The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Lane, Belden C., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, In ong>theong> tradition ong>ong>ofong>ong> Kathleen Norris, Terry Tempest Williams, and Thomas Merton, ong>Theong> Solace ong>ong>ofong>ong> Fierce ong>Landscapesong> explores ong>theong> impulse that has drawn seekers into ong>theong> wilderness for centuries and ong>ong>ofong>ong>fers eloquent testimony to ong>theong> healing power ong>ong>ofong>ong> mountain silence and desert indifference. Interweaving a memoir ong>ong>ofong>ong> his moong>theong>r's long struggle with Alzheimer's and cancer, meditations on his own wilderness experience, and illuminating commentary on ong>theong> Christian via negativa--a mystical tradition that seeks God in ong>theong> silence beyond language--Lane rejects ong>theong> easy affirmations ong>ong>ofong>ong> pop spirituality for ong>theong> harsher but more prong>ong>ofong>ong>ound truths that wilderness can teach us. "ong>Theong>re is an unaccountable solace that fierce ong>landscapesong> ong>ong>ofong>ong>fer to ong>theong> soul. ong>Theong>y heal, as well as mirror, ong>theong> brokeness we find within." It is this apparent paradox that lies at ong>theong> heart ong>ong>ofong>ong> this remarkable book: that inhuman ong>landscapesong> should be ong>theong> source ong>ong>ofong>ong> spiritual comfort. Lane shows that ong>theong> very indifference ong>ong>ofong>ong> ong>theong> wilderness can release us from ong>theong> demands ong>ong>ofong>ong> ong>theong> endlessly anxious ego, teach us to ignore ong>theong> inessential in our own lives, and enable us to transcend ong>theong> "false self" that is ever-obsessed with managing impressions. Drawing upon ong>theong> wisdom ong>ong>ofong>ong> St. John ong>ong>ofong>ong> ong>theong> Cross, Meister Eckhardt, Simone Weil, Edward Abbey, and many oong>theong>r Christian and non-Christian writers, Lane also demonstrates how those ong>ong>ofong>ong> us cut ong>ong>ofong>ong>f from ong>theong> wilderness might "make some desert" in our lives. Written with vivid intelligence, narrative ease, and a gracefulness that is itself a comfort, ong>Theong> Solace ong>ong>ofong>ong> Fierce ong>Landscapesong> gives us not only a description but a "performance" ong>ong>ofong>ong> an ancient and increasingly relevant spiritual tradition.