For making the earlier editions of this book possible, I am indebted to Joe Bruchac, the great Abenake poet and storyteller, and his wife, Carol, who in 1994 published the second edition with their press, Ithaca House Books. And deep thanks to my dear friend Tom Callanan who brought the former publisher of Parabola, Joe Kulin, and I together, which resulted in the first recorded edition, which was published in 1996. Tom also brought in Therese Schroeder-Sheker, a remarkable musician who has pioneered the use of voice and harp in hospice work. Tom midwifed a creative bond between the three of us, and we were off to the recording studio in New York. I must also acknowledge and thank the gracious Joe Kulin who introduced me to the intimacy of my own voice so many years ago.

And closer to the making of this book, I am grateful to my agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, and the WME team for their belief and deep guidance. And to Brooke Warner for her steadfastness and care. And I’m deeply grateful for the care and excellence of the Sounds True family for preserving the heart of this work: especially to Tami Simon for her vision and love, and to my editor, Haven Iverson, and my producer, Steve Lessard, for their creative companionship.

Gratitude to the dear friends who make up my tribe. Especially George, Don, Paul, Skip, TC, David, Kurt, Pam, Patti, Karen, Paula, Ellen, Linda, Michelle, Rich, Carolyn, Henk, Sandra, Elesa, Stacy, Anders, Sally, and Joel. And to sweet Eleanor who left us too soon. And to my brother Howard for his depth of care. And to Oprah Winfrey for the immensity of her heart.

And more than I can say to Paul Bowler who put everything down to see me through. And to Robert Mason who has been my Virgil since the beginning. And to my dear wife, Susan, who has never asked me to be anything but who I am.

Notes

NOTES

ENDURING SUFFERING

1.  Anthony de Mello, One Minute Wisdom (New York: Doubleday, 1986).

GOD, SELF, AND MEDICINE

1.  “God, Self, and Medicine” was first published in Voices, the Journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists (Fall 1989, Vol. 25, No. 3). The essay also appears as a chapter in the nursing text The Patient’s Voice: Experiences of Illness, edited by Jeanine Young-Mason (Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 1997), 136–142.

2.  A. Merriam Webster (ed.), Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: G & C Merriam Company, 1972), 878.

3.  Alfred Kazin (ed.), The Portable Blake (New York: Viking Press, 1946), 250.

4.  Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1957), 4.

A TERRIBLE KNOWLEDGE

1.  First published in The Journal of Pastoral Counseling (Iona College), 1994 annual issue, pp. 153–165.

2.  Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), vii.

3.  Richard Carlyon (ed.), A Guide to the Gods (New York: Quill Publishers, 1981), 38.

4.  Joseph Campbell, Oriental Mythology (New York: Penguin Books, 1976), 141.

5.  James G. Frazer, Folklore of the Old Testament (New York: Avenel Books. 1988), 26.

6.  Joseph Campbell, Oriental Mythology (New York: Penguin Books, 1976), 139.