Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature » (Reprint)

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.

Tap into the Awe-Inspiring Power of Nature

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. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Acknowledgments     IX
Foreword   Parker J. Palmer     XI
Preface     XIX
The Call     1
The Power of the Slowing     15
Night Fear     27
Cicada Song     51
Of Time and the Seasons     69
Violence at Smith's Inlet     91
A Perfection of Trees     123
The Name of the Eagle     137
Rainstorms     151
Natural Being     163
Another Wilderness     173
Notes     191