Earth and All the Stars: Reconnecting With Nature Through Hymns, Stories, Poems, and Prayers from the World's Great Religions and Cultures [Paperback]

Anne W. Rowthorn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 157731106X | ISBN-13: 978-1577311065 | Publication Date: February 2000

Anne Rowthorn drew together pieces ranging from the earliest Hindu song (3,000 B.C.) and the oldest known Celtic prayer to a contemporary poem by a Nigerian teenager, with a spate of religious and cultural works in between. This collection features works from the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hahn, Ernesto Cardenal, Wendell Berry, Boris Pasternak, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Albert Einstein and pieces by children in UN environmental programs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Drawing upon the religions of indigenous people, editor Anne Rowthorn has assembled an elegant anthology for readers who find their God in the natural world. For example, Albert Einstein reflects upon the prison humans create when they delude themselves into believing they are separate from nature and the universe. Zen monk Thich Nhat Hahn writes of breathing clean morning air in walking meditation. Chief Sealth (Seattle) explains how every part of the earth is sacred. Even a Northwest logger might think twice before taking a chainsaw to a tree upon reading environmentalist John Muir's sad and beautiful lament, "Any Fool Can Destroy Trees." And poet Diane Ackerman writes of the divine speaking to her "between the wingbeats of hummingbirds, when love smiles humbly at sunrise and in the evening rain." Page by page, prayer by prayer, word by word, these profound pieces of writing offer lifelong companionship for all who believe that God and nature are one and the same. --Gail Hudson

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157731106X
• ISBN-13: 978-1577311065
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,541,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Rowthorn, Ph. D. is a writer specializing in ecology and eco-spirituality. Her passion is the environment and beautiful, rural, southeastern Connecticut town where she lives is a perfect setting for her life and work. While on the road she collects ecological literature from the great cultures and religions of the world. Earth and All the Stars was the first book of this type. Her upcoming books of ecological writings are, Song of the Universe and Feast of the Universe.

Anne has written just about everything--articles, editorials, book reviews and books. She has nine books and two more in press. Her pen and notebook have taken her all over the USA, to Asia, Latin America, Europe and Eastern Europe. She interviewed brave kids who live on the streets of Bucharest and teenagers in a hard bitten, drug infested neighborhood of Memphis. She talked to high school students in an elite section of Atlanta, many of whom suffer from anorexia. On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota, Mr. Pipe on Head gave her a tour of his sweat lodge and warned her not to step on a nearby ant hill for fear of harming "my little pets." Throughout her travels she has been privileged to meet a host of interesting people whose points of view have shaped her outlook as a writer and as a person. It has been said that through the exercise of her craft a writer not only produces a product, she also builds a life. Her book, Your Daily Life Is Your Temple was designated a best spirituality book of the year in 2006 by Spirituality&Practice.

While Anne is primarily a writer, she also leads workshops, retreats and eco-hikes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worship and Engagement to Save The Earth!, December 17, 2000

By 

Francis O'Gorman (Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth and All the Stars: Reconnecting With Nature Through Hymns, Stories, Poems, and Prayers from the World's Great Religions and Cultures (Paperback)

This book is a treasury of creation stories, prayers, poems, blessings and rituals. I found it beneficial in two main ways. First, it allows the reader to experience creation from the perspectives of diverse cultures. The breadth of the author's research is evident here, particularly in the inclusion of a significant amount of Asian material which is unknown to most of us in the West. Additionally, her brief notes at the end of each piece help to contextualize the material. But by far my favorite part of the anthology is the second half which contains many rituals celebrating nature. These can be used in personal prayer or communal worship. The author's own Creation Creed and Agape Liturgy are beautiful and easily incorporated into Christian worship. Last but not least, I was very impressed by the introduction to the book which sets what proceeds in the context of ecological activism. The book enables readers to deepen their love for our Earth and thus to sustain activism to save our planet-home for all species and ourselves.

11 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent anthology of religious celebration., March 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth and All the Stars: Reconnecting With Nature Through Hymns, Stories, Poems, and Prayers from the World's Great Religions and Cultures (Paperback)

Anne Rowthorn edits Earth And All The Stars (106-X, $15.95), which gathers writings on reconnecting to nature through stories, hymns and prayers from world religions. This draws from a range of religious disciplines to consider these prayers, litanies and songs from ancient to modern times, providing an excellent anthology of celebration.