Table of Contents
Foreword Sheila Cassidy 1
Acknowledgements 3
Introduction 7
Part 1 Ah, not to be cut off 11
1 Loneliness 13
2 Stumbling into grace 15
3 Storehouses 17
4 The great storm 19
5 Embracing struggle 21
6 Between two worlds 23
7 An undefended life 25
8 Excuse me sir, I believe… 27
9 An amends to yourself 30
10 A dignified life 32
11 Touched by life 34
12 You, my own deep soul 36
Part 2 The inner-what is it? 39
13 Thou Art in calm and storm 41
14 Tenderising of the soul 43
15 By way of loss 45
16 An embodied life 47
17 As gently as a feather 49
18 What used to be a hindrance 52
19 The ear of your heart 54
20 A radical dependency 56
21 Home will bring you home 58
22 When curiosity becomes stronger than fear 60
23 The sacrament of tenderness 62
24 Until it takes 64
Part 3 Intensified sky 67
25 Intensified sky 69
26 Walking in the Light 71
27 A graceful elegance 73
28 A most tender knowing 75
29 Writing as a way of being 77
30 Heart-Work 79
31 Being love 81
32 An exquisite risk 83
33 Farewell 85
34 The Serenity Prayer 88
35 I love you, gentlest of Ways 90
36 A beautiful practice 92
37 The Way of a Pilgrim 94
Part 4 Homecoming 97
38 The Winds of Homecoming 99
39 A God hidden in Tenderness 101
40 A twilight dwelling 103
41 Unlearning your way back to God 105
42 That which is wide and timeless 107
43 Solitude as a way of being 109
44 "Be" the mystery at the crossroads 111
45 What has been whispered to you 113
46 Prayer of the heart 115
47 An anchored presence 117
48 A gathered silence 119
49 So tender 121
50 Rearranged by life 123
References 126
Further Reading 142
Copyright Acknowledgements 143
About the Author 145
Previous Titles 146
About Sheila Cassidy 148
About the Artist 149
Illustrations
Front Cover Avenue of Poplars at Sunset, 1884 Vincent van Gogh
1 A Long December woodcut, 2015 Kent Ambler 12
2 Buddha and Chickadee woodcut, 2019 Kent Ambler 40
3 Journey woodcut, 2015 Kent Ambler 68
4 Afterglow woodcut, 2020 Kent Ambler 98