Don't Be a Waster of Sorrows: Nine Ways Our Sorrows Can Lead to a Deeper Spiritual Life

The well known Austrian poet and spiritual writer, Rainer Maria Rilke encouraged his young friend not to be a "waster of sorrows" but to use them in a positive way as a means to help him grow in holiness. And isn't this the challenge for all of us? Everyone has sorrows in life. The important question is: what can we do with them so that we don't waste them? Whether our sorrows are personal or communal, how can we share our mutual vulnerability so that we can connect with others in a way that leads to growth? For over thirty years as a psychotherapist and spiritual director, Peter C. Wilcox has listened to people's stories about their lives. Often, parts of their stories involve sorrows of one kind or another. Some people become overwhelmed by their sorrows while others have learned how to integrate them into their lives in a positive way. This book is an invitation to discover how we can learn to integrate our sorrows into our own lives so that we can grow psychologically and spiritually. It suggests nine ways that we can reflect on our sorrows to deepen our spiritual lives, so that as Rilke wrote to his friend, we don't "waste them"

Religion & Spirituality

Wilcox, Peter C.

Christian Books & Bibles

Wipf & Stock

Wipf & Stock Publishers

John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director 1845-1890

About the Contributor(s): Peter C. Wilcox, STD, has been a psychotherapist and spiritual director for over thirty years. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of America and has taught at the Washington Theological Union, Loyola University Maryland, and St. Bonaventure University. For many years he has directed retreats and conducted seminars on personality development and spiritual growth.

Wipf and Stock

Walking Each Other Home

The English writer G. K. Chesterton once wrote: "Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; everything passed on with grace." These reflections are the author's effort, as an older father, to pass on to his daughter, with grace, what he believes is truly important in life. When his daughter was young, he used to tell her that his constant prayer was to live long enough so that "I can get you raised!" Thankfully, that prayer has been answered. But parenting is a life-long process that evolves as we and our children grow older. Through the years, Dr. Wilcox has discovered that being an older father has advantages and disadvantages. If age gives one more life experience and wisdom, then hopefully these reflections will be a way that he can share his life and wisdom with her and others. Throughout thirty years as a psychotherapist and spiritual director, Dr. Wilcox counseled many fathers who were genuinely trying to be good parents. This book is intended to help fathers influence, in a positive way, the life choices their daughters will make. It is an invitation to explore how we can continue to help our daughters grow spiritually and psychologically into the person God is calling them to become.

Walking Each Other Home: Reflections about Living a Christian Life from an Older Dad to His Daughter

Resource Publications

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a man who sought to integrate life and holiness. He believed that the spiritual life needed to be lived in an active and dynamic way, touching a person's fundamental attitudes and actions. Although Newman rejected the title of spiritual director as such, it is obvious from his correspondence that directing others through various facets of the Christian life was one of his dominant concerns. Surprisingly, comparatively little has been written about Newman's idea of spiritual direction. This book investigates Newman's understanding of spiritual direction during his life as a Roman Catholic, 1845-1890. It examines the major areas in which Newman gave spiritual direction through an analysis of the correspondence from his Catholic years. It also explicates those principles of Newman's own spiritual life that found expression in his direction of others. Newman had a mammoth "apostolate of correspondence" His Letters and Diaries have been edited and published in a series of thirty-two volumes, embracing more than twenty thousand letters. The first ten volumes deal with Newman's Anglican period; the remaining twenty-two volumes cover his Catholic period and are the primary source for this book. These volumes have been studied chronologically in order to determine and extract the major areas in which Newman gave spiritual direction to others, and to investigate the stages of development in his spiritual advice.

Pickwick Publications

When we think about the lives of the saints, we can easily forget that they were people just like us with all the same struggles, temptations, joys, and sorrows we experience in life. They were not born saints; they became saints. And in the course of their journeys through life, other people helped them become the people that God wanted them to be. A Sheltering Tree offers stories of faith, fidelity, and friendship from both Christian and non-Christian writers that explore the importance of friendship to psychological and spiritual development. These stories show how friends became "special graces" special gifts given to us by the Lord to help us grow in holiness. Contemporary stories of "ordinary people" illustrate fifteen lessons about friendship in our own time to help us understand the "grace of friendship" in our lives. These stories are a source of encouragement and inspiration for each of us on our personal journeys, leading us closer to each other and to the Lord who has called each of us his friend.

A Sheltering Tree: Inspirational Stories of Faith, Fidelity, and Friendship

In St. Teresa of Avila's classic spiritual book Interior Castle she describes a difficult period of time in her spiritual journey when she said, "When I think of myself, I feel like a bird with a broken wing." When I left the monastery thirty-eight years ago, this was exactly how I felt. I Was Gone Long Before I Left is the story about my interior struggle to leave the monastery after living this lifestyle for over twenty-five years. It explores the reasons why I went to the monastery, why I stayed, why I eventually left, and what I have learned. Maybe more importantly, it describes the many years of mental anguish, confusion, and depression that I went through to finally make this decision. It has brought back many painful memories and experiences and called for an honesty and vulnerability that I found daunting. For over thirty-eight years, I have been unable to write about my experience of life in the monastery because I felt ashamed. For years, I thought about leaving, but couldn't make this decision because I felt paralyzed psychologically and emotionally. Now, after all these years, I have found the courage to share my story.

I Was Gone Long Before I Left

Sports & Outdoors

Biographies

Resource Publications (CA)

I Was Gone Long Before I Left: What Living in the Monastery for Twenty-Five Years Taught Me about Life

You Have Seen Me and I Am Grateful

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilcox, Peter C.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wilcox, Peter C.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilcox, Peter C.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Don't Be a Waster of Sorrows: Nine Ways Our Sorrows Can Lead to a Deeper Spiritual Life

Don't Be a Waster of Sorrows: Nine Ways Our Sorrows Can Lead to a Deeper Spiritual Life

John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director 1845-1890

Walking Each Other Home: Reflections about Living a Christian Life from an Older Dad to His Daughter

John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director 1845-1890

A Sheltering Tree: Inspirational Stories of Faith, Fidelity, and Friendship

I Was Gone Long Before I Left

I Was Gone Long Before I Left: What Living in the Monastery for Twenty-Five Years Taught Me about Life

You Have Seen Me and I Am Grateful