"Human beings need a vision of everything — the whole of space and time, the whole universe, how it works, what it's for, where it came from, where we are in it and why," writes author Martha Heyneman.

This poet, essayist and editor of A Journal of Our Time, looks back with nostalgia at the unified world picture of medieval times and the greatest creation of the period — Dante's The Divine Comedy. During the past 400 years, she observes, this holistic cosmological image has been shattered into a million pieces. The challenge of our time is to "inaugurate the healing of our psyche by arriving at a unified world picture."

Scientists have given us dramatic descriptions of the universe which can be the seedbed for a new cosmology. As Brian Swimme reminds us, this cosmic story is not just for one tribe or nation but for all the people of the earth.

Heyneman believes we need a poetic consciousness to appreciate not only the Grand Scheme but the fact that God is in the details. In addition, we need a spiritual perception of the sacred dimensions of everyday life. And we need to feel in our bones a primal connection with all creation.

Having begun The Breathing Cathedral with some heavy scientific ponderings, Heyneman ends with a poetic meditation on her own place in the universe moving from her body to house to front porch to schoolhouse to church to the wider world. This fascinating volume delivers many imaginative insights into the meaning of "the pattern that connects."