Books: "Reflections, Meditations, and Inspirations" from Maggie Oman Shannon

"Prayers for Hope and Comfort" by Maggie Oman Shannon covers issues facing individuals (illness, addiction); those challenged in relationships (aging parents, divorce); local communities (natural disasters, unemployment); the larger world (poverty, hunger, war); and creation itself (loss of rainforests, species extinction, global warming).

In a world that feels increasingly fragile, people will continue to look for new prayers and new ways to pray. While there are a number of anthologies of prayer available, no book, until now, has attempted to provide a collection that focuses specifically on prayers for a wide range of modern challenges, from the personal to the global. Prayers for Hope and Comfort by Maggie Oman Shannon covers issues facing individuals (illness, addiction); those challenged in relationships (aging parents, divorce); local communities (natural disasters, unemployment); the larger world (poverty, hunger, war); and creation itself (loss of rainforests, species extinction, global warming).

The book offers readers solace drawing from the wisdom of every era, every major faith and tradition, and the important voices of those who have lived through such experiences themselves. "Whatever prayer means to you personally, it is my prayer that you will find selections here that reflect your cries, destroy your obstacles, transform your fires into music, lead you in times of strife, compel you to action, and most of all, give you hope," writer Shannon says in the Introduction.

Prayers for Hope and Comfort contains selections from some of the world's most profound poets and thinkers: David Whyte, Eckhart Tolle, Mary Oliver, and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as traditional prayers and verses from every time and place.

Maggie Oman Shannon is a spiritual director and writer. She is the author of One God, Shared Hope (2003) and The Way We Pray (2001), editor of Prayers for Healing (1997) and co-author of A String and a Prayer (Red Wheel, 2002). She lives in San Francisco. Visit her at www.thenewstory.com.

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