This book has been a great encouragement for me on how to live in the present moments comprising each day. The terms from the title, "time" and "despondency" are defined in detail, historical detail. Dr. Nicole Roccas examines how the relationship between time and despondency affect daily life. This book addresses the fact that many days seem to be difficult to get through for many individuals, whether a person suffers from depressed or anxious mood or not, even when nothing bad is happening during the day. The part of the book I have appreciated most is Chapter 7 "Stepping Stones Back to the Present" where Dr. Roccas gives practical advice on working with the time given daily and conquering despondency in that daily time through the "stepping stones" of humility, patience and perseverance, gratitude, community, labor and leisure and humor. She defines and gives examples of each term listed and then provides practical examples of how these may appear and how to work them into daily life. In her conclusion she sums up with these encouraging words: "These are a few places where I think we can begin to reclaim our lives from the wilderness of despondency'I hope they have been helpful. The question now is where do we start? It seems too menial to start with something small, but if we start with everything, we will exhaust ourselves and wind up deeper in the same slough as before. I'm reminded that one of the most beautiful things about sacredness is that it's not all or nothing'it comes to us in small, ordinary things and times, and asks us to see the holy in finite moments." I recommend this book to everyone interested in living life to the fullest, with peace of mind and joy of heart, each minute of each day.

The story of these peoples journey to orthodox is incredible! It is definitely a story about the search for truth!

Every chapter is full of new insights that have really blessed me. Drawing me closer to the Lord. Highly recommended.

Father Reardon provides a clear thought process that is well supported and thought provoking as he unwraps the full span of atonement history.

Great read

This book is packed with spiritual jewels. Because it is such a deep book, it's important to take your time with it. It would be a great book to read with a group during lent. In my opinion this is a must in your home orthodox library.

Being new to Orthodoxy, this book helps one weave themselves around the many "landmines" one encounters while trying to fast.

*Disclaimer* I received a copy of this book in return for an honest, unbiased review

Within the first few pages of this book, Dr. Roccas captured a deeply felt part of my childhood which still--to this day--sits restively in the back of my mind! The idea that time has escaped me, that it's already too late, that soon I'll be 40, that someday I'll be 80, and then I will die. Time is decidedly not on my side, so now what?

These were my initial responses to the opening pages of this fantastic book. Having had such a visceral experience with the opening pages, I kept reading to find out how Dr. Roccas would flesh out the problems of time and despondency (acedia) or spiritual lethargy within the Eastern Orthodox tradition, all the while looking for practical application for a felt need within my own spiritual life. This book did not disappoint. Garnering from secular scholarship and traditional Orthodox Christian spiritual writings, Dr. Roccas weaves together a highly readable and immensely practical view of the phenomenon of time and the life we are called to live within its confines.

Well researched, full of insight and scholarship, but accessible and readable without condescending to or creating a dividing wall between author and reader. This book is a must-read for people in a world so interconnected and so easily distracted: Where hours slip away from us without notice, where our liturgical life can seem stalled and boring, where the cares and worries of our physical life can outweigh the needs and concerns of the spiritual. I especially appreciated the discussion questions at the end of the book which helped to guide my own meditations of the topics being discussed.

There are other books which explore the works of Evagrius and other spiritual authors on the topic of despondency, but this book is in a different category. Taking the scholarship and wisdom of the Fathers and making it applicable in a real-life setting without assuming a great deal on the reader, except that he, too, must live his life in time with a view of eternity. I highly recommend this book not only for its presentation of ancient wisdom, but for its immediate application into a busy world.

Probably the best book Farley has written.

I have read the original book by Lorenzo Scupoli and though t was re-written to make it more understandable it can still be very dry and more than the lay person might be able to digest. Fr. Jack Sparks has done a great in further breaking this classic down to help more people interested in this area of study better understand what Lorenzo Scupoli is trying to convey to the reader. I recommend this book over the original by Lorenzo Scupoli because of how Fr. Sparks efforts in making the book into shorter understandable version. Also, I bought a used like new version from Chuck McCay / CatShak Online and can say what I received was a book that looked brand new. I was extremely happy so if you buy from Chuck McCay / CatShak Online you can expect them to deliver on their advertisement description of the books condition.

As a wedding planner and a married Christian woman of thirty six years, 'Two Become One' was an absolute joy to read. Whether you are looking for a life partner, newly engaged, newly married, or married for some time, you will find practical and loving advice within these pages.

I am in a long term marriage and found the advice for married couples to be enlightening. I recognized many of the patterns and solutions to the situations the authors presented. I also realized some wonderful insights myself! There is very good advice here for communication, understanding, and problem solving within the marriage. Love of God, reflection upon Him, and scripture are also sprinkled throughout the book as a reminder of the true meaning of the union we have entered into.

I think the information for selecting a life partner and the process of engagement, is invaluable. This book would make a wonderful gift to a newly engaged or married couple. Churches and priests would do well to present this book to all couples who come in for premarital counseling. They could also use the book as a basis for that counseling.

A wonderful read, beautifully written, and easy to understand, I feel this will become one of the most popular books in the Ancient Faith publishing world.

This is a book to come back to again and again. Buy it now because I wish you could have bought it yesterday. Life in the modern world is blessed with many conveniences which make a contemplative life possible but at times this opportunity comes at the expense of leaving us time to not just think but to brood. I have no case studies ready to cite but I do have the general sense that feelings of despondency, depression, and anxiety are on the rise and as modern Orthodox Christians, we are not always ready to sort through these feelings in a way that allows us to be both productive and at peace. I believe that all of us at some point in our lives and perhaps even often in our lives, will encounter these feelings and usually lack the toolbox to process them. This book is a clear and concise set of tools which enable the reader to apply to their individual concerns. This is not some trite, silly set of affirmations coupled with feel-good tips but rather uses experiences shared across populations to talk about the underlying cause of these feelings and the ways in which we enable a broken understanding of the meaning of our lives.

The author achieves a delicate of incorporation of cerebral thought experiments and common experiences to explain her points. This means that book is not terribly difficult to read but is still rich and dense.This is important because not only is she able to speak to a wide audience, wider than one would expect, but prevents it from becoming just vapid talk and instead something more substantive. For instance, one of my favorite examples is the experience of being in an elevator and being rushed or wanting time alone and instead of pressing the "hold" button, pressing the "door close" button, and allowing the doors to close on someone rushing to make the car. I think that all readers can appreciate and understand the experience, even if not one that they have actually had, which means that discussing our motivation and how we think about others and ourselves becomes very real. When she draws from history, philosophy, and Church Tradition to make her points, they are illustrated by her example. Later when we have a similar experience, we are prepared to think about our actions what they mean for ourselves and others.

I have the benefit of knowing the author personally and she is both brilliant and compassionate and cares deeply for the people she encounters. Her profound consideration comes across in the tone of the book. It is apparent that she is invested in the reader. Without being condescending or shallow, she engages the reader both intellectually and emotionally and walks with them through their own despondency like Beatrice in Dante. It is painful to confront those things which cause us to despair and the author neither minimizes that pain nor does she shy away from it but gently guides through it. I had the opportunity to read the book as it was being written, which was a privilege, and knowing how I have struggled and how others I love have struggled, I repeatedly wished the book was already written. As I read, I would think about a few specific people I know who were entrenched in despondency and I wanted this book for them. It is finally, finally available and now everyone can benefit from this work.

I know the author personally and I have read the book both in draft form and proof but I was in no way compensated for my very heartfelt review. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone, there is no one for whom it will not become useful at some point in their lives. This is a book to come back to again and again as a refresher when life is harsh and our hearts feel weak. Buy it now because I wish you could have bought it yesterday.

As a wedding planner and a married Christian woman of thirty six years, “Two Become One” was an absolute joy to read. Whether you are looking for a life partner, newly engaged or married, or married for some time, you will find practical and loving advice within these pages.

I am in a long term marriage and found the advice for married couples to be enlightening. I recognized many of the patterns and solutions to the situations the authors presented. I also realized some wonderful insights myself! There is very good advice here for communication, understanding, and problem solving within the marriage. Love of God, reflection upon Him, and scripture are also sprinkled throughout the book as a reminder of the true meaning of the union we have entered into.

I think the information for selecting a life partner and the process of engagement, is invaluable. This book would make a wonderful gift to a newly engaged or married couple. Churches and priests would do well to present this book to all couples who come in for premarital counseling. They could also use the book as a basis for that counseling.

A wonderful read, beautifully written, and easy to understand, I feel this will become one of the most popular books in the Ancient Faith publishing world.

Life in the modern world is blessed with many conveniences which make a contemplative life possible but at times this opportunity comes at the expense of leaving us time to not just think but to brood. I have no case studies ready to cite but I do have the general sense that feelings of despondency, depression, and anxiety are on the rise and as modern Orthodox Christians, we are not always ready to sort through these feelings in a way that allows us to be both productive and at peace. I believe that all of us at some point in our lives and perhaps even often in our lives, will encounter these feelings and usually lack the toolbox to process them. This book is a clear and concise set of tools which enable the reader to apply to their individual concerns. This is not some trite, silly set of affirmations coupled with feel-good tips but rather uses experiences shared across populations to talk about the underlying cause of these feelings and the ways in which we enable a broken understanding of the meaning of our lives.

The author achieves a delicate of incorporation of cerebral thought experiments and common experiences to explain her points. This means that book is not terribly difficult to read but is still rich and dense.This is important because not only is she able to speak to a wide audience, wider than one would expect, but prevents it from becoming just vapid talk and instead something more substantive. For instance, one of my favorite examples is the experience of being in an elevator and being rushed or wanting time alone and instead of pressing the hold button, pressing the door close button, and allowing the doors to close on someone rushing to make the car. I think that all readers can appreciate and understand the experience, even if not one that they have actually had, which means that discussing our motivation and how we think about others and ourselves becomes very real. When she draws from history, philosophy, and Church Tradition to make her points, they are illustrated by her example. Later when we have a similar experience, we are prepared to think about our actions what they mean for ourselves and others.

I have the benefit of knowing the author personally and she is both brilliant and compassionate and cares deeply for the people she encounters. Her profound consideration comes across in the tone of the book. It is apparent that she is invested in the reader. Without being condescending or shallow, she engages the reader both intellectually and emotionally and walks with them through their own despondency like Beatrice in Dante. It is painful to confront those things which cause us to despair and the author neither minimizes that pain nor does she shy away from it but gently guides through it. I had the opportunity to read the book as it was being written, which was a privilege, and knowing how I have struggled and how others I love have struggled, I repeatedly wished the book was already written. As I read, I would think about a few specific people I know who were entrenched in despondency and I wanted this book for them. It is finally, finally available and now everyone can benefit from this work.

I know the author personally and I have read the book both in draft form and proof but I was in no way compensated for my very heartfelt review. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone, there is no one for whom it will not become useful at some point in their lives. This is a book to come back to again and again as a refresher when life is harsh and our hearts feel weak. Buy it now because I wish you could have bought it yesterday.

Fr. Damick's coverage of various faiths is well-researched and easy to read. I highly recommend this book for those in the Orthodox faith wishing to learn more about heterodox faiths. The book (in its first version) was also useful for me as I was converting to Orthodoxy.

Wonderful Book

This small book has very good guidance for those who wish tip take a close look at their prayer life. A very good section on how to see if it is just feelings or effective prayer. Good for those beginning to pray and for those who wish to take a closer look aft their prayer life.

This book, on a topic that could be presented in a dry academic fashion, is in fact warm, relevant, edifying. Far from lofty and arcane, it is about the most intimate, real parts of our lives ' who we are when we are folding our laundry or stuck in traffic on the bus. In a time when many people are wondering what life is for, what the point is of how we spend our time on this earth, it is much-needed.

Before reading 'Time and Despondency' I was familiar with the author's work from her thought-provoking podcast 'Time and Eternity' and was keen to see how she would distill her material into a book. This work retains the studious yet practical approach of the podcast, drawing on sources from the ancient wisdom of the Church Fathers to modern poetry to present a comprehensive Christian approach to the dilemma all humans face: how to 'be here now,' especially in a cultural moment that feels heavy. Dr. Roccas names things that might seem esoteric (concepts like rumination, nepsis, apathy and kairos) and brings them alive, drawing out their relevance for our daily lives.

I can't help but note that this book is, well, timely. Twenty-first century living sometimes seems entirely composed of distractions, and we become ever busier but less contented. Some of us may be tempted to think we were born in the wrong century. This book is for anyone trying to live and find their place in the modern world, especially those for whom apathy, boredom, restlessness and distraction have become hurdles to spiritual growth. As I read, I often thought of situations in my own life (as a mother whose days are often repetitive) but also of the lives of several friends and family members. Actually, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this material.

Filled with reflections and anecdotes, this book is very relatable. I am struck by how brave the author has been to share with such vulnerability her deepest spiritual struggles. Yet it is always for a good purpose: she somehow avoids any navel-gazing, instead using her own struggles to highlight the ones we all share. For example, the book opens with with a story illustrating her own awareness of mortality, even from a tender age. By sharing and reflecting on it she allows her own burden to become her readers' blessing. The result is a volume that beautifully marries the personal and the universal.

The hopeful tone of this book brought tears to my eyes many times, like when I read this: 'Time dishes out yet another moment as ripe with possibility as the last, regardless of how many similar moments we've squandered before.' Yet passages like this one also had me laughing out loud: 'After Christ had risen from the grave, He apparently stopped to fold the grave cloth that had once covered His head (John 20:7)' Just think: the first thing Christ did upon His ascent out of Hades was to fold some laundry.' The book is also practical, with a whole chapter applying the foregoing lessons and a useful discussion guide for further reflection. I was left with several specific ideas for improving my own life and spiritual health.

In Dr. Roccas we have an important voice in the Church: a layperson and a woman sharing with us the hard-won discoveries she has made on the quest toward a good life. Let's join with her (and St. Paul) in proclaiming, 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation' (2 Cor. 6:2).

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, but I plan to buy several additional copies and give them as gifts.

I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Time and Despondency. As a fan of Dr. Roccas's podcast and blog, I couldn't wait to read her book. It did not disappoint.

It opened with Dr. Roccas's recollections of childhood anxiety about death and eternity. I also had such anxiety growing up, but had never heard anyone else confess this. Hymns like Amazing Grace ("when we've been there ten thousand years...") and sermons about spending forever with God made me restless and scared of the prospect of any eternity, whether it be a blessed one or not. I knew from this introduction alone I would enjoy the read, and the introduction set the tone for the rest of the book: intelligent and profound, yet modest and relatable.

Dr. Roccas continues to discuss acedia in general, its relationship to mental illness (where, in an excellent couple of pages, she distinguishes between mental and spiritual illness), and practical measures one can take to counter despondency. Most people I have discussed despondency with have had experience with the problem. It especially seems common among my fellow Orthodox converts around a particular time in their spiritual lives. After converting, with all the zeal and energy that comes with it, while trying to organize our lives into Orthodox ones- lives of prayer, church-going, fasting, basically the daily grind of life- despondency can find ways to creep in. It becomes difficult to transition from a new convert to someone living a life that is organically, comprehensively Orthodox. The zeal wears away. Prayer becomes cold, and then nonexistent. Church goes from paradise to a room filled with people who are gossipy and annoying. Fasting is a pointless hassle. I've heard this from multiple friends, and have experienced it myself. The demon of the noonday becomes the demon of the noon of our spiritual lives. This is the experience that most readily came to mind while reading Dr. Roccas's book, and I recognized several of Dr. Roccas's prescriptions as the things that helped me out of this despondent rut, and start to care again.

I would recommend this book to any Christian looking to deepen their understanding of the difficulties and temptations of the spiritual life. So little has been published about despondency, especially in an English-speaking Christian context, this book should serve as a valuable resource for many. It ought to be read by those who feel left behind by the happy-go-lucky religious narratives that so dominate the bookstores today. I would also recommend this book be read before one needs it. With the ebbs and flows of spiritual life being what they are, one ought to prepare oneself with practical advice on how to meet the storms. This books is absolutely worth reading, and after you read it, turn on her podcast for more great information.

All moments in time are potential vessels of eternity. It's rare that you can find a book that can capture complex precepts of Orthodox spirituality, without watering them down, that can be put into practice by a prayerful lay reader, and at the same time employ a graceful and sensual prose. Dr. Nicole Roccas' book investigates the deep Eastern Christian spiritual roots of the despondency that, in our contemporary age, leads to preoccupation with the ephemeral'entertainment, consumption, self-absorption.

It's also a great introductory text for those who are seeking a taste of the "spirit" of Eastern Orthodox Christianity--its "phronema"--even though the book does not cover the full breadth of Orthodox thinking. I was privileged to read an advance copy of this book, and I can think of so many people, irrespective of their religion--who can benefit from how this book shows the tools for resolving despondency and self-loathing. The book offers a vision for how Time, which we "measure out with coffee spoons," is a gift from God with the capacity to enable reconciliation. As Dr. Roccas notes, "...all moments in time are potential vessels of eternity."