Product Description

Robert J. Wicks, noted psychologist and author of bestsellers Riding the Dragon and Everyday Simplicity, delivers this paperback edition of Crossing the Desert, an insightful guide on how the wisdom of the ancient desert monks can help contemporary readers grow in personal freedom and authenticity.

Dr. Wicks offers a psychological perspective on the early Christian monastic movement of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, using their wisdom to guide readers toward humility and freedom. In the same way the desert sages never gave answers, but always asked questions, Crossing the Desert presents readers with four desert questions that will lead them to take steps to inner freedom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147324 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 166 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781933495156
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Wicks (Riding the Dragon) uses his experience as a veteran psychologist to introduce fourth-century desert wisdom to readers of all faiths. According to Wicks, the ancient desert fathers and mothers can "provide proven guidance on how to let go and live with a refreshing sense of freedom in the world." His book makes for a compelling read when he blends his understanding of the world's wisdom traditions—drawing from a variety of thinkers such as Henri Nouwen, Zen Master Joseph Goldstein and Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche—with his knowledge of human behavior. One of his great strengths is grounding abstract theological concepts in engaging stories, like when he introduces the virtue of gratitude with a tale of the "barefoot brother" he met in India, who had lived through many tragedies yet was so appreciative of Wick's presentation to the Jesuits. At points, the text tackles too much in too little space. For example, the first of the four desert questions—What am I filled with now?—includes five rather complicated ancillary questions for reflection. Still, the book is an excellent guide to the wisdom and insight of the early pilgrims who fled to the desert to better hear and live out the word of God. (Mar.)
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From the Publisher
Wicks (Riding the Dragon) uses his experience as a veteran psychologist to introduce fourth-century desert wisdom to readers of all faiths. According to Wicks, the ancient desert fathers and mothers can "provide proven guidance on how to let go and live with a refreshing sense of freedom in the world." His book makes for a compelling read when he blends his understanding of the world's wisdom traditions--drawing from a variety of thinkers such as Henri Nouwen, Zen master Joseph Goldstein and Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche--with his knowledge of human behavior. One of his great strengths is grounding abstract theological concepts in engaging stories, like when he introduces the virtue of gratitude with a tale of the "barefoot brother" he met in India, who had lived through many tragedies yet was so appreciative of Wick's presentation to the Jesuits. At points, the text tackles too much in too little space. For example, the first of the four desert questions--What am I filled with now?--includes five rather complicated ancillary questions for reflection. Still, the book is an excellent, concise guide to the wisdom and insight of the early pilgrims who fled to the desert to better hear and live out the word of God. (Mar.)

--Publishers Weekly, January 15, 2007

About the Author
Dr. Robert J. Wicks, who received his doctorate in psychology from Hahnemann Medical College, is a professor at Loyola College in Maryland. He has taught in universities and professional schools of psychology, medicine, social work, nursing, and theology. His two major areas of expertise are the prevention of secondary stress (the pressures encountered in reaching out to others) and the integration of psychology and spirituality from a world religion perspective. He has addressed 10,000 educators in the Air Canada Arena in Toronto, spoken at the FBI Academy, led a weeklong course in Paris, and been commencement speaker at Stritch School of Medicine.

In 1994 he was responsible for the psychological debriefing of relief workers evacuated from Rwanda during their bloody civil war. In 1993, and again in 2001, he worked in Cambodia. During these visits, his work was with professionals from the English-speaking community who were present to help the Khmer people rebuild their nation following years of terror and torture. In 2006 he delivered a presentation on self-care at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to health-care professionals responsible for Iraqi war veterans evacuated to the United States with multiple amputations and severe head injuries.

Dr. Wicks has published more than forty books for both professionals and the general public. His most recent book for professionals, The Resilient Clinician, was published by Oxford University Press in 2007.

Customer Reviews

Total Conversion
In his latest work, Dr. Wicks advises those seeking wisdom from the desert fathers and mothers to "read, underline, write out what we've underlined, study, think...absorb, practice." I suggest the same approach to Crossing the Desert. From the first chapter, Wicks continually draws parallels between the fourth century culture the Christian ammas and abbas wished to escape and that of the twenty-first century. He illustrates his points with stories from his personal and professional life and passages written by spiritual leaders and seekers of all faiths. With deeper, more focused reading we see that he is writing about total conversion and the freedom it brings, not simply offering a few add-ins for our bag of spiritual tricks.

The desert has its gifts...
Assuming there is eternal wisdom that gets written about in different cultures and in different contexts, this book presents some of that wisdom in the name of the desert fathers and mothers. The recurrent and superficial mentioning of the desert fathers and mothers in the book makes it easy to believe that invoking them is perhaps little more than a marketing ploy, because really very little is said about them in this book.

The current that runs through this book most clearly stems from the author's background in psychology- and perhaps having yet another psychologist write a book about how to live wisely did not inspire the publishers the way adding some spice with references to desert mothers and fathers did. I am just guessing here- and the way the book reads makes it easy to make this kind of guess.

That said, there are some truly worthy, inspiring and insightful passages in this book that while they were rare, were thoughts and inspirations I hadn't heard put that way previously and that I found very helpful.

great book, wonderful insights
I have read several of Bob Wick's books and highly recommend all of them. this one is no exception.