is possible only because there is freedom. Spiritual development is not movement on the plane of the external world, but the bringing to birth of forces which lie hidden in the inner depths of existence. To quote Berdyaev, "the spiritual world is like a torrent of fire in free creative dynamism." The Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) was one of the greatest religious thinkers of the twentieth century. His philosophy goes beyond mere thinking, mere rational conceptualization, and tries to attain authentic life itself: the profound layers of existence that are in contact with God's world. Berdyaev directed all of his efforts, philosophical as well as in his personal and public life, at replacing the kingdom of this world with the kingdom of God. According to him, we can all attempt to do this by tapping the divine creative powers which constitute our true nature. Our mission is to be collaborators with God in His continuing creation of the world. This is what Berdyaev said about himself: "Man, personality, freedom, creativeness, the eschatological-messianic resolution of the dualism of two worlds - these are my basic themes."

    Hill's present work brings Lincoln before us as a man, splendid in his strength of purpose, unshaken by popular clamor, humane, sympathetic, and farseeing; a man who understood and appreciated the problems of life, the passions and the weaknesses of his fellow men, strong because of his trials and triumphs; a great leader - so great as to be without jealousy; humble, because of his knowledge and experience, forgetful of self in his desire to best serve his country and mankind.