Heaven's Call to Earthy Spirituality

Book excerpt: We often live in conflict, protecting ourselves from what we do not want. Defined and fragmented by our fears, we create a familiar, predictable, safe, and painful story. One day we may experience a spiritual crisis, a turning point, where holding on becomes more painful than letting go.This is a dangerous opportunity: hold on or let go. We then face the question: Who are we, really? As I tell my story, I invite my readers to recall their own. I write about my childhood, years defined as a monk, discovery of an earthy spirituality and woman, good-bye to monastic life, and life as a displaced person seeking sacred space in the world. The new story is what we say after we say good-bye to the old story. My spiritual practice, and the one I describe in Heaven s Call to Earthy Spirituality, continues to be a thorough listening and life-changing integration. When I entered the monastery as a young man in 1953, the abbot renamed each novice after a saint to accompany him on his journey. My patron saint was St. George. From that moment my name was no longer my baptismal name; it was George. St. George slaying the dragon has served as a metaphor in my life, and I use it as the framework of the book. I was safe as long as I sat on my high horse and avoided contact with Lady Dragon. Once I dismounted and met her in earthy environs, there was no going back."