I have not read Ron Dreher's "The Benedict Option" (and don't think I will, given the kind of people who have been recommending it most highly). But it should at least be pointed out, first, that St. Benedict ca. 500 CE, and his spiritual ancestors in Egypt in the 300s, did not expect that many people would follow them into their respective anchorite retreats. Secondly, the society they were leaving behind was one in which Christianity had great prestige, and serious committed Christians had the most powerful positions in society. Thirdly, the monks did not condemn the society they left behind, even if they found it not suitable to the Christian practice they were called to. Finally, it would be most unfair if Dreher were dismissing the work of some fine Benedictines, including Trappists, who have done a great deal to share the lessons of their founder with lay Catholics, regarding prayer amidst work, "lectio divina," Centering Prayer, and the cultivation of the "school of love."