A Journey of Sea and Stone: How Holy Places Guide and Renew Us

In this glowing testament, Balzer (Permission to Ponder), founder of a spiritual travel company, composes a love letter to the Scottish island of Iona, a place that has given her “space to listen to the voice of God and to my own soul.” Iona is a “thin place,” she writes, where “the dividing line between heaven and earth can seem as thin as tissue paper.” Each chapter reflects on a lesson illustrated by life on the island, including how a stone tumbling in rough water eventually becomes smooth (“each of us is vulnerable to the great tension and friction that is part of this temporal life on earth”) and the enriching nature of hospitality (“sometimes the most hospitable thing we can do is allow someone else to show hospitality to us”). Each chapter ends with questions readers might consider to enrich their own spiritual lives, such as “who in your life has served as an example of courage in the face of fear?” Throughout, Balzer gently urges readers to “use the beauty and historical significance of holy places... for more authenticity in our spiritual lives.” Christian naturalists will relish this. (June)