Letters from the Farm: A Simple Path for a Deeper Spiritual Life

Episcopal priest and social activist Stevens (The Way of Tea and Justice) organizes this series of letters—to other Episcopal priests, to broken souls, even to God—around the four seasons. Each letter begins with a Bible verse and ends with questions, making the book suitable for devotional or group study use. Many of the letters have a local focus on Nashville or Thistle Farms, an organization Stevens founded that is home to women who have survived sexual abuse and drug addiction, but some also touch on global issues. Simple and from the heart, her thoughtful letters range widely, reflecting on the importance of listening; celebrating the purple in lavender; and appreciating the stillness and dry seasons of both nature and the soul. While acknowledging the world’s great griefs, such as genocide and sexual trafficking, the tone remain upbeat, focusing on freedom, beauty, redemption, and forgiveness. The book’s subtitle is a “path for a deeper spiritual life,” but the book might better be described as a well—the benefit comes from dipping in here and there. Her letters perhaps unintentionally gloss over human pain, but they are also gentle reminders that lives unfold within a larger spiritual context of grace and restoration. (June)