The Transformation of Suffering: Reflections on September 11 and the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee

by Thomas Keating

The author of influential books such as Force Under Pressure and Stoning the Keepers at the Gate, Dr. Lawrence N. Blum is a renowned expert on the psychology of police officers. With Turning Tragedy into Victory, he returns to and expands on the important subject of how to best help those who have sworn to protect and serve when they are the ones who have fallen. According to Blum, officers' lack of knowledge and skill in controlling the stress of the moment has increased their risk of being killed, assaulted, or making mistakes that cost them dearly in career or family relationships. Through visceral, real-life accounts of officers that he has personally worked with, he identifies pitfalls, errors, and traps that are created when officers lose control over how their brains and bodies react to unexpected crises; explains why and how this lack of control occurs; and provides mental, emotional, and behavioral tools that have proven highly effective at enhancing performance. Above all, Blum says, officers must learn the important lessons that come from their experiences and commit themselves to the quest for mastery in law enforcement: in other words, to turn tragedy into victory. This book is an indispensable resource for those who are law enforcement officers, those who work with them, and those who wish to keep them safe among the increasing dangers and challenges of today's society.

64 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Keating entered the Cistercian Order in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in January, 1944. He was appointed Superior of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado in 1958, and was elected abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts in 1961. He returned to Snowmass after retiring as abbot of Spencer in 1981, where he established a program of ten-day intensive retreats in the practice of Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of the Christian contemplative tradition.

He is one of three architects of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in 1975. Frs. William Menninger and Basil Pennington, also Cistercian monks, were the other architects.
n 1984, Fr. Thomas Keating along with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar, co-founded Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international, ecumenical spiritual network that teaches the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina, a method of prayer drawn from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach provides a support system for those on the contemplative path through a wide variety of resources, workshops, and retreats.
Fr. Keating currently lives at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.