A Mystic Garden: Working with Soil, Attending to Soul

Beginning with winter, when both her garden and her spirit seem to be buried under snow, Norris cycles through the four seasons of a gardener's heart. Norris (Becoming Bread ; Inviting Silence ) writes lyrically about dormancy and transformation, soil and nourishment, roots and blossoms. Perhaps most poignantly, her discussions of spring and summer beauty are tempered by the knowledge that each flower is ephemeral and destined to die, only to resurface again in the beautiful round of life. Norris's short reflections are balanced by quiet and meditative poetry on facing pages, inviting deeper rumination about how God can be discovered in the act of gardening. (May)