Greening

Greening: Poems in the Unfolding of Our Lives by Stephen W. Smith is an invitation to travel through the unfolding seasons of our lives: pruning, wintertime; fallow ground; greening, abundance; pilgrimage, pathways and more. Greening is a portal to explore the soul's flourishing and thriving as well as many of the seasons of life we all experience. Rumi describes a place to perhaps read a poem; find each other again in turbulent times and take:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

There is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass..."

Greening is a field to meet in to explore ideas, longings, faith and love. These are poems are a reflection, contemplation and inspiration.This is more than a book of poems. It is a companion for the soul--"a bendecition" as Celtic Scholar, John Philip Newell describes Stephen W. Smith's poetry. It is a book "that invites the reader to soften, to unclench and to participate in the long journey or renewa"l as contemporary poet, David Gates writes of Smith's poems.

Written in six sections of poetry, along with six essays to explore the various seasons of the soul, Greening becomes a sort of roadmap for the spiritual journey. Stephen W. Smith is the author of numerous books including the best selling, The Lazarus Life and Soul Custody. His vocation has been in caring for the soul--his own as well as many others.

The author Seth Godin writes, "Poetry exists to slip important ideas through the filters we've built to keep them out." Smith says it like this: "We need something to slip around our homes and come into our hearts through the back door because most of our front doors are locked and protected. Poetry exists to help us feel safe-not behind lock doors but as a way to find our way so that we, together, can move onward and upward. Poems are the key to unlock our hearts to find ourselves and each other. They are keys to open our hearts in freedom to see the world and hold our faith in a whole and holy new way.