Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly, and Live Simply [Hardcover]

Robert J. Wicks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2007

Robert J. Wicks, noted psychologist and best-selling author of Riding the Dragon and Everyday Simplicity, offers with an insightful guide on how the wisdom of the ancient desert monks can help contemporary readers grow in personal freedom and authenticity. Exploring the early Christian monastic movement of the Desert Fathers and Mothers through a psychological lens, Dr. Wicks uses their wisdom to guide readers towards humility and freedom. In the same way the desert sages never gave answers, but always asked questions, Crossing the Desert presents readers with the Four Desert Questions that will lead them to Take Three Steps to Inner Freedom.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wicks (Riding the Dragon) uses his experience as a veteran psychologist to introduce fourth-century desert wisdom to readers of all faiths. According to Wicks, the ancient desert fathers and mothers can "provide proven guidance on how to let go and live with a refreshing sense of freedom in the world." His book makes for a compelling read when he blends his understanding of the world's wisdom traditions—drawing from a variety of thinkers such as Henri Nouwen, Zen Master Joseph Goldstein and Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche—with his knowledge of human behavior. One of his great strengths is grounding abstract theological concepts in engaging stories, like when he introduces the virtue of gratitude with a tale of the "barefoot brother" he met in India, who had lived through many tragedies yet was so appreciative of Wick's presentation to the Jesuits. At points, the text tackles too much in too little space. For example, the first of the four desert questions—What am I filled with now?—includes five rather complicated ancillary questions for reflection. Still, the book is an excellent guide to the wisdom and insight of the early pilgrims who fled to the desert to better hear and live out the word of God. (Mar.)
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From the Publisher

Wicks (Riding the Dragon) uses his experience as a veteran psychologist to introduce fourth-century desert wisdom to readers of all faiths. According to Wicks, the ancient desert fathers and mothers can "provide proven guidance on how to let go and live with a refreshing sense of freedom in the world." His book makes for a compelling read when he blends his understanding of the world's wisdom traditions--drawing from a variety of thinkers such as Henri Nouwen, Zen master Joseph Goldstein and Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche--with his knowledge of human behavior. One of his great strengths is grounding abstract theological concepts in engaging stories, like when he introduces the virtue of gratitude with a tale of the "barefoot brother" he met in India, who had lived through many tragedies yet was so appreciative of Wick's presentation to the Jesuits. At points, the text tackles too much in too little space. For example, the first of the four desert questions--What am I filled with now?--includes five rather complicated ancillary questions for reflection. Still, the book is an excellent, concise guide to the wisdom and insight of the early pilgrims who fled to the desert to better hear and live out the word of God. (Mar.)

--Publishers Weekly, January 15, 2007

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Sorin Books (March 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933495081
• ISBN-13: 978-1933495088
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #968,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Robert Wicks received his doctorate in psychology from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. Presently, he is a professor at Loyola University Maryland. In 1994, he was responsible for the psychological debriefing of relief workers evacuated from Rwanda during their bloody civil war. In 2006, he delivered a presentation on self-care at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and Walter Reed Army Hospital to health care professionals responsible for Iraqi war veterans with multiple amputations and severe head injuries. Dr. Wicks is author of numerous books including The Resilient Clinician (OUP, 2008), Overcoming Secondary Stress in Medical and Nursing Practice (OUP, 2006), and the acclaimed best seller, Riding the Dragon: 10 Lessons for Inner Strength in Challenging Times (Sorin Books, 2003). He lives with his wife Michaele in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Total Conversion, February 2, 2007

By 

Carol Blank (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly, and Live Simply (Hardcover)

In his latest work, Dr. Wicks advises those seeking wisdom from the desert fathers and mothers to "read, underline, write out what we've underlined, study, think...absorb, practice." I suggest the same approach to Crossing the Desert. From the first chapter, Wicks continually draws parallels between the fourth century culture the Christian ammas and abbas wished to escape and that of the twenty-first century. He illustrates his points with stories from his personal and professional life and passages written by spiritual leaders and seekers of all faiths. With deeper, more focused reading we see that he is writing about total conversion and the freedom it brings, not simply offering a few add-ins for our bag of spiritual tricks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The desert has its gifts..., January 3, 2009

By 

Renee Aubuchon "reneesarah" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly, and Live Simply (Paperback)

Assuming there is eternal wisdom that gets written about in different cultures and in different contexts, this book presents some of that wisdom in the name of the desert fathers and mothers. The recurrent and superficial mentioning of the desert fathers and mothers in the book makes it easy to believe that invoking them is perhaps little more than a marketing ploy, because really very little is said about them in this book.

The current that runs through this book most clearly stems from the author's background in psychology- and perhaps having yet another psychologist write a book about how to live wisely did not inspire the publishers the way adding some spice with references to desert mothers and fathers did. I am just guessing here- and the way the book reads makes it easy to make this kind of guess.

That said, there are some truly worthy, inspiring and insightful passages in this book that while they were rare, were thoughts and inspirations I hadn't heard put that way previously and that I found very helpful.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not up the level of some of his other books, July 28, 2010

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Grad Student (Glen Cove, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crossing the Desert: Learning to Let Go, See Clearly, and Live Simply (Paperback)

I was not too happy with this book. Previously I had read the author's After 50: Spiritually Embracing Your Own Wisdom Yearsand was very satisfied with it. This book is not as good. First I think the book is improperly titled. Other than a very brief mention of St. Anthony of the Desert he does not provide any specifics on the Desert Fathers. He is a psychologist and I guessed wrongly that he would have more spirituality and theology in his book. He quotes Thomas Merton and I think you would be better served reading Merton in the original. Two of his master works are:
New Seeds of Contemplation and No Man Is an Island If you read Merton you feel connected to the holy. If you read Wicks you are connected to the ordinary.
Another excellent book is by Henri Nouwen The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life