The Wisdom of Wilderness
Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Wilderness is not just a place; it’s also a state of being. Nature is not only found outdoors; it exists deep inside all of us and reveals who we really are. The awe-inspiring power of nature is explored by beloved psychiatrist and author Gerald May in his final book.
The Wisdom of Wilderness is both a memoir and a spiritual guide. May discusses the lessons he learned when he stepped away from his busy life and let nature speak to him; lessons we can all learn if we take the time to get in touch with the “greater power” manifest in all living things.
Gerald G. May, M.D. (1940-2005), practiced medicine and psychiatry for twenty-five years before becoming a Senior Fellow in Contemplative Theology and Psychology at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland. He was the author of many books and articles blending spirituality and psychology, including Addiction and Grace, Care of Mind/Care of Spirit, Will and Spirit, and The Dark Night of the Soul.
“Rarely are we graced by such honest and profound reporting of what it is to be a spirit in a body on earth. You can only enliven yourself by drinking here.” – Mark Nepo, author of The Exquisite Risk and The Book of Awakening.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Psychiatrist May (1940 2005), known for his works blending psychology and spirituality (Addiction and Grace), chose the theme and milieu of Nature for this, his last book. Chronicling outdoor forays he took from 1990 to 1995, May's elegant prose uses a storyteller's magic to plumb the profound mystery of outside events that provoke and foster inner change. Vivid details and masterful style place the reader in context: breathing alongside a bear, drumming with cicadas, grieving a man-mutilated turtle, dodging eagles or seeking fire's heat in a soaking storm. "Thunder came and it was my song, and the wind my courtesan, and praise welled up inside me as the rain poured, drenching down around and in and through me until the fire finally died under its flow and there was nothing but cold dark chilling water covering everything, running down my legs into rivulets." May is a kind of Christian Zen master, but this book doesn't favor a particular religious tradition so much as the deep wild of nature's way. In this work for everyone, he wants us to understand that wilderness is our natural state and that contemplative communion with the "Power of the Slowing" will bring us safely home to our wild eternal selves.
