I have found something rare--clarity!. . .on contentment

books:

	• Soul Gardening: Cultivating the Good Life Terry Hershey Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1999 - 167 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Alchemy

An aromatic idle that allows you to draw a deep breath and ...sigh. Recollections of innocence, yearning, adventures, and dreams awaken. The seeded soul flowers anew! Terry Hershey cultivates alchemy, as when a friend's accusation that a passion for gardening is selfishness ("Shouldn't your passions be other-related?"), is transformed to an understanding that when we allow ourselves to become part of that grander scheme of creation, only then may we become "non-self-centered." Indeed, we can never truly "do" for others, unless we allow ourselves to BE the essence of who we truly are. If you're a "serious note-taker," that is, a person prone to underlining and jotting copious notes in the margins of books, you may begin feeling an uncontrollable urge to doodle in this one!

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I have found something rare--clarity!. . .on contentment

I just finished 'Soul Gardening'. I took the author's advise on page 36 and "put down the book" and spent some time... Well, I just laid back on the ottoman and began to look up, studying the ceiling above me, and my mind began to drift off to a peaceful, fanciful playground. I imagined the texture likened to that of a landscape as viewed from space, and I was flying. I just stayed there, absorbing the richness of the moment (per Terry's instructions, of course) and I truly felt a release of calm, peace, 'permission from within' to invest myself in that. Something else happened as well. I can't explain it, but one of my cats (the one we call Princess Sophie-Ann, a sassy Royal Brat), jumped up onto my chest and began pawing my chest and purring with eyes squinted and chin jutting out as if inviting a kiss. This cat has NEVER done anything even remotely affectionate -- to anyone! Perhaps she noticed something different in me just then. Hmmm. I must say, in just a few pages of this wonderful book I have gained more than just information or instruction. I have found something rare -- clarity!--on 'contentment'. Thanks to'Brother Hershey', for investing time in his garden, and in his writing, which has found it's way into my life.

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You motivated me to live life to the fullest

Thank you from the quiet moments in my soul, for your book Soul Gardening. I would like to tell you how I, Aubrey Hasse, ended up reading your book and what it has meant to me.
I grew up in the country in East Texas in a single parent home with my Mother and brother, Jacob. For three years now I have lived around Falls Church, VA and attended Columbia Baptist Church with my husband, John.
You spoke at a conference here just recently after my life turned upside down. January 2nd I reported my brother missing to the authorities in Temple, Texas. After
doing all that could be done John and I came home. Only days later we returned to bury my 20-year-old brother and try to understand why he and a friend had been murdered.
Before knowing about the conference, John planned to do something for himself; yet he was after me to attend. I spent most of that Saturday just being alone and quiet, but for 5 minutes while walking by the Church (we lived 1 block away) I
came in the back door and sat in the hall listening. The topic was keeping the Sabbath. I may have gotten just as much in those 5 minutes as those in your audience. I left because being with so many people was not easy that day. That Sunday you
spoke about church people needing each other. I really needed those around me and you encouraged me to be able to ask.
John was trying to help but began to drive me crazy with "you need to read this." In 2 weeks he bought 3 books that I needed to read "right away." I did not even have enough time to read the book I wanted. One of those books was Soul
Gardening. I made no connection between the speaker at the conference and the author.
I opened the book and saw the little flowers and thought I could productively read one of those sections a day. Shortly there after, I found myself in your garden watching the hummingbirds and relaxing. In reality, I was sitting in Washington, DC with construction, cars and concrete all around me after a stressful day at work. I could not put the book down.
Your book helped me relax and remember being a kid. On page 29 you said, "I came face to face with a part of myself that had been missing. And I liked what I saw." I wrote in the corner, "I remember sitting in the soft green clover, staring out
over the hills, and slanted tree in the front yard, and life in the country." This life was full of my memories of Jacob and they were heart warming.
Reading your book helped me look into my soul amidst great pain. My brother, Jacob, lived life to the fullest. Your words motivated me to live that life. I am also glad you spoke directly about death. As Jacob was the first time someone close to me had died, I still have a hard time understanding the reality of what that means.
In short, I picked up your book because my husband made me. I continued reading it because it was not churchy. Today, I am better for it.

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The Sacrement of the Present Moment

I just finished this wonderful book. I read the entire book in one day in my garden. This book encourages one to slow down and BE IN the present moment. It reminds us to watch the hummingbirds, listen to the sounds of the trees, as well as to stop and smell the roses. For those with such a hectic lifestyle that they need permission to just "spend the afternoon" and luxuriate in doing nothing, this book will be your enabler. Read it and participate in the Sacrement of the Present Moment.

reviews: page 1, 2

This book is about what it means to be a soul gardener. Reading it is not unlike walking in a garden-where it feels good to be alive, where we sit for a while and talk about what we learn there, and which allows us to be more fully human.

Soul Gardening will not make you a gardener. But it will nurture your soul, teach you how to live, and renew your sense of what it means to live the good life. It is about appreciating the ordinary gifts of grace, the value of solitude, the art of listening, the healing power of nature, finding the balance between loving and losing, creating a sane lifestyle, being fully awake and alive, and the value of slowing down the gift of seeing God's world with new eyes.

Terry Hershey recounts experiences from his own life, using the metaphor of gardening to speak to our longing for spiritual growth, a healthy lifestyle, and a more centered life. Soul Gardening exercises will lead you to your own experiences of the wonder and beauty of daily life.

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