I think your book is truly great!    Reverend Deborah Olsen

Thanks for your very practical application of inspired truth. Thanks for your sanity.   Walter Starke - Author/Speaker

Reading Compassionate Living - Everyday Spirituality was delightful as well as powerful. It was like having a conversation with a wise and witty friend. We joyfully recommend that you read it.    Revs Phil and Lura Smedstad

I couldn't put your book down. I enjoyed every page. It is easy to read and full of wisdom. It will assist me in getting to where I'd like to be. Thank you for a great book!    Richard Humphrey

A friend of mine in California sent me a copy of your book for my birthday and I have enjoyed it very much! I am especially fond of Questions - and you have some great ones in the book.    Linda Hedquist

You have created a splendid book. It is full of sound principles which are presented in an original manner. I found your personal anecdotes moving; in fact several of them made me cry. Your book touched me.      Connie Schmidt, Promotional Consultant

My favorite part of the book is your honesty woven into every chapter. I loved the depiction of your fight with your wife, culminating in the realization that sometimes we just want to be mad and have no desire to be convinced of our lovability. I can relate to that. Your book inspires truth-telling. It is refreshing to hear someone come clean with their feelings. You are a great teacher of love.  Mysti Lee Rudd, Spiritual Teacher

Your book is wonderful. The simplicity in which you address spirituality has helped and comforted me in my quest for myself and God. It is an excellent tool for helping me to learn to love myself and others. You are truly an inspiration and I am grateful for your contribution toward my personal development.                Carol Ann Willmoth - President of CBDI

I so enjoyed your book and I am happy to share it with those I care for. Let me know when your next book is completed. Your message is a blessing.   Debra Ann Culver

I just finished reading your book Compassionate Living, and I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed it! Every chapter was a delicious morsel of wisdom, humor and personal anecdotes. Thanks for putting together a book with such bold honesty; it was wonderful, and I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed it! Every chapter was a delicious morsel of wisdom, humor and personal anecdotes. Thanks for putting together a book with such bold honesty; it was wonderful.      Jeannette Darcy - NASA programmer

This book is right on target - - phasers on stun! I’m one of those starship captains who cruises into a relationship on Red Alert, shields up and phasers locked on - looking for the slightest provocation. Boy did I enjoy looking at myself in your book.    Micheal Pierson - Author

Your book is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for your contribution to all of us.    Bruce Garland

Having been a three year student of A Course in Miracles, I found your thoughts focused and enlightening. Your presentation of quotes, experiences and self questions is excellent.                 JoeAnne Worsham - Bookstore Manager

Of the many wonderful books written over the last decade to help us have lives that work better, I think this book, Compassionate Living , is one of the best! Jerome Stefaniak has a style of writing which is enjoyable and easy to read. Even more importantly, he offers practical suggestions to the reader which he backs up with stories and experiences from his own life, and the lives of people around him. There is an authenticity in his writing and his love of God and the human spirit permeates every page of the book! For anyone who is a student of A Course in Miracles, Stefaniak's book is especially engaging. This book is a wonderful gift to yourself and to anyone you care about.     Catherine Gray

A wonderful, practical guide to peace, love, and prosperity. I find Compassionate Living to be a marvelously practical, simple, and yet challenging guide to achieving peace, love, and prosperity in life. I was especially impressed with the practical ideas for applying spiritual principles for our own growth and healing. Equally impressive is Mr. Stefaniak's vulnerability in illustrating his messages with many stories from his own life. This book is a gem waiting to be discovered by serious students of the wonders of life.         Gerald R. Oncken, Ph.D.

I’ve been reading your book with a friend. It is a joyful book to read and is bringing me many gifts.   Spruce Krause - Massage Therapist/Breath Practitioner

This book is wonderful -- simple, straightforward and down-to-earth guidance liberally laced with a great sense of humor. I especially like the affirmations that accompany each chapter. This is a book I find myself lending to my friends! It must be time to buy myself a few extra copies!          Judy Anthony

The spiritual and psychological principals in this book have been the cornerstone of our relationship, before and in our marriage. We find that a loving and light-hearted perspective, which the author practices, really helps the "work" we do to nurture and support a life-filled relationship. Combining the ideal with the practical, this book guides you with inspiration and down to earth experience.  Joy and Harry Togesen

Please send four more copies of each of your books.  Everybody who buys one for themselves wants to give them to all their relatives and friends!     Carrie Locatelli - Fact and Fiction Bookstore, Saranac Lake, NY

Book Review for Compassionate Living - Everyday Spirituality
by Jerome Stefaniak

Reviewed by Anna Mesko for the Indigo Sun

        I have found a treasure in our backyard! It’s a brand new, self-published book by Houston author Jerome Stefaniak entitled, Compassionate Living - Everyday Spirituality and it is sure to become a self-help, spiritual hit. (In fact, it zipped into its second printing after only three months of availability.)

        This is the most personally revealing, down-to-earth, and absolute funniest journey to self-awareness and love that I have ever read. It is obvious that Mr. Stefaniak is a teacher (he is a counselor with his business Inner Awakenings, a Breath Integration therapist, and a facilitator in A Course in Miracles), as the text flows smoothly from beginning to end in deceptively simple language and organization. It was one book I found myself not wanting to put down.

        And, like that rarest teacher, forever etched in one’s memory, Mr. Stefaniak is engaging as he weaves and colors his lessons with wit and wisdom. He is funny and downright unpretentious. The interaction of movie scenes to illustrate points is unique and interesting, as are the quotes that precede each chapter. Some of my favorite include: "Man’s mind stretched by a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions:, "Although the dark of night can conceal the world it also reveals a whole universe", "We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't", and "Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."

        Although this is not a book one must struggle with and through, the concepts presented can be both challenging and enlightening. Self-discovery quizzes titillate, luring attention and thoughts inward. Few can be answered quickly, and all are worthy catalysts for growth. (ie. "If you were on your death bed right now, what would you regret not having done? When will you do it?", "Have you ever held back your truth from somebody? How did it feel?" And, my personal favorite, "If you had a bullhorn attached to your head that blared every thought you had, which thoughts would you be afraid that people would hear?" WHOA!)

        Based on many of the concepts taught in A Course in Miracles, the book embraces spiritual ideas and principles and puts them into daily use. "I believe that becoming who we really are is a daily activity," Mr. Stefaniak explains. "I further believe that the more we can accept our faults with compassion, the sooner we embrace our magnificence."

        Throughout, the text is simple, practical, and delightfully honest. That is Mr. Stefaniak’s way. His personal anecdotes are sometimes stunning in their bluntness and self-deprecating honesty. I could relate to the struggle and emotion so personally at times that I felt momentarily uncomfortable. The great part about the book is that we walk through the process with the author and come out the other end uplifted and warmly satisfied with his revelations and "miracles". ("Changes in perception", as per A Course in Miracles.) Yes, ANYONE can create a miracle!

        There are three main sections in the book: Waking to God, On the Path Home, and Finding Heaven. (Sounds like the recovery process to me!). In the first section, Mr. Stefaniak defines "compassion", the impetus for the naming of his book. I think it is beautiful and would like to print it for you:

"Compassion is loving myself right where I am, no matter what is happening in my life. Compassion is the ability to see that the same fears, doubts and demons assail all of us and to remember not to judge myself or others for these very aspects. It's the ability that when I am confronted with an aspect of myself that I find repugnant, to remember that I will be uncovering new areas of my life as long as I am on and this world, and to take a breath and to love myself anyway. Most importantly, I believe it's the ability to laugh at our selves, to see ourselves intertwined in the divine comedy of life."

        In the broader picture, this also "defines" the outline and progression of concepts throughout the book.
 These heavy-weight topics are among those explored in section one, Waking to God:
                    The Blame Game
                    Breakdown or Breakthrough? 
                    Patterns - Nature's Way of Saying 'You're in a Rut’
                    Relationships - The Intimate Mirror.

      It is a submergence into the depths of both our struggles and our being.

        In the second section, On the Path Home, Mr. Stefaniak guides us through the feelings and emotions of being human and brings to our awareness practical ways to heal and transform them. From the teaching in A Course in Miracles, which states that there are only two emotions, love and fear, Mr. Stefaniak writes, "Love was created by God and is eternal and unchanging. Fear was created by man. What is fear? Very simply, fear is the absence of love. From fear arises all of the other negative emotions." Topics in this section include:
                Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad.  .  .  . 
                Feel to Heal 
                Here Comes the Judge
                What's In It For Me?

        Concluding the main text is section three, Finding Heaven, which is introduced with a quote from Jesus: "The Kingdom of Heaven is, Lo, not here nor there, but the Kingdom of Heaven is within." Thus, Mr. Stefaniak probes and provides the "how-tos" of establishing inner peace and for creating a new future for ourselves. I particularly enjoyed the sub-topics on becoming aware of and appreciating the blessings and abundance already in our lives and the nudge to find the humor in this cosmic comedy called Life. Topics include:
                Just Ask
                Thank You God, and Send Me More
                The God of Laughter
                Creating Your Perfect Parents
                Maybe This is Heaven

             In summary, Mr. Stefaniak writes,

"The state of the world will always reflect the state of your mind. Let yourself be wrong about everything you thought you knew about life. Let yourself believe that you are a child of God and soon you will find yourself at home, in heaven."

        With Mr. Stefaniak as our compassionate guide and mentor, we have tangible cause to believe.