The Way of Gratitude
IN THE PRESS
“Guengerich… speaks to ‘spiritual but not religious’ readers seeking meaning, joy and transcendence, in this well-reasoned manifesto for a spirituality based on gratitude…. This deceptively simple work will appeal to spiritual explorers of any stripe.”
"A lovely, wise, heartfelt book, with stories like prayers.”
JACK KORNFIELD,
author of Path with Heart
“In this delightful book, Guengerich provides the reader with a deep sense of purpose and joy in a way that brings hope to the everyday. This is a fundamental read that inspires awareness and humility, recognizes the resilience found in gratitude, and lays out a path to meaning.”
“Once in a generation, a book comes along that profoundly echoes our times and brings messages of hope, resilience, and strength. The Way of Gratitude is an elegant meditation on the times that we are living in, and how to rebound after chaos and uncertainty. It's a book you want to pick up and read everyday; to keep by your bedside to turn to for comfort, like a trusted and wise friend. Galen Guengerich's voice is one that will resonate for many, for years to come.”
JACQUELINE NOVOGRATZ,
founder and CEO of Acumen and author of Manifesto for a Moral Revolution
IN THE PRESS
“Guengerich… speaks to ‘spiritual but not religious’ readers seeking meaning, joy and transcendence, in this well-reasoned manifesto for a spirituality based on gratitude…. This deceptively simple work will appeal to spiritual explorers of any stripe.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
(starred review)
“Once in a generation, a book comes along that profoundly echoes our times and brings messages of hope, resilience, and strength. The Way of Gratitude is an elegant meditation on the times that we are living in, and how to rebound after chaos and uncertainty. It's a book you want to pick up and read everyday; to keep by your bedside to turn to for comfort, like a trusted and wise friend. Galen Guengerich's voice is one that will resonate for many, for years to come.”
"A lovely, wise, heartfelt book, with stories like prayers.”
JACK KORNFIELD,
author of Path with Heart
“What a timely book for our disconnected times! Galen Guengerich’s wise and tender words about belonging, connection, and gratitude are like keys to unlock our hearts, give us courage, and call us into the kind of relationships and community we are all longing for.”
“In this delightful book, Guengerich provides the reader with a deep sense of purpose and joy in a way that brings hope to the everyday. This is a fundamental read that inspires awareness and humility, recognizes the resilience found in gratitude, and lays out a path to meaning.”
JACQUELINE NOVOGRATZ,
founder and CEO of Acumen and author of Manifesto for a Moral Revolution
“Guengerich has written an enthralling book. He braids and brings to life two usually ephemeral spiritual emotions—joy and gratitude. Like a good shepherd, he teaches us to appreciate these two emotions, to savor them, and to make joy and gratitude integral to our unfolding lives.”
JANINE DI GIOVANNI, author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria and Vanity Fair columnist
ELIZABETH LESSER, cofounder, Omega Institute, bestselling author of Broken Open, Marrow, and Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes
George E. Vaillant M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard and author of Spiritual Evolution, Adaptation to Life, and Triumphs of Experience
Galen Guengerich's own journey of faith, from Conservative Mennonite to a leading voice of America's most open-minded religion, is fascinating, and the wisdom he shares in this wonderful book is essential for anyone searching for a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. Follow these simple gratitude principles and practices, and you will find yourself feeling a little more connected, alive,and joyful every day.
“Waking up in the morning with a sense of gratitude beats a cup of coffee. It endures throughout the day and helps reinforce purpose and meaning in life. It forces one’s own consciousness on the many blessings received and demands reciprocal acts of kindness. Galen Guengerich’s brilliantly articulated book has the power to change lives.”
Elisabeth Robinson, New York Times best-selling author of The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Peter Georgescu, chairman emeritus of Young & Rubicam, author of Capitalists Arise! and The Constant Choice
BIO
Galen Guengerich is Senior Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church, an historic congregation located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He is the tenth person to hold this position in the congregation’s 200-year history. He has served as a minister of All Souls for 27 years, the last thirteen as Senior Minister.
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Galen was educated at Franklin and Marshall College (BA, 1982), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv, 1985) and the University of Chicago (PhD, 2004). His doctoral dissertation is titled Comprehensive Commitments and the Public World: Tillich, Rawls and Whitehead on the Nature of Justice.
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Galen is author of The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today (Random House, May 2020) and God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), and he writes a column on “The Search for Meaning” for psychologytoday.com. He has also written for Reuters, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, TIME magazine, as well as writing occasionally for Huffington Post and FaithStreet, as well as other media. He has appeared on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. His sermon at All Souls on the Sunday after 9/11/01, titled “The Shaking of Foundations,” was selected as one of seven responses to 9/11, along with speeches by President Bush and Governor Pataki, for Representative American Speeches 2001-2002.
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Galen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he focuses on how traditional religious beliefs and practices, both in the US and abroad, usually reinforce patriarchy to the detriment of women and democracy. In addition, he leads the “Humanities in a Conflict Zone” initiative at Tel Aviv University.
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Galen has spent time in numerous areas of both Israel and the West Bank in recent years, as well as visiting Gaza in 2018. In 2017, he gave an address at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem titled “Reflections on Martin Luther, Individual Agency, and Collective Responsibility” for a conference on “Narratives of Progress: Critical Reflections on Alternative Paths to Modernity.” In 2013, he visited Afghanistan with a delegation of CFR members and fellows, meeting with top military, diplomatic, and civilian leaders in Kabul, as well as in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces. Also in 2013, he spoke in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a visit hosted by Christopher Hudson, MBE, who helped negotiate the Good Friday Agreement. In 2012, he was part of a 15-member delegation of senior clergy from New York City to visit Israel and the West Bank, the first such delegation to meet with a broad spectrum of religious and political leaders, including Shimon Peres, President of Israel, and Salem Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.
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In the past, Galen has served as a Lecturer in Preaching and Worship at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He served for 12 years on the Board of Directors of Interfaith Alliance, the national non-partisan advocacy voice for religious pluralism; he served as chair of the Interfaith Alliance board from 2008-2012. He has also served on the boards of Dads and Daughters, the national advocacy nonprofit for fathers and daughters; the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a human rights organization; and the New York City Audubon Society.
Galen lives in Manhattan with his wife, Holly G. Atkinson, MD, who is Clinical Medical Professor at the CUNY School of Medicine.