This book takes the most popular paradigmists of our dayóSt. Benedict, St. John of the Cross and Pere Teilhard de Chardinóand mingles their insights with Sigrid Undset's major novels, all of which are filled with paradoxes. Contents: Kristin Lavransdatter Seen through the Telescope of Teilhard de Chardin; The Master of Hestviken Illuminated by John of the Cross's Three-Fold Path; The Wild Orchid and The Burning Bush Given New Impetus through the Benedictine Rule; The Longest Years: Sigrid Undset's need to Return the Lost Child Within Her; Ida Elizabeth Achieves New Freedom through the Natural World and Motherhood; Madame Dorothea Caught in a Paradox: Shall I Choose Mysticism or Reason?; Return to the Future: A Second Paradox: Freedom in America vs. Constraint in Norway.