Take a quick look around - politicians, entertainers, sports figures, and even our own circles of family and friends: Humble pie is not on the menu. It's a me-first society that turns pride into a virtue and humility into a vice. But Christians - especially those who follow the Rule of St. Benedict - are encouraged to embrace humility as a virtue that leads them closer to Christ. And in this upside-down Benedictine world, we reach humility not by descending to the depths but by climbing, joyfully, to the top of a ladder. In this honest, funny, touching book, Carol Bonomo, a Benedictine oblate - a person vowed to live according to the fourth-century Rule - reconciles the conflict between the world's call and Benedict's more gentle admonition as she examines the twelve rungs on Benedict's ladder against the backdrop of the liturgical year. From the first rung, obedience, during Advent, to the twelfth, constancy, during the feast of All Saints, Bonomo studies what it means for a contemporary Christian to climb the ladder of humility that leads to perfect, fearless love. Bonomo, with a light hand and a sense of humor, takes readers along on her down-to-earth spiritual adventure.