A gentle paraphrase of Psalm 104, which praises God for creating a marvelous world, offers an appealing way for preschoolers to appreciate this song of praise and learn how it works in their own lives.

"Beautifully written and wise … [Martin Prechtel] offers stories that are precious and life-sustaining. Read carefully, and listen deeply."—Mary Oliver, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Inspiring hope, solace, and courage in living through our losses, author Martín Prechtel, trained in the Tzutujil Maya shamanic tradition, shares profound insights on the relationship between grief and praise in our culture--how the inability that many of us have to grieve and weep properly for the dead is deeply linked with the inability to give praise for living. In modern society, grief is something that we usually experience in private, alone, and without the support of a community. Yet, as Prechtel says, "Grief expressed out loud for someone we have lost, or a country or home we have lost, is in itself the greatest praise we could ever give them. Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses." Prechtel explains that the unexpressed grief prevalent in our society today is the reason for many of the social, cultural, and individual maladies that we are currently experiencing. According to Prechtel, "When you have two centuries of people who have not properly grieved the things that they have lost, the grief shows up as ghosts that inhabit their grandchildren." These "ghosts," he says, can also manifest as disease in the form of tumors, which the Maya refer to as "solidified tears," or in the form of behavioral issues and depression. He goes on to show how this collective, unexpressed energy is the long-held grief of our ancestors manifesting itself, and the work that can be done to liberate this energy so we can heal from the trauma of loss, war, and suffering. At base, this "little book," as the author calls it, can be seen as a companion of encouragement, a little extra light for those deep and noble parts in all of us.

Gandhi called prayer "the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening." But what is a prayer? Do you need to believe in God in order to pray? Why are the words important? What is the difference between prayer and meditation? Should you ask for things when you pray? Do prayers change the world around us? Rufus Goodwin--writer, linguist, and former United Press correspondent to the Vatican--addresses these and other questions about prayer in this thoughtful book. He examines the various traditions of prayer through the ages. He discusses practices, ranging from the ancient Indian yoga of sound to the Christian monastic rules of prayer, giving examples of the various religious litanies that ritualize and celebrate the sense of a higher life. Goodwin's intention is not to compare different traditions, but to get at the essential technique and the attitude of prayer--its cognitive workings. Prayer is seen as key to an active inner life and an experience of the higher self. He shows us how prayer can bring about a cognitive restructuring that provides greater access to renewal, imagination, inspiration, and intuition, and provides an anchor for meaning in daily life.