Amazon.com Review
You will like this person: "I live in an untidy Victorian house much in need of paint and landscaping, in a totally unremarkable beer-and-pretzel-ish small town, in one of the least picturesque areas of a largish Canadian province, and the life I lead is almost completely without interesting incident. I am plain and middle-aged; my hair is usually all over the place, and I could easily lose more than a few pounds." This is how Molly Wolf introduces herself on the first page of her book about finding God in everyday life, A Place Like Any Other. Wolf's God makes himself known in unusual ways--"lurking," "seeping," and "playing"--and seems, inexplicably yet undeniably, to be keeping watch over both the field mice in her yard and the cats who hunt them. Wolf, who had not written for more than two decades, began posting "short meditation-type pieces on several Internet mailing lists" just a few years ago. The pieces, which Wolf posts on Saturdays, are called "Sabbath Blessings," and this book is comprised of a year's worth of such pieces. Each essay is only a few pages long, and each one offers another aspect of Wolf's open-eyed, bittersweet, both-feet- on-the-ground spiritual sensibility. From "Mud Season" to "Leaf Season," Wolf perceives a divine presence in every moment of time.
From Publishers Weekly
The author of Hiding in Plain Sight offers the best of her weekly Internet musings on spirituality, faith and everyday life in this simple volume, arranged according to the six seasons of her native Canada (the usual four, plus two "mud seasons" before and after winter). The book opens with a profound essay sparked by the quotidian exercise of cleaning the refrigerator. Reflecting on the molecules that compose all biological organisms, Wolf explores the possibility that the cruddy exterior of her spoiled cucumber may contain hydrogen and carbon from other parts of creationAspecifically, from Christ's body hanging on the cross. In fact, Wolf speculates, perhaps her own body harbors some of Christ's incarnation, making her a physical part and parcel of the Body of Christ. Some of the book's deepest theological ideas spring from these notions of the Incarnation, such as a vignette about a poor single mother who struggles at Christmastime ("God had not only come down to dwell among humankind, as one of us; God had chosen to dwell among that portion of humankind that humankind doesn't have much, if any use for": the poor). Wolf sounds other themes as well, such as the uselessness of stoically avoiding pain and our damaging tendency to judge others. Readers who enjoy fine spiritual writing infused with thoughtful theology and a healthy dose of humor will consider this book a friend. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
