Two Words, One Answer.
Pennington
 Walks the Strings and Even Sings $16.98 Eddie Pennington is one of the greatest finger style guitarists I've had the pleasure of listening to. He has magic fingers! Already looking forward to his next set of recordings.  Centering Prayer: Renewing an Ancient Christian Prayer Form $14.00 I recently discovered Centering Prayer through this book, and I could not have asked for a better introduction to the subject. In Fr. Pennington, I found what I wish for in the ideal priest: knowledge and expertise tempered by compassion and humility. I wish to respond to some negative comments made by other reviewers. One has written that the book contains about one page of instruction on Centering Prayer and 200+ pages of history and theology. This is not quite true, as Fr. Pennington focuses a great deal on the mundane, practical elements of Centering Prayer. While he does make extensive reference to historical writings, I think that is for the best. The technique of Centering Prayer is extremely simple, yet it can be difficult to understand why one should do it and how one should integrate the fruits of Centering Prayer in to the rest of one's life. The thoughts of centuries of Christians who have practiced it or something like it are insightful in this regard. Another reviewer suggests that it is rooted not in Catholicism but in Eastern spiritual practices. Fr. Pennington specifically refutes this view and emphasizes that Centering Prayer has Christian roots. Indeed, he commends Centering Prayer to the many Catholics and other Christians who have found techniques such as Transcendental Meditation lacking and want a spiritual practice of their own religious tradition. While he obviously admires people of all religious persuasions, his sources are the Bible, saints of the Catholic Church, and other Christian writers. Before picking up this or any other book on Centering Prayer, please note the following: Centering Prayer is not a means of instantly assuring oneself an extraordinary experience of God. As Fr. Pennington makes clear, Centering Prayer is a method of quieting oneself and putting oneself in the presence of God. One does so not because one expects any kind of personal experience or benefit, but simply because it is God's due. If God chooses to grace an individual with an extraordinary experience of Him while praying, that is His business. With this in mind, I believe that most anyone who reads Fr. Pennington's book could profitably practice Centering Prayer  Diagnosing Learning Disorders, Second Edition: A Neuropsychological Framework $40.00 Pennington's first edition on diagnosing learning disorders was showing its age, yet still the best one-volume summary on the neuropsychological underpinnings of learning disorders. This is a thorough revision and update of that earlier work. My office has owned it for about a week and I am not yet finished, but can already see that it is a major update, equivalent to writing an entirely new book. Like the first edition, this volume starts by offering a general neuropsychological breakdown of learning disorders and questions about subtype analysis. Where the first edition then described research evidence for five types of learning disorder, this edition covers eight. Each includes summaries of relevant and recent research substantiating the cognitive problems that undergird each of the types of learning disorder. Pennington describes his own program of research a good deal, which is natural, but also includes references to competing hypotheses, such as the generalized cerebellar skill-deficit hypothesis of the syndrome commonly known as dyslexia. A great summary for neuropsychologists who work with children. |
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