I love the story of Edith, a mother of eight. One crisp afternoon, the usual clamor of her five youngest children-ages 4 to 10-fell silent. That was a warning! Edith peered through the kitchen window ...

Even without retreating to the desert, we can train our wandering minds with ancient monastic wisdom. “The question of focus,” argues Benedictine historian Columba Stewart, “is the single most ...