Growing in Grace
Gratitude, Cicero observed, is more than just a virtue; it is the parent of all the other virtues. In Seasons of Grace: The Life-Giving Practice of Gratitude, Alan Jones and John O'Neil explore the spiritual practice of gratitude, which can be expressed in acts as simple as writing a thank-you note, cleaning the house or meditating in the garden. Although the authors do not draw explicitly on Naikan Buddhism, their approach is astoundingly similar to Naikan, which emphasizes gratitude as the key to compassionate living. The book is beautifully organized into sections around the four seasons: spring is a time to appreciate the gift of a renewed creation; summer a season of frolicking in nature and enjoying some rest; autumn a contemplative period of introspection; and winter an interval of gathering with loved ones. Each chapter closes with "gratitude practices," offering concrete ideas of ways to cultivate and express gratitude. (Wiley, $24.95 272p ISBN 0-471-20832-9; Feb.)
Susan Yates charmed many Christian readers with And Then I Had Teenagers, an honest and funny guide to surviving—even enjoying—your children's adolescence. Now she teams up with her husband John, a pastor, and their five grown children to write Building a Home Full of Grace, a basic primer on a solid family life. The numerous changes in voices and perspectives can occasionally be confusing, but in general, the book's collaborative approach works very well—and also serves to underscore the fact that happy, healthy families do not agree on every issue. (Baker, $12.99 paper 192p ISBN 0-8010-6415-5; Feb.)
Kabbalah Books
Publishers continue to mine the Kabbalah for all manner of spiritual wisdom, applying its teachings to everything from Tarot to tantra. One attractive Kabbalah package is The Tree of Life Oracle: Use the Sacred Wisdom of Kabbalah to Enrich Your Life by Cherry Gilchrist and Gila Zur. It's a boxed set containing a divination system that was developed in the 1970s based on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, or map of creation. The set includes a deck of oracle cards, an imprinted cloth for laying out the cards, a little notepad and a hardcover guide to divination. The system is alarmingly complicated to learn, but delightful to look at. (Friedman/Fairfax, $19.95 144p ISBN 1-58663-715-0; Feb.)
In Hebrew, the word "Ehyeh" ("I shall be") is the most sacred and secret name for God. It is this word that drives Arthur Green's Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow, a well-informed introduction to Kabbalah for the spiritual seeker. It is tremendously refreshing to read a Kabbalah book that draws from the well of Jewish scholarly tradition but also successfully speaks to a larger audience. Green, who has studied Jewish mysticism for more than 40 years, has evolved from one who dabbled in psychedelics and Kabbalah in the 1960s to a teacher whose erudition bridges the gap between Kabbalah scholarship and popular interest. After a sensitive autobiographical introduction, Green settles into chapters that explore Kabbalah in the past, present and future. (Jewish Lights, $21.95 176p ISBN 1-58023-125-X; Feb.)
Jewish Women Through the Ages Jewish Publication Society adds a jewel to its JPS Desk Reference series with JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E. to 1900 C.E., a comprehensive guide edited by Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry and Cheryl Tallan. The scope is sweeping, covering Jewish women from the time of the Babylonian exile to the dawn of the 20th century. The editors do a fine job of sketching each time period, outlining historical realities and how they affected women. The book also takes great pains to include the Jewish experience of both East and West. Each historical section includes short biographical entries on notable women, including some relative unknowns among the familiar names. The design is attractive, with informational boxes and illustrations adding to the book's appeal. ($25 paper 336p ISBN 0-8276-0752-0; Feb.)
