Macina and I are elated with the beauty of The Circle of Life’s pages and content. With the skills of Sorin Books’ designer, Katherine Robinson Coleman, every page has a touch of beauty by using the magnificent art of Mary Southard’s four seasons. (Mary also created art for two of my other books: Your Sorrow is My Sorrow and The Cosmic Dance). A memory I will always cherish is an evening this past March when Mary, Macrina and I were all in the same place, LaGrange, IL, to celebrate the birth of The Circle of Life.
Working on The Circle of Life reawakenedhope for my own life and hope for our world. Seeing how the four seasons evolve one out of the other has deepened my belief and trust of the ancient pattern of spiritual transformation: life-death-rebirth. Out of every difficulty comes some aspect of new life, an unforeseen gift of growth. It is difficult to believe this truth when we are in a tough place of struggle. The pattern of Earth’s seasons moving on from death to new life, from autumn/winter to spring/summer, encourages my own belief in this growthful process within me.
Another gift of writing The Circle of Life is that I could co-author it with Macrina. We both asked the vital question: “Can we remain friends if we write a book together?” We felt confident we could, but also knew we were taking a big risk with our thirty years of friendship. What actually happened is that our creative juices encouraged and affirmed one another’s. We found delight in creating various selections together. As we edited each other’s work, this process also served to help us become better writers.
Macrina and I end the Acknowledgements in our book with a note of thanks: “to our readers and participants in our retreats because you are the reason we continue to write.” How true this is. I long for this latest published book to be a source of inspiration and encouragement as our readers move through the many ups and downs of their life’s journey. May this be so for you! |
