John ODonohue - Walking in Wonder

How glorious it is to hear the voice of John ODonohue again, the lark-tongued poet, philosopher, theologian and anam cara, who left his imprint on everyone he met. Anyone who spent time with himin person or in bookscame away changed. In this spirited conversation, John is fiercely alive with the electric fizz of being, fully attuned to life, ruminative, and so infused with wonder that every question becomes a lantern. As ever, he delves deeply into the plateaus of being human, and explores the thresholds that arise, frighten, but must be crossed to become the self one dreams. I so cherish this unexpected gift.

Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeepers Wife

As this magnificent book demonstrates, even on the printed page John ODonohues voiceso lyrical and eloquent, so profound and impassionedflashes vividly to life, beautifully capturing a radiant soul filled with humor, compassion and utter selflessness. Indeed, John not only brilliantly articulated the magic and necessity of joy and gratitude, he ignited a sense of genuine awe in every life he encountered, and he will undoubtedly inspire future generations to learn how to infuse their own lives with meaning and wonder.

Andrew Carroll, New York Times bestselling author and the cofounder, with the Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, of the American Poetry & Literacy Project

John Quinns self-effacing work as editor and broadcaster is rightly renowned. Here he presents, for wider audiences, his absorbing conversations with John ODonohues glorious, far-seeing, far-reaching spirit. Welcome to these luminous encounters!

Lelia Doolan, Irish activist in various fields

In these conversations, John Donohues timely words feed the deep spiritual hunger that creeps into our hearts as individuals and our nation as a whole. He reframes the human story of fear, aging, death, otherness and absence, reminding us that they are all bound up in the mystery of wonder. ODonohue lives on as a prophetic and priestly presence for such a time as this.

Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, president of Auburn Seminary

In each chapter the reader experiences a rich and exhilarating new conversation. We witness a man whose intellect and life force are in full bloom, deeply rooted in spirit, humor, curiosity and compassion. John invites us to pause and reflect, challenging us to reach beyond our well-trod and comfortable assumptions.

Richard Harrell, musician and educator at the Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory, and Orfeo Foundation

Luminous! Walking in Wonder shines light on lifes dark mysteries and offers sustenance for spiritual hunger. As you confront the inevitable thresholds of loss, absence and aging, this book will serve as a road map to help you navigate with grace, gratitude and a fearless heart. John ODonohues elegant words are a call to live with abundance, to look inward with courage and to look outward with compassion. They are a reminder to embrace the wild energy of your soul.

Gina Vild, coauthor of The Two Most Important Days: How to Find Your Purposeand Live a Happier, Healthier Life

John ODonohues insights in this new collection offer a glimpse into the wonder and presence of knowing him. His signature themes rooted in Celtic spirituality and contemplative exploration offer breadcrumbs on the path, encouraging us to embrace the beauty and gift of each day.

Davy Spillane, Grammy Awardwinning musician and composer at North Atlantic Music, Ireland

This volume is a testament to the timelessness of John ODonohues wisdom. His words are not only inspirational to those of us catalyzing substantive social change but compel us to consider how we nurture, support and thrive amidst chaos.

Rev. Diane J. Johnson, PhD, national interfaith and social justice activist, and founder and president of Mmapeu Management Consulting

In the fall of 2007, I spent three hours in conversation with John ODonohue in my studio in St. Paul. It was an incomparably intense, pleasurable and vast experience. I would say to friends later that it was as though this man had five answers for every questionfive layers of thinking for each of his geologic layers of personality: the poet in him, the philosopher, the theologian, the Irish bard and the splendid, searching, openly ragged-around-the-edges human being. He was not easy to edit for the radio hour.

After the turn of that year, just as we prepared to put his voice on the air, word came that John had died. I found his death hard to comprehend. He was one of the most alive beings I had encountered. I could not imagine his absence from the world. And now the conversation I had with him became intertwined with his passing. It was how many learned he had died. It aired in Los Angeles just as a group of Johns close friends were en route to a gathering to remember him. The timing was uncanny, they said, and yet somehow perfectly in character: as though John had invited himself to his own memorial service and made sure it was lit by his passion and poetry and joy.

This book you now hold in your hands is a treasure. Since I discovered its original Ireland edition, it has rarely left my side. It is Johns voice with us anew and as always and again, as I encountered him, in the sacramental acts he made of thinking and conversing. It is beautifully woven of John ruminating with his dear friend John Quinn. It is sprinkled with his blessings and his poetry and even wise reflections he made on the aging he never really got to. Page after page illustrates Johns insistence that all thinking that is imbued with wonder is graceful and gracious thinking.

This book appears to us, though, in a transfigured moment in the life of the world. Johns diagnosis of our estrangement from the loved ones and strangers with whom we share our lives and our lands directly addresses our unfolding century. The media, he writes, is essentially like Platos Cavea parade of shadows that we take for the real world. It is a huge abstraction from what is real. This was as true in his lifetime as it is in ours, but most of us were not yet ready to grapple as openly as we now must with its consequences.