With earnest resolve and the vague hope of a deeper spiritual life, Paul Wilkes began his monthly visits to a Trappist monastery. His plan was to spend time each month with the monks and take back into his hectic world of family and profession what he had garnered from the cloistered life. But Wilkes naively misjudged how difficult it would be to achieve his seemingly simple good intentions. Monasticism turned out to be far more complx and demanding that he had imagined, calling upon him to look deeply into himself and requiring a bravery he was not sure, at first, that he possessed. A year later, he had not only discovered the simple path of monastic spirituality, but had journeyed to the depths of his soul and realized that the influences on his daily life were truly immense. With the ever-increasing call for access to authentic spiritual traditions, Beyond The Walls breaks new ground. This is a book that points a way for "new monks" to live a rich, challenging life filled with grace and faith.
Paul Wilkes, author of the newly released Holding God In My
Hands from Liguori Publications, is one of America's most
respected writers on religious belief and personal spirituality.
He is the author of over twenty books, and the host, writer,
director or producer of seven PBS documentaries.
His book, In Due Season: A Catholic Life, was chosen by
Publishers Weekly as one of 2009's 100 outstanding books.
In a review, PW called In Due Season "an exquisite memoir
that often reads like a novel ."
Paul lectures across the country about the role of religious
belief in individual lives as well the place and impact of
religion in public life. As a commentator on religious issues,
he has appeared on all major television networks.
His book, In Mysterious Ways: The Death and Life of a Parish
Priest, was a Book of the Month Club selection, and won a
Christopher Award. In addition to MERTON, which aired
on PBS, Paul Wilkes was host, writer, and associate producer
of the acclaimed television series, SIX AMERICAN
FAMILIES, which won a DuPont-Columbia award for
documentary excellence.
He has written for numerous national magazines, such as The
New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times Magazine,
and is a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun and the Boulder
(Colorado) Daily Camera.
He has been a visiting writer and guest lecturer at Clark
University, Columbia University, the University of
Pittsburgh, College of the Holy Cross, Boston University and
Brooklyn College. He was Welch Visiting Chair at Notre
Dame, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Paul has been honored for his body of work with a
Distinguished Alumnus Award from Columbia University's
Graduate School of Journalism, where he received his
advanced degree, and with a By-Line Award from
Marquette University, where he graduated.
A practicing Catholic, active in his parish, he lives in
Wilmington, North Carolina, with his wife Tracy, who
founded DREAMS, an arts program for at-risk children. The
Wilkes have two sons, Noah and Daniel.
In 2006, Paul founded Homes of Hope India-US to assist
orphanages and schools for street children in India. He is a
co-founder of CHIPS (Christian Help in Park Slope), a
Brooklyn center that has served the poor and homeless
young mothers and children for over thirty-five years.
