Book description
Prayerfulness,by Robert J. Wicks--therapist, speaker, and bestselling
author of Riding the Dragon--examines what it means to live fully in the
present moment, with eyes wide open to life and to God. Blending
insights from Christian contemplation and Buddhist mindfulness, Robert
J. Wicks offers a brilliant guide to cultivating a receptive and
reflective attitude to life. A rich array of insights--including seven
practical steps, a thirty-day at-home retreat, and a "spiritual
mindfulness questionnaire"--helps readers develop a loving, clear,
and balanced outlook. Drawing from classic and contemporary spiritual
writing, Wicks explores seven steps to growth in prayerfulness,
including creating simple rituals, honoring life's fragility, facing
difficulties directly, and befriending anger. Thirty days of
reflections, quotations, and questions also guide readers to form or
strengthen a practice of daily prayer. A special feature is the
innovative spiritual mindfulness questionnaire, a set of thirty
open-ended questions that lead to a clearer sense of how present one is
to daily life. Filled with practical wisdom and rooted in sound
psychological principles, Prayerfulness is a clear and simple manual to
living fully in the present moment. Robert J. Wicks strives to open
people who are used to giving to the miracle of receiving. He
accomplishes this goal by marrying sound psychology and basic spiritual
truths that set the stage for profound personal transformation. A
popular presenter at workshops and conventions, Wicks is especially
appealing to people in the helping professions-physicians, teachers,
psychologists, and ministers-assisting them to integrate the
psychological and the spiritual so they can extend their emotional
flames to others without burning out in the process. He has worked
around the globe-from the psychological debriefing of relief workers
evacuated to the United States from Rwanda to conducting workshops in
Cambodia for members of the international community assigned to help the
Khmer people rebuild their nation. Additionally, he delivered
presentations at Walter Reed Army Hospital to health care professionals
involved in caring for Iraqi war veterans with amputations and severe
head injuries. Wicks, a Queens, New York, native, received a master's
degree in clinical psychology in 1973 from St. John's University and a
doctorate in psychology from Philadelphia's Hahnemann Medical College in
1977. In 1996, Pope John Paul II awarded Wicks a papal medal for his
service to the Catholic Church. Wicks has written more than forty books.
He serves as a professor of the graduate programs in pastoral counseling
at Loyola College, Baltimore. Wicks and his wife Michaele have a grown
daughter. They live in suburban Baltimore, Maryland.
