The White Stone: The Art of Letting Go

Review\n"The White Stone is full of spiritual practices, some quite specific and immediately helpful, not only for letting go, but for embracing what is new."
Spirituality & Practice\n"This small, poetic book is about thresholds. It's about letting go of beloved places and arriving in new ones while remaining anchored in the Christian tradition. Esther de Waal offers in this beautiful volume both a memoir of the homes she has loved and a guide to the contemplative life. Grounded in Scripture and liturgy, she focuses on what it means to live mercifully, creating beauty amid the chaos of the world."
The Christian Century\n"This little book is about letting go and accepting what is new. Beautifully and simply written, it makes for good spiritual reading at any time of the year."
Spirit & Life\n"If you enjoy reminiscing, this is a book for you, one to guide you through a process of healthy remembering and letting go."
Cistercian Studies Quarterly\n"The White Stone is an opportunity to reflect on the places of spiritual significance in our lives, in the midst of aging and the devastating losses of these times. Those new to reading Esther de Waal will find the book inviting, and those who are old friends will recognize her voice."
Magistra\nEsther de Waal is one of today's most beloved spiritual writers. In The White Stone, she reflects on the changes and losses that come with growing older. Esther reflects on solitude and, following a period of illness, saying goodbye to a family home and the Welsh border landscape she had known for decades which inspired some of her greatest writing. In her characteristic style, she sees everything as a portal into a deeper spiritual understanding.\nShe draws on the wealth of the Christian tradition, especially scripture and the monastic and Celtic spiritualities she knows so well, to help her navigate her way through not only the inevitable sense of loss that accompanies such change, but also to embrace the new possibilities it brings. The white stone of the title refers to a small pebble from the river that ran through her garden that she keeps in her pocket, but also strikes a note of hope referring to the new identity promised by God (Revelation 2.17). This is a book of simple, profound wisdom that will speak to many coping with change in their own lives.