Sue Patton Thoele views this paperback collection of meditations as an opportunity to share her spiritual journey with soul-sisters. She is a licensed psychotherapist and author of other books including Growing Hope. It is time for women to bond together and share resources:

"The great eleventh-century Christian mystic, scholar, and physician, Hildegaard of Bingen, defined sin as spiritual dry-rot, aridity, and refusal to grow. She believed that the opposite of sin was to be gloriously and outrageously alive--green and moist, like nature. Water, a common metaphor for both spirit and femininity, is our most obvious greening agent. In order to grow into the beautiful women we were created to be, we must pour the waters of spirit upon our arid places.

All of us have draught-ridden areas within us that need watering and reclamation. The wonderful news is that even a desert wasteland can be turned into a lush oasis when irrigated with enough water and planted with the right seeds. The same is true of us. No matter how dry or barren some aspects of ourselves or our lives may feel they can be reclaimed when sanctified by the powerful feminine waters of compassion, forgiveness, right thought, acceptance, and gentle guidance."

Thoele has divided the book into sections titled Re-Greening Arid Places, Embodying Heart Energy, Nourishing Our Souls, Intertwining Soul-Strands, Honoring Sacred Rights and Responsibilities, Creating Spiritual Touchstones, Awakening to Wisdom, Enrolling in Saint's School, Ascending to Gratitude, and Embracing Angels and Other Emissaries. The author has a keen sense of the problems and difficulties we all face on our spiritual journeys. She is especially cogent on dealing with stress, blame, insecurity, rehashing negative emotional experiences, and knee-jerk reactions.

The book abounds in spiritual practices that can be used in our everyday lives, such as sending love darts, listening to others, and opening ourselves to the leavening agent of humor. Thoele has many wise things to say about heart energy and the active ingredient of grace. One of our favorite passages is on being surprised: "God's bouquets surround us, but we must be sensitive to their presence in order to enjoy and benefit from them. Give yourself the gift of being on the lookout, for you never know when the heavenly FTD will drop a gift from God into your heart."