Customer Reviews

Talking to God: Portrait of a World at Prayer

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Illustrated throughout with more than a hundred full-color photographs, Talking to God: Portrait of a World at Prayer is compilation of fifteen essays discussing the topic of prayer from the point of view of many faiths. Writings from authors including the Dalai Lama, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hanh, C. S. Lewis, Elie Wiesel, Pope John Paul II, and more allow the reader to contemplate the spirituality of opening oneself up to communication. Writings are brief, sometimes only a page, sometimes a handful of pages; Talking to God is a visual and reflective experience, rather than a lengthy academic or in-depth theological one. A beautiful compendium, compiled with respect toward all faiths and all efforts to humble oneself before the divine.

This book is not only has gorgeous photography but gives you an idea of how other religions worship the Creator. It was very inspiring to know we all have similar things we do, when worshiping and praying, but we go about it in different ways. The book points out differences in a beautiful way, focusing on the positive aspect of each religions unifying factor of praying & worshiping the Creator. I would feel totallyh comfortable giving this book to anyone of any faith because there is no negativity in it regarding faiths or the peoples depicted. Its a beautiful, gorgeous book and should be treasured as I do now. It is prominently displayed on my coffee table. Kudos to the Author. Definitely a 5 star book. Worth every penny I paid for it. It will probably end up being a classic.

In our addiction recovery centre, we devote a lot of time to Spirituality. The whole basis of the 12 Step program is around a relationship with a "Power Greater than Yourself", and for many people coming into recovery the concept of a Higher Power is confusing and somewhat threatening. We use this beautiful book to talk about prayer, and how it a part of the human makeup, and has been since the beginning of civilizations. In the archeological history of humankind, not all excavated lost communities have schools. They don't all have garbage dumps. They don't all have hospitals. They don't all have a marketplace. But every community ever found and studied, has had a place of worship.

Our guests love the respectful and colourful photographs we work with each week in a prayer assignment. It also gives us a template to loosely discuss different Spiritual Traditions, and how men, women and children throughout time have understood, surrendered to, and loved their Higher Power.

Jane Derry

I am delighted that this book seems to be a bridge between the many religions of the world today, based on the common human desire to communicate and/or commune with each person's sense of the divine. This is a wonderful book with chapters from many leading religious and spiritual leaders, augmented with gorgeous photos of people from all around the globe in the performance of their worship. A great Thank You to the editors and photographers for increasing our compassion and bringing us all closer together !!

This splendid book combines exquisite art and profound and beautiful observations describing the human-Divine connection. It combines inclusive and powerful words and images that explore the power of prayer with a wide-world view. I use it as a daily meditation and have given it as a meaningful gift on several occasions.

Talking to God: Portrait of a World at Prayer, by John Gattuso, Editor, Stone Creek Publications, 2006, Illustrated. Forward and introduction by the distinguished, Huston Smith, and religion writer and reviewer Phyllis Tickle.

Some people go to church on Sunday / Kneel and pray / Well I say God bless them / If they can go that way / But me I have to wait / Until the sun goes down / Go to my holy shack / Out on the edge of town. - Joziah Longo, singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Whatever religious tradition or individual observance resonates with you, you will find this book arresting, illuminating, informative and inspirational. The book is arranged in four sections "Every Breath a Prayer," "Praise and Supplication," "The Still, Silent Moment," and "Reaching Out." Each section contains essays on prayer from the wolds leading spiritual minds all of whom have a complex relationship with prayer and wreste with the difficult questions, which can raise more questions than they answer, such as that of unanswered prayers. C. S. Lewis and Harold Kushner observe that prayer isn't magic or a gimmick we can use to get God on our side. "What the writers in this book are saying is that prayer works, but it works on us rather than for us. Prayer doesn't change God, it changes us," observes Gattuso.

Included among the essayists in Talking to God are Karen Armstrong, The Dalai Lama, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jack Kornfield, Harold Kushner, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Thomas Moore, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Kathleen Norris, Pope John Paul II, David Steindl-Rast, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Michael Wolfe, and Carol Zaleski. There is a moving excerpt from Elie Weisel's Night, and the Navajo Blessing Way.

One hundred plus breathtaking photographs make this book a feast for the eyes, creating an album of individuals and groups from different cultures talking to God in their own ways: reciting prescribed words, meditating, singing, chanting, sacred dance, holy ritual, or simple mindfulness. Just looking at the photos is praying. When asked about forms of prayer, read or compose spontaneously, the editor replied:

Just because you're "saying prayers" doesn't mean you're actually praying. As Gandhi said, "It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Brother David Steindl-Rast puts it another way. He says that some people experience their most prayerful moments precisely when they are not saying prayers--when they are watering their flowers, for example, or doing some other mundane chore. That's when they truly experience the sacred. If you look at it from that point of view, then just about anything can be prayer--song, dance, meditation, whatever. Ultimately, I think, the goal is to live as though you're whole life is a prayer. To live prayerfully or, as a Buddhist might say, to live mindfully.


Through many faiths and many voices, though we pray in different ways, we speak to God with the same intentions -- to connect or communicate with the sacred. Rational thought will only get us so far. Let me end with a Jewish Blessing For Caregivers:

May the One Who blessed our ancestors be present to those who provide help for the ill and troubled among us. May they be filled with the fortitude and courage, endowed with sympathy and compassion, as they give strength to those at their side. May they fight against despair, and continue to find within themselves the will to reach out to those in need. And in their love of others, may they know the blessing of community, and the blessing of renewed faith.

I found out about this book at Beliefnet.com. I knew immediately that I wanted it and was hopeful that some suspicions that I had about the book would not ring true. They did. I just opened and perused its pages in awe for about 15 minutes. It is a beautiful book and I am happy to have bought it. Unfortunately, however, the editors failed to take advantage of the rich religious/spiritual practices of Black people, of "African Americans" in particular. Of nearly 180 pages, Black people grace about 6 of them, "African Americans" 2 or 3. Research shows that in the US in particular, people of African heritage engage in spiritual and religious practices /ceremonies more than any other group here particularly of the Christian kind. Even one of my White students just pointed that she was surprised that the book did not include any pictures of Black choirs. How could you not have any writings by one of the most prolific spiritual leaders in recent history, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.? While I am not a Christian, and very much do appreciate the diversity of belief and prayer, I think the editors of this book really did a disservice in not being more inclusive here. The main focus is on Asia and the Middle East with some consideration of other parts of the world thrown in. I have no problem with that, but "Portrait of a WORLD at Prayer," is somewhat misleading in this case. I would still rec. the book. Just want to let you know what is and is not in it!