This Here Flesh

This Here Flesh has the potential to change you. It did me. Arthur Cole Riley is a contemplative poet and author. In this book, she reflects on 3 generations of her family as she describes an embodied, contemplative spirituality. It is a book of stories on faith and family that invited me to look deep into my own story. As I read, I had to put the book down to breathe, pray, weep, and journal. Each line is poetic and pregnant with beautiful, yet hard truths.

In chapter 11 she writes, “As we heal, the need for more healing becomes apparent to us. It is painful, but healing makes us better perceivers of what is still hurting.” She explores other topics like dignity, place, belonging, fear, lament, repair, and more. I lingered especially long in the chapters on wonder and lament and was reminded that God wants to be with me more than He wants to use me.

If you sense God is inviting you to “better perceive what is still hurting” read this book. Take your time with it. Read it slowly, pausing to turn your attention to what God might be saying to you through its pages.

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Steven Andrus is an SCI alum and Cohort 13 Retreat Host. Steven lives in Rising Sun, Maryland where he works as a counselor at Safe Harbor Christian Counseling.