Book Description
The natural world has a power to inspire the best and soothe the worst in each of us. It also has much to teach us about the wilderness within and the divine presence that is manifest in nature. In this, his last work, beloved author Gerald May offers a memoir and spiritual guide that reveals the great lessons available to us when we retreat from our busy lives to the serenity of the natural wilderness.
The Wisdom of Wilderness expresses the healing and wholeness May received through spending time in the wild -- whether hiking, camping, canoeing, fishing, or, often, just sitting. Also, May saw that wilderness can be found anywhere -- a garden, a park, perhaps in one's own room, or even in other people. Wherever we find it, it calls to what is natural in each of our hearts, reassuring us that we are part of a bigger creation and teaching us how to make peace with the outer world and with our inner selves.
For May, nature was not something to rise above. The belief that we must dominate and tame all that is wild around and within us is the most fundamental estrangement of Western civilization, long inflicting wounds upon the planet and upon ourselves. But before we can effectively heal the earth, we must somehow recover our own natural wholeness, our own wildness and kinship with nature. We cannot do this healing for ourselves, but only through "the grace of Something or Someone beyond" -- and in May's case, he found this grace in Nature itself.
This moving, beautifully written book is Gerald May at his best. It includes a foreword by author Parker J. Palmer, which illuminates the importance of May's life and writing and explains how this last book fits into the body of his work.
Customer Reviews:
"It is your wilderness calling." I plan to listen........2007-06-06
It was September, and the long stretch of Lake Michigan island beach was deserted except for a herd of snowy swans cruising along the shore at sunset. I had just read THE WISDOM OF WILDERNESS by Gerald May before my solo backpack trip. As I took my last swim of the season and marveled at the beauty all around me, his words echoed. Wilderness, he believed, is not just a place. It is also a state of being. The inner wilderness, he wrote, "is the untamed truth of who you really are."
May knew he was dying as he penned THE WISDOM OF WILDERNESS, a book drawn from his journals and thoughts over the last decade of his life. Drawn to nature because of his deep longing for something he couldn't articulate --- but knew was wrapped in a yearning for God --- he spent many nights out of doors in a state forest close to his home. It was here that May's life was irrevocably changed, as he learned about himself and about God's presence.
The idea of going to the wilderness to learn spiritual truths is as old as humankind. It's even biblical. Think of Jesus going to pray in the desert, or the prophets who found metaphors in creation. Many of the early church fathers and mothers found solitude and a special sort of communion with God when they set themselves apart for a time in the wilderness. Although May uses language that may be difficult for Christians to get past (for example, he meets something called "The Power of the Slowing," which he calls a feminine presence), if we put aside some of our preconceptions about God, May allows us to see how God might work through nature to teach us truths about ourselves and work healing in our lives.
Like any of us who love to be alone in the outdoors, May writes of his battle with fear. Fear of the dark. Fear of wild animals (his encounter with a bear is one of the best moments in the book). Fear of other humans who might wish him ill. Letting himself deeply experience fear has an unexpected result: gratitude.
Indeed, this willingness to let ourselves feel deeply is at the heart of the book. May, a respected theologian and psychiatrist (ADDICTION & GRACE), had spent a lifetime helping people learn to "cope" with their feelings. In THE WISDOM OF WILDERNESS, he rethinks the idea of "coping" and wonders if in fact it isn't better to feel our emotions deeply. May wants us to look deeper at our own nature. Are we awake to our lives? Are we paying attention? What are we missing? What are we afraid of?
When we allow ourselves to feel deeply, we open ourselves up to pain. And there is pain in the book. May spends a chapter looking at pain through his story of a tortured turtle, a chapter that no one will be able to read without flinching. More importantly, May is aware of his own mortality as he battles cancer. This lends a terrific poignancy to his words. When dying, one is aware of what is most important. May doesn't have time to trivialize.
As one who loves field guides and putting names to the birds, flowers and clouds I see, I particularly appreciated May's chapter, "The Name of the Eagle," although I'm not sure I agree with him completely. He believes that part of our desire for naming things is a need for power or control (or he says "subjugation.") "A...more respectful way is not to give a name but to discover it," he writes. This chapter gave me plenty of food for thought, since I consider learning the names of things a form of respect and appreciation --- like learning the names of the people you want to know better. I appreciate his challenging words, however. Although I will continue to enjoy naming things, I'll remember his caution the next time I'm poring over my field guides, spending more time looking for a name than getting to know the birds or the flowers for themselves.
Perhaps most importantly, May reminds me to be attentive --- to stay awake to my life. As he writes in the preface: "Your experience may be very different than mine. Just as you find your wilderness in your own place, you will have your own experience of Presence there. But my guess is that you will be touched and moved by Something that is in you but yet not completely you, something dynamic, surprising, and very, very wise....it is your wilderness calling." I plan to listen.
--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
The Wisdom of Jerry.......2007-03-14
This book was written with the last ounce of strength Jerry May had as he was dying of cancer. It is full of joy, humor, gentleness and beauty, and it is vintage Jerry. A beautiful book for those who love nature, beauty and the outdoors, and seek the divine in natural settings.
THE LAST SPIRITUAL TESTAMENT OF A VERY WISE MAN.......2006-10-19
Gerald May, well known author of Addiction and Grace, was dying as he wrote this book. He leaves it to us as a last testament of the wisdom he gained not from his teachers, peers or patients, but from the wilderness within him and without. Recounting expeditions into nature over a five-year period, he shares with us what he experienced in the woods and on the water, how nature's lessons healed him finally at a deep level of his being, and how they might also heal us. He and we are one with that nature, not separate from it, whether to tame or destroy or protect. Nature herself heals the rift that can arise between her and us, and led him to accept its force within himself -- even fear, imperfection and dying -- exactly for what it is. May acquires a Zen-like openness to all things, an appreciation and acceptance of all things just as they are, a delight in and gratitude for all things, and of the force and power behind them. "Love," he writes, "is the pervading passion of all things that draws diversity into oneness, that knows and pleads for union, that aches for goodness and beauty, that suffers loss and destruction.... Love is the energy that fuels, fills, and embraces everything everywhere. And there is no end to it, ever." His insights are many: great and small, clear and subtle, well-known to solitary venturers into the wild and strikingly origianl with him. His perception into his own deep feeling is acute and his writing is exquisite. This book is a gift for us all, a special gift for those who appreciate nature or have, like May, spent time alone in it.
Seeing into Yourself through experiencing Nature.......2006-09-26
In "The Wisdom of Wilderness", Dr. Gerald May, a practicing psychiatrist and avid outdoor enthusiast, engagingly shares insightful stories of how he learned about himself through his experiences in nature. While we live in hectic worlds with little time for conscious reflection, Dr. May encourages us to learn about ourselves through thoughtful consideration of our everyday experiences.
Though "The Wisdom of Wilderness" reads more like a vivid Steinbeck novel than a step-by-step self-help book, each chapter helps us gently illuminate our own deeper nature. In acknowledging our own forms of "control of the unexpected", "fear of bears" and "disdain for mutilated turtles", we inevitably come closer to also recognizing our own humanness. Dr. May centers us both in our present time and in our self as a unique person.
I highly encourage "The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature" for every adventurous reader. Like every true adventure, you will return a different person after reading Dr. May's inspiringly provocative stories.
Gerald May truely inspires.......2006-07-21
This book by Gerald May is amazingly powerful and inspirational. His revelations of personal feelings, thoughts and experiences are so well detailed, that the pages jump to life. This is a must read for anyone searching for a peaceful heart.
Book Description
While most Christians have an awareness of the third person of the Trinity, they have little experience of this personhood or power.
Experiencing the Holy Spirit shows readers how to welcome the Holy Spirit's presence into their lives and grow in intimate relationship with Him through hearing and obeying His voice; praying and walking in the Spirit; operating in His power, gifts, signs, and wonders; and receiving His anointing. Includes more than 50 interactive exercises.
Customer Reviews:
You must Experience It.......2001-03-08
This book is awesome! It is a great study guide for those who have doubts, questions or want to receive the Holy Spirit. This book brings so many things to the open and allow the reader to reflect on God's grace and Spirit. I would recommend this book to anyone who is earnestly seeking God's direction for their life.
Experience It for your self........2001-03-08
This book is totally awesome. It is a great study guide to opening your heart, mind and spirt to the Holy Spirit. It brings so many things to the open and allows you to experience what Christ gave us; the Holy Spirit. I would recommend this book to anyone who is earnestly seeking Gods direction for their life.
Book Description
The Christian life is not a set of rituals or teachings, but a relationship-a relationship with God through His Holy Spirit. No matter how much you know about the Bible, now matter how strong your self-discipline is, no matter how hard you try to serve and please God, if your relationship with the Holy Spirit is weak, the Christian life will not work for you. In this book, Robert Heidler shows how God wants to unleash His power in your life, to bring you into dynamic, life-giving relationship with the Spirit of God. We were given the Holy Spirit to make the Christian life experiential, to make Jesus real in our lives. So stop struggling to survive from week to week, and start living every minute in the power He has given you.
Customer Reviews:
Very easy to understand yet so powerful.......2006-01-26
Of all the books my wife and I have read on the Holy Spirit, this book was by far the easiest to understand and at the same time the most enlightening. Since the author was formally trained against many facets of the Holy Spirit's availability in our own everyday lives, the author is well positioned to clearly speak from both sides of the experience. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit Himself had to undo much of what the author learned from man's theological institution and then teach the author about Himself in a more direct and personal way.
Best Book on the Holy Spirit! Hands Down!.......2005-12-21
I've read multiple books on the Holy Spirit, and this is by far the best book i've read yet. Simple to read, very "plan and simple" cuts to the chase, and is filled with many revelations. If you are a "believer" who doesn't believe in the Holy Spirits Ministry today (spiritual gifts, baptism, etc) then this book might not be for you just yet! Try reading Jack Deeres book 'Surprised by the Power of the Spirit' and then read this one, both books are written by Dallas Grads, so they are pretty solid. If you tired of "playing Christian" and want to know God, and have a relationship with Him, this book is a GREAT start to understanding how to do that.
The book with answers!.......2004-06-08
I highly recommend reading this book if you have questions about the Holy Spirit. Pastor Heidler takes an objective look at Baptism of the Holy Spirit. His almost humorous recall of his innocence in understanding this experience makes this book so easy to receive. Don't miss the introduction! It lays the whole foundation for why he wrote the book in the first place. I buy this book by the boxful and use it to add to my own testimony of being filled with the spirit. It's easy to read and understand. It's one of the best I've ever read about the Holy Spirit. Once you start reading it, plan on staying up late!!
Combines the Best of Scholarship & Practicality.......2004-02-03
What a great book! What a great teacher! This book is like a "Holy Spirit 101" primer, and it's ideally suited for new believers and those who are coming out of cessationism into the freedom of the Spirit. Because of Pastor Heidler's education at Dallas Theological Seminary, he is able to explain the Greek & Hebrew meanings behind the English words and exegete with the best of them. This was an easy & fast read, and it was "meat," not "milk." I highly recommend it!
Textbook for Experiencing the Holy Spirit's Life.......2000-02-02
This is the best book I have read on the subject of experiencing the Holy Spirit's work. The author, understanding most people's difficulty in relating to the Holy Spirit, offers very practical help in learning to know various aspects of the Holy Spirit's ministry in the life of the Christian from salvation to sanctification to the release of spiritual gifts for works of service. The information is helpful toward relating to the Holy Spirit as a Person and not some "Force" or power. It is most encouraging and reviving. I would heartily recommend it as a textbook to be offered to new believer's and quite insightful to mature believer's. This book is filled with Scripture references to reinforce each point along with exciting personal testimonies. It's well worth the price.
Book Description
"A very significant contribution.... This book tells a story that is usually left out of the master narrative of the history of exploration.... Moreover, it tells a story based on real expeditions and experiences, and it quotes liberally and effectively from engaging reports and sixteenth-century treatises, so it should appeal to general readers as well."
—Carla Rahn Phillips, Union Pacific Professor in Comparative Early Modern History, University of Minnesota
As Spain colonized the Americas during the sixteenth century, Spanish soldiers, bureaucrats, merchants, adventurers, physicians, ship pilots, and friars explored the natural world, gathered data, drew maps, and sent home specimens of America's vast resources of animals, plants, and minerals. This amassing of empirical knowledge about Spain's American possessions had two far-reaching effects. It overturned the medieval understanding of nature derived from Classical texts and helped initiate the modern scientific revolution. And it allowed Spain to commodify and control the natural resources upon which it built its American empire.
In this book, Antonio Barrera-Osorio investigates how Spain's need for accurate information about its American colonies gave rise to empirical scientific practices and their institutionalization, which, he asserts, was Spain's chief contribution to the early scientific revolution. He also conclusively links empiricism to empire-building as he focuses on five areas of Spanish activity in America: the search for commodities in, and the ecological transformation of, the New World; the institutionalization of navigational and information-gathering practices at the Spanish Casa de la Contratación (House of Trade); the development of instruments and technologies for exploiting the natural resources of the Americas; the use of reports and questionnaires for gathering information; and the writing of natural histories about the Americas.
Book Description
Incomparable photographs coupled with essays from an award-winning journalist make this beautifully designed gift book a perfect souvenir of Manhattan's urban arcadia. A celebration of Central Park-at a time when there is increased interest in and goodwill toward New York-it explores every vantage point of the 843 acres, through every season. 212 full-color photographs plus map.
Customer Reviews:
America's Great Park.......2005-12-17
Central Park is just a national treasure, and this book does a wonderful job of capturing the park. It's easy to say that it impossible to take a bad picture this breath taking oasis, but as this book shows it does take skill to really capture the essence of the park. I believe even a native New Yorker, who had spent their whole life in the park, could appreciate this book and could get a who new feel for the space. I recommend this book to anyone with a love for things beautiful.
212 Views of Central Park : Experiencing New York City's Jewel From Every Angle.......2005-08-21
Excellent book! I have purchased several for visiting friends and family.
Breath-taking.......2004-03-27
As enjoyable and informative as "Central Park, An American Masterpiece: A Comprehensive History of the Nation's First Urban Park" by Sara Cedar Miller, this book reveals why the great park was known as the "lungs" of New York City. "212 Views of Central Park: Experiencing New York City's Jewel From Every Angle" by D. Sandee and Hartman Brawarsky is gorgeous book, and each of the 212 views are nothing less than breathtaking. It's not only a great coffee table book, but also has very informative text. It is a true glorification of Vaux's and Olmstead's vision and realization of what true civic engineering is capable of, when supported by a responsive government. Of course, there is no substitute for experiencing the park first-hand, but this sure conveys that sense of relief from the city's frenzied pace, and of the park's true beauty. I recommend this book highly.
212 Views of Central Park.......2002-11-11
There are several books of photographs of Central Park on the store shelves. This one stands out. The photos in 212 Views are stunning. You feel as if you are standing right there, you imagine you will feel the fresh air on your face as you turn the page! The text is like a well-informed friend who accompanies you, the reader, through Central Park, sharing select details about the history and design of the Park and adding layers of depth to your immediate sensory appreciation of the Park. Whether you are a frequent user of Central Park, an occasional visitor, or an arm chair stroller, experiencing the park only through the pages of the book, I highly recommend 212 Views. It's a great gift for the holidays, too. (I bought copies for my exercise partner who loves fast-walking in the Park and for my mother!)
A visual and verbal delight.......2002-10-30
New York residents and visitors will treasure these vivid photos and charming essays infused by a love of the city and its showcase park. "Views" will entertain and educate readers, and encourage their explorations. Enjoy!
Average customer rating:
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Wild Communion: Experiencing Peace in Nature
Ruth Baetz
Manufacturer: Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services
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ASIN: 1568381875 |
Book Description
Wild Communion is an inspiring, elegantly written guide for making connections with nature part of everyday life-even when living in urban America. Ruth Baetz provides ingenious suggestions and practical stategies for dropping preoccupations and allowing nature to penetrate our racing minds in the time we can spare
Customer Reviews:
Inspirational and practical.......1998-03-12
A great guide for anyone, but particularly urban dwellers, seeking to reconnect with or deepen their relationship with nature. Provides simple exercises using a variety of techniques derived from meditation, hypnotherapy, relaxation.
Book Description
Did you know that on the asteroid Ceres you could jump six miles high? That on Pluto it gets so cold that the atmosphere freezes and falls to the ground as snow? Or that there is a volcano on Mars that is almost three times as tall as Mount Everest? Join astronomer Alvin Jenkins and illustrator Steve Jenkins as they take you on an incredible tour of our solar system. Filled with amazing facts about planets, moons, asteroids and everything in betweenand some of what lies beyondthis book will take you on a journey you won't soon forget.
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Experiencing Nature (The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science)
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 0792344774 |
Book Description
This volume, honoring the renowned historian of science, Allen G Debus, explores ideas of science - `experiences of nature' - from within a historiographical tradition that Debus has done much to define. As his work shows, the sciences do not develop exclusively as a result of a progressive and inexorable logic of discovery. A wide variety of extra-scientific factors, deriving from changing intellectual contexts and differing social millieus, play crucial roles in the overall development of scientific thought. These essays represent case studies in a broad range of scientific settings - from sixteenth-century astronomy and medicine, through nineteenth-century biology and mathematics, to the social sciences in the twentieth-century - that show the impact of both social settings and the cross-fertilization of ideas on the formation of science. Aimed at a general audience interested in the history of science, this book closes with Debus's personal perspective on the development of the field.
Audience: This book will appeal especially to historians of science, of chemistry, and of medicine.
Books:
- Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town
- Understanding Your Living Will: What You Need to Know Before a Medical Emergency
- Vampire: The Requiem
- Wee Gillis (New York Review Children's Collection)
- Werewolf: War Against the Pure (Werewolf the Forsaken)
- Words of Wisdom: Daily Affirmations of Faith
- You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: The Classic Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
- Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies)
- A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence (Ann Arbor Paperbacks)
- Adios to My Old Life
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Care of Mind/Care of Spirit
