This Wheel of Rocks | Free Book
Growing up in the Midwest, Judy Grathwohl never felt she belonged. “I belong out west,” she remembers telling her father. After joining the Sisters of St. Francis in the early 1960s and becoming Sister Marya, she came to realize that she craved a life beyond the traditional path of a Catholic nun. “Something other than dedicating my life to God was summoning me, some other life purpose,” she writes.
It took several years and several detours, but when Sister Marya eventually was assigned by her order to the Northwest, she felt an immediate connection to the place and to its Native people, the Crow and Northern Cheyenne. Little by little, she was invited to become part of their communities, to share their customs and rituals, and eventually was adopted into one of their families. She came to understand that the blending of Catholic teachings and Native traditions helped build within her a deeper respect for the Earth—this wheel of rocks—that she could not have built on her own.
In this intimate, revelatory memoir, Sister Marya recounts her own spiritual journey, her settling in Montana, how she—a Catholic nun from Ohio—came to be embraced by the Crow and Northern Cheyenne, and how their traditions prompted in her an expanding devotion to the land, its resources, and its connections to faith and God.
Honest and eye-opening, funny and heartfelt, This Wheel of Rocks shows how living a spiritual life committed to preserving nature and community can be both fulfilling and productive.
In The Press
Praise for This Wheel of Rocks:
“I predict
that the shining knowledge and insights inside these pages will blow
your soul wide awake in ways you can scarcely imagine. Woven into the
lyric prose are forty years of learning among Native Americans, Earth
activists, cosmologists and scientists, spiritual seekers, and Earth
herself—even her rocks on mountains that seem far too harsh for life.”
—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
“Sister Marya’s memoir is as compelling as a novel, bringing the
reader into the lives of Native people who helped her transform her
understanding of our relationship with Earth. The prose is clear and
lovely, and the voice is instantly trustworthy.” —Denny LeBoeuf, Director, ACLU John Adams Project
“This is one of the most moving books I have read in a long time.
Sister Marya invites us into her fascinating spiritual journey. With
engaging stories she shares her questions and struggles as well as her
emerging insights and integration. This is a life-changing book to be
savored for years to come.” —Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University, co-author of Journey of the Universe
“Marya Grathwohl’s
story compels readers to probe their own life journey more deeply. Her
vivid prose and poetic descriptions inspire and challenge us to live
in harmony with all Creation.” —Sister Claire Whelan, OSF
- Title: This Wheel of Rocks | Free Book
- Author: Steven
- Created at : 2024-10-19 23:08:10
- Updated at : 2024-10-26 16:01:51
- Link: https://novels-ebooks.techidaily.com/210762569-9780593713877-this-wheel-of-rocks/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.