Every day that we awaken from our sleep is an opportunity to pray; but when we awaken to the presence of the Divine everywhere, every day is an invitation to be prayer. Praying All That You Are With All That Is is both a scholarly assessment of spirituality and prayer, as well as a reflective and personal expedition into and through them. Offering an interreligious study within a nonreligious context, A Spirituality of Prayer notes that, "A spiritual life is really nothing more or less than life itself," but then challenges readers to see life differently. With care and insight, Kevin Ryan guides readers through an exploration of the spiritual landscape, challenging our images of God, examining religions' influence, and encouraging a deeper and more meaningful commitment to a life-long journey with and in the presence of the Divine.
About the Author: With a B.A. degree in English from St. John's University and a Masters in Theological Studies from the University of Dayton, Kevin has taught English, Theology, and Spirituality at the high school and collegiate levels for thirty years, and was an award-winning Cross-Country and Track and Field coach for over twenty-five of those years. During that same time, he has offered outside workshops and courses on Native American Story-telling and Spirituality, Male Spirituality, Biblical Studies, Sacraments, Lay Ministry, Yoga, and Backpacking/Survival Skills, and has been solicited to speak and to lead prayers at many different functions. After his twenty-eight year career as a teacher and a coach at a parochial, Catholic high school, Kevin was invited to teach "Spirituality and Education: Holistic Perspectives" in the Educational Studies: Cultural Foundations department of The Ohio State University. While Kevin's roots are Midwestern, his spiritual interests have been global, exploring spiritual paths for over thirty-five years. Born and raised in a traditional Roman Catholic environment in Minnesota, Kevin's spirituality began drifting beyond the boundaries of that institutional expression of faith when he was first introduced to interreligious studies nearly twenty-five years ago during his graduate work. Sparked by a broader view of God than ever before, he continued his own study into other religious traditions, and frequently joined them in prayer and in dialogue to deepen his understanding of them as well as to foster his own spiritual development. Over the last twenty years, the heart of his own spiritual life has become rooted and nourished almost exclusively through traditional Native American practices, although he continues to learn from and about other religious traditions. Along with teaching, Kevin now offers much of his energies to aiding in the discovery of the Divine in ordinary life, through lectures, yoga instruction, weddings, and retreats, while he continues to work part-time at a local family bakery and pizzeria. On his downtime, he can be found running (or cross-country skiing in the winter) the streets and Metro Parks of Columbus, Ohio, or backpacking just about any piece of wilderness he can get to in the United States.