This is an inspiring collection of essays on everyday spirituality. The author, who is chairman of Rodale Press, sees herself "as a tree that has withstood many storms." She has beaten cancer twice and visited the far country of grief after the death of her son from AIDS at age thirty and the loss of her husband in an automobile accident.
Rodale has found meaning, nurturance, joy, and transformation in the natural world, the presence of children, a vacation retreat, and the sixth sense of animals who know how to be there just when we need them. The author's spiritual practice of enthusiasm radiates from these pages as she shares her stories, reflects on Native American ways, celebrates the bounties of silence, and revels in the abundance of blessings in her life. Gifts of the Spirit is like Ardath Rodale's prisms that cause rainbows to dance in the sunlight.