By Willoway Brook: Exploring the Landscape of Prayer (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: hip pack, Willoway Brook, Schulenberg Prairie, Compass Plant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There are nature lovers who see some shade of beauty in every created thing, and others who cannot appreciate the finer points of God's creation. Even those in the latter category may be transformed by the poetic grace with which Crosby tells of Willoway Brook, a beloved park near her home where she walks and prays. Crosby (Waiting for Morning: Hearing God's Voice in the Darkness) confesses that her public prayers are haltingly ineffectual, but her written words flow with a transfixing liquidity as she tenderly describes the beauty, power and majesty she discovers while "prayer journeying" near her home in Illinois. Through her words, Crosby spellbindingly embraces all the elements found in the outdoor prairie world, painting for her readers everything she sees. Through 14 essays that skillfully blend the untamable world of flowers, fauna, wind and weather with prayer disciplines, Crosby intersperses lessons she's gleaned while playing both silent observer and active participant. Readers will delight in passages about the basics of prayerful communion with God: the essentialness of waiting in silence for God's coming; being open to change despite the discomfort it ushers in; learning to discipline oneself to enter into community; and recognizing that pain is the truest form of soul cleansing. Crosby's clear adoration for nature is contagious, and sure to inspire devoted readers across denominational lines.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

. . .Her written words flow with a transfixing liquidity. . . Crosby's clear adoration for nature is contagious, and sure to inspire. -- Publishers Weekly, January 27, 2003

It's amazing how much you can here when you stop talking. -- Daily Herald, March 2, 2003

Part memoir, part devotional, part field guide, and written in Annie Dillard-espue prose. . . -- Chicago Sun-Times, February 28, 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155725320X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557253200
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,692,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, June 16, 2008

By	J. O'Dell (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book offers a beautiful description of the changing seasons of the prairie landscape while paralleling it to our growing, changing prayer life. Gives you an opportunity to reflect on your own life with an encouraging tone.