Product Description

Blending insights from Christian contemplative practice and Buddhist mindfulness, Dr. Robert J. Wicks―well-known speaker, therapist, and spiritual guide--introduces what he calls "prayerfulness," a way of being truly in the present to experience God and life in dynamic new ways. Wicks offers a rich array of insights including seven practical steps, a thirty-day retreat, and a Spiritual Mindfulness Questionnaire. This creative combination of ancient wisdom and contemporary psychology is designed to help readers develop a loving, clear, and spiritually balanced outlook.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65083 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 175 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781933495200
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
"In the face of anguish and distraction so common in our society, Wicks presents a straightforward guide to deepening faith through compassion and love. A triumph of the human spirit!" --Kerry Kennedy, author of Being Catholic Now

Review
"What makes Prayerfulness stand out is Wicks's unfailing honesty and his ability to unite our everyday life to our relationship with the divine."

From the Author
An Interview with Robert Wicks on His Newest Book, Prayerfulness

Everyone seems to have their own definition of "prayerfulness." What is yours?

Prayerfulness, in its purest form, is true receptivity to the essential lessons needed to live a full life. It is being in the present moment with your eyes wide open to the presence of God. I see it as a sense of "spiritual mindfulness."

Can you teach people to be prayerful in the way you are describing?

Yes and no. Thomas Merton once said that no one can give you a map to your own spiritual life; the terrain is unique. I believe that but I also am certain that there are ways we can give and receive help so we don't wander and drift rather than flow with our lives as they unfold.

Well, how would you do that and what would you call such an education?

It is an education in inner formation. To undergo it, we must truly embrace simplicity and the most important virtue of the desert--humility. This then requires a deep desire for transparency and honesty, a willingness to be compassionate, and a true commitment to practice what we learn in daily life.

Are there some specifics that people follow and put into practice to be more prayerful?

Well, we need to create a simple rule of prayer that will structure our day. Such a "rule", as committed Christians had in the deserts of the fourth century, include different types of prayer: meditation, formal prayer like reciting the psalms or saying a prayer like the Rosary, liturgy where we can meet God in Eucharist, the Word, and each other. Spiritual reading, regular reading and taking to heart of sacred scripture, journaling, and conversations with God might also be in one's rule of prayer. Creating simple rituals like having your morning coffee or tea with God for a few moments before you enter the day. Having people to share your faith with who can support you in your journey and you in theirs is also helpful.

What are the fruits of practicing such a rule?

Well, all of a sudden you start to experience God's presence in so many ways. A child's laugh, seeing snow falling on snow, the sound of rain on the roof, a conversation with a friend all become opportunities to sense the presence of God. When the time is especially graced, it is also a call to meet God.

What do you mean by the call to meet God?

Years ago my mentor, who was Thomas Merton's final abbot, said to me that during the day I would sense God giving me the grace to pray. During that time if I went to make a phone call, it would be graced. If I went to read a book or call a friend, it too would be graced. But when I came back to a place within myself to pray, the grace might then be gone. However, if I did respond to the call to pray during the day and responded to it in possibly even small ways, given the activity and demands around me, I would deepen my relationship with God than merely continue to learn about God.

Let me bring you back to something you said in the beginning about prayerfulness. You referred to it as "spiritual mindfulness." Can you explain?

During the day, when we don't have a sense of intrigue in our heart as to how God is self-revealing in so many new ways, we merely drift or run through life. We are mindless. We are like a gargoyle on roller skates, zipping through life toward our grave and we call this living.

What would such mind-lessness look like?

We get upset easily, habits and rules sap life's freshness, we spend too much time preoccupied with a future that might not happen or in the silver casket of nostalgia. We fail to see transitions or interruptions as possibilities for something new but just complain until we can get back to "normal" which often turns out to be in Freud's terms, a state of "ordinary unhappiness." There are many more instances that I point out in my book Prayerfulness but that gives you a good idea, I think.

What about suffering and prayerfulness?

Prayerfulness does not always remove the pain in our life but may open up new vistas that lead to a "softening of our soul." We begin to see our own failings but in a new way. Instead of projecting the blame onto others, condemning ourselves, or becoming discouraged, with God's grace we start to become filled with intrigue about our life and what is left of it on this earth. Such intrigue helps us to be countercultural in our dealings with life by valuing faithfulness over success, enjoying developing our talents more than competition, seeing the gifts that are already around us rather than always praying for more, for different, for what we feel will perfectly make us happy. Only God can do that.

Say a bit more about having a prayerful attitude in life.

Well, when we are prayerful, we move away from judging and more to experiencing. We start to recognize that people don't get up in the morning thinking about us; we become less ego-centered. We have an increased desire to be transparent and be persons without guile rather than manipulating situations. Life does become more enriching...more fun, really.

Say a bit more about sadness and prayerfulness? Where does an attitude of prayerfulness fit in there?

In one of his charming Winnie the Pooh books, A.A. Milne beautifully captures how we might approach God or a close friend during such gray times. Piglet sidles up to Pooh from behind and whispers, "Pooh!" "Yes, Piglet" Pooh answers. "Nothing," responds Piglet taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you." I think that is what many of us do and feel when we are sad or when times are gray. With prayerfulness, we don't step back from darkness but walk into it with God. You see it is not the amount of darkness in the world or even in ourselves that matters. It's how we stand in that darkness and knowing about and practicing prayerfulness helps us with that. It brings us home into the now. One spiritual guide said that when I think about the past I am often sorry. When I think about the future I worry. So, then I am often sorry, worry, sorry, worry. But when I am mindful and in the present I am happy. Being with God in the present is so important then and that is why, after a life time of writing books on the integration of psychology and spirituality, this most recent one with the simple, profound title of Prayerfulness is so dear to me. My hope is the little practical suggestions and the stories of people who have jumped from the sideline into a deeper life with God will provide some inspiration and guidance for those who read it. Yes, I really hope so. Prayerfulness is really very important.