Book Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

A Sacred Place to Dwell
Henryk Skolimowski
Element Books 02/94 Paperback $13.13
ISBN: 1843331977

"The world is not a machine but an exquisite sanctuary. To treat yourself well, to treat others well, you must know that the world is not a heap of meaningless rubbish but a place reverberating with divine energies," writes author Henryk Skolimowski.

Skolimowski, who is Professor of Ecological Philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and at the University of Lodz, Poland, has constructed a bold and visionary ecological spirituality for our times. Skolimowski sees God in all aspects of creation and challenges readers to reverence the world as a sanctuary.

In ancient times, the earth was viewed as a misterium tremendes, a sacred place to dwell in. In our souls we can intuit "the quintessential unity of all things," says the author. We should revel in the miracle of the creation and savor the melodies in the great symphony of life. Our love for the world's beauty is an expression of soul.

Skolimowski sees in the ministry of St. Francis a model for an ecological ethic based on empathy with all creation. We must see the connection between the healing of the earth and the healing of ourselves. Values such as living simply, frugally, and responsibly must be brought to the fore. And, in the spirit of St. Francis there can be no separation of ecology from issues of justice for the oppressed.

A Sacred Place to Dwell: Living with Reverence Upon the Earth by Henryk Skolimowski offers a stirring vision of ecological spirituality for the next millennium.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat