The Courage the Heart Desires: Spiritual Strength in Difficult Times

Into this series of extended conversations with women representing different facets of contemporary American spirituality, journalist and teacher Wolff threads another story: her own struggle for order and meaning after a car accident impaired many of her cognitive abilities. The eclectic group of 14 women she profiles includes prominent religious figures like Sri Daya Mata, an American who became a monastic disciple of the Indian-born Kriya yoga practitioner Paramahansa Yogananda and then the third president of the Self-Realization Fellowship. There are also less typical figures, like management guru Margaret J. Wheatley and the late Gestalt psychotherapist Miriam Polster. Even those who represent Judeo-Christian traditions, like Episcopal priest/psychotherapist/ labyrinth devotee Lauren Artress, bring an unconventional perspective that will appeal to readers who prefer their spiritual practice to push the margins. Each chapter begins with a biographical sketch and concludes with helpful references for those who want to know more. Appetizing as this quintessentially American smorgasbord of spiritual lives is, there is something distracting about the author's "gee-whiz" style that lessens the book's impact. Readers who aren't bothered by that self-conscious tic or by Wolff's own rather intrusive role in the interviews may be inspired and enlightened by these conversational profiles. (Feb.)