A few weeks ago at BookNotes I extolled books on rest, a sabbath way of life, evenhighlighting the new book A Theology of Play: Learning to Enjoy Life as God Intended (Kregel Academic), a careful Bible-based affirmation (by a central PA author from Lancaster Bible College!) of what another author, Jaco J. Hamman, calls A Play-Full Life: Slowing Down and Seeking Peace (Pilgrim Press.) If the first is a conservative evangelical scholar and long-time pastor, the second author was a professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Western Theological Seminary, writing on the UCC-related Pilgrim Press. Like we often say, we’ve got a wide wing-span here at Hearts & Minds and curate titles from across the theological and literary spectrum that we think you’ll find helpful. Anyway, that list invited us to An Unhurried Life as per Alan Fadling and, the day that BookNotes list went out, we received the brand new The Sacred Art of Slowing Down by A.C. Seiple, just published by Tyndale. If you want some “relief from rushed living” (as Seiple puts it) these books will be your allies.

That list was followed, then, by two posts on creativity and the arts, guides to leading an aesthetically rich life. I gave a nod to the late Calvin Seerveld (who I have written about often) and his extraordinary books. If you are a book lover, you have got to own a Seerveld or two. More on that soon — watch for our latest “Three Books from Hearts & Minds” podcast which has a special guest on to talk about Cal’s important work. (You can find our bi-weekly podcast on YouTube (to watch) or to listen to at Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.)

After that last column about enjoying (and benefitting from) the arts and the lovely spiritual call to open up our own creative juices, I thought it seemed right to offer some books at a theme I revisit from time to time — finding God in the ordinary, in the great outdoors, learning to appreciating creation, and, indeed, practicing the presence of God in our own encounters in this sensual, material world. I love that line by C.S Lewis about how God sure must love matter — He made a lot of it!

To wit: this little list of some fun books to help you appreciate creation yet this summer. Read them with your rucksack or with your hiking boots on, or, just as good, read them vicariously. That’s a thing. A very good thing. Read on.

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The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of The Glories of God Seth Lewis (The Good Book Company) $14.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

This small book packs a wallop as I sometimes say. It is really interesting, captivating, even, and thoroughly Biblical. For those who like Biblical study (and that should be all of us, I might add) this hues right to the Biblical line. But — and this is part of what makes this so great — not all of us realize just how much nature writing and popular science and ecological stuff is in the Holy Book. Over and over, Lewis brings us into the great outdoors with incredible stories, down-to-Earth, from the fairly ordinary stuff of enjoying our backyards to some mighty powerful wilderness experiences. Lewis is a born storyteller, it seems, and this combo of great Bible eyes to see creation in light of Bible truths and how the Bible itself points to the creation, is fabulously enriched by his good examples.

Many of the reviewers note that he has the heart of a poet. Alistair Begg calls it “a work of poetic theology as beautiful as it is faithful.”

Lewis, we discover, hikes, works, and writes on the south coast of Ireland. His good words will help you slow down and “interpret the gift of God’s world through the gift of God’s word.”

Eyes to See: Recognizing God’s Common Grace in an Unsettled World Tim Muehlhoff (IVP) $17.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

I wanted to highlight this near the top of our little list because it is foundational. Several years ago I did a big list of books which help us find and celebrate the hand of God in the ordinariness of life. We have a whole section in our store called “the spirituality of the ordinary.” There are so many good ones and while it ought to be a no-brainer that we intuitively find God everywhere, for most of us, it takes some consideration, some spiritual attention, a shift of worldview, even. This book most likely wasn’t on that list (you can find it archived at BookNotes) as I don’t think it had come out yet. In any event, it’s a great one, wonderfully written, full of ideas on how to recognize God’s “common grace in an unsettled world.”

Muehlhoff is a professor of communications at Biola University and has written any number of books about communication, about relationships, about conflict and more. Because he is a specialist in that area I was a little surprised, at first, to see him in this gene, but, man, is it good. So good.

Whether we are in great pain crying out or in great joy (crying out) we wonder where is God in all this? While Eyes to See might be a good book for apologetics, even — trying to give an account of the astonishment and joy and pain and feelings of awe we all experience, it is not just an argument that our human experience points us to the majesty of God. Although Muehlhoff makes it clear that it does. It’s hard to live in this world of wonder and not get some glimpse of transcendence.

But this is more than a case for God’s presence. It is a handbook for encountering God, looking in all the unexpected places, seeing how God works in all manner of ways.

I love this insight — I really do think it will prove helpful for you — that God is around, showing up in ordinary ways (through ordinary jobs, for instance; he has a chapter about science and he has a chapter about art.) It opens up our sense of how we describe God’s presence and action (in other words, not just in answers to prayers or miraculous healings or breathtaking vistas.)

God cares for this troubled world and “give you the eyes to see.” Three cheers for this thoughtful, important book.

As Rich Mouw puts it:

“Muehlhoff not only adds significant insights to common grace theology but he also brings it into new territory, focusing on the reach of God’s healing power into communities of grieving, abused, and oppressed human beings.”

A Tree Full of Angels: Seeing the Holy in the Ordinary Macrina Wiederkehr (HarperOne) $12.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $10.39

Sister Macrina Wiederkehr is a well known author and experienced spiritual director, a member of St. Scholastica Monastery (in Fort Smith, Arkansas.) She has written spiritual classics (like The Song of the Seed) and some lovely resources on the practice of lectio divina. If you are familiar with ecumenical circles of the contemplative movement embracing silence and deep spiritual formation, I bet you know her name. Maybe you’ve seen her books.

This is a simple classic, a modern Catholic title that literally “helps you see the sacred in everyday life” It is poetically rich, written with a grace and depth that is mature and profound.

And it is lovely, the perfect book to remind us all of the act of devotion and the habit of finding God in the seemingly secular. Listen as she writes…

“I see the first rays of sunlight shimmering through a silver maple tree. And then in a twinkling I’m certain. I am standing before a tree full of angels dazzling me with their glorious presence.”

Is this metaphor? Analogy? Poetic hyperbole? Did she really see real angels? You’ll have to read it to learn more, but this is, as one Abbot said,  a book where “she want us to gather up the crumbs, the little things in our lives, and realize they have the makings of a banquet.”

Rooted in Wonder: Nurturing Your Family’s Faith Through God’s Creation Eryn Lynum (Kregel) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

Eryn Lynum lives in the Rocky Mountains and has been featured in a number of classic evangelical podcasts, radio shows, having worked with Proverbs 31 Ministries and MOPS International. Yet, here, she seems less attuned to conventional evangelical pieties and is a bit wilder, almost fierce, delighting in the great outdoors. She is a certified naturalist (besides a Bible instructor and mom of four.) She knows her flora and fauna, and she looks at land and sky through the lens of the Bible, showing connections between God and creation. This is awesome!

I like what ecologist Matthew Sleeth says when he notes her “joy and practical know-how.” And she has learned a lot, sharing here how she has surrounded her kids with nature, and in so doing invites us all to a similar journey.

Sy Garte PhD, who was at our Jubilee conference last winter, a United Methodist biologist who tells his story in The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith and has a brand new book, Beyond Evolution: How New Discoveries in the Science of Life Point to God The Work of His Hands) writes of Rooted in Wonder saying this:

A beautifully written powerful treatment of the natural world as God’s revelation to His people. It weaves theological insights with practical advice on how to instill a love for the natural world in kids of all ages.

Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids Greta Eskridge (Thomas Nelson) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I like these kinds of recent books that combine a robust vision of the great outdoors with the classic parenting genre. The back cover here says “Create. Connect. Imagine. Adventure.” If you are a parent, I hope that excites you.

Okay, maybe you and your family aren’t going to take off for a globe-spanning adventure. Granted. Still, Greta Eskridge and this fun little book help us find ways to compete with the lure of technology and “inspiration for pushing yourself and your kids beyond your comfort zone to serve and enjoy each other well.” Not bad, eh?

Part of her plan is about cultivating relationships, fostering conversation, so that kids feel confident to have what we might call an adventurous spirit. (Which makes me think of the parents of the guys in Switchfoot, Mark and Jan Foreman, and their lively book, Never Say No: Raising Big-Picture Kids, but I digress.) While some kids are dangerously overdoing that bit, I know, most, I’m afraid, are seduced by their video games and smartphones, and need to learn how to play. And be engaged in the real big world.

Eskridge promises, “There will be joy. There will be wonder. There will be campfires, books, and beauty. Come on in!”

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World Robin Wall Kimmerer (Scribner) $20.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

This is a trim, small sized hardback, thin and lovely, full of the same sort of wisdom and insight that is jam packed into the dense, wonderful best-seller Braiding Sweetgrass. That book offered a broad vision of great detail, integrating Kimmerer’s indigenous intuition about the Creator’s world with her work as a botanist.

If that amazing volume captivated you as it has millions you will surely want to see this latest installment from Kimmerer and her latest realizations as an indigenous scientist, that the creation is replete with interconnectedness and that that might yield — ought to yield — gratitude and generosity on our part in response. These lessons from the natural world ask us, finally, what we most value. Do we have the eyes to see reciprocity and community? In things like this fascinating little plant?

If Sister Wiederkehr sees angels in the trees, Kimmerer similarly draws angelic lessons from her more focused botany-oriented vision. But they both are led to this great truth of God’s common grace: we are in this together and things are inter-connected. The handsome pen and ink drawings make this little book a treasure and a lovely little gift, too.

Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World: Essays Barry Lopez (Random House) $20.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

I know I say this a bunch, but this really is one of the best books I’ve read all year. And I have to explain just a thing or two — I hope your still reading! — to be clear about what it is and why it is so very, very interesting.

First, it is not primarily a screed about climate change. It is not about forest fires and, even with the powerful introduction by Rebecca Solnit, it is not about the politics of our burning age. Lopez was a naturalist and travel writer and as a lover of the natural world he obviously cares about our foolhardy views of progress and our disconnect with the deepest sort of ecological stewardship, but it is not mostly about that. It’s about wolves and trips to Antarctica and encounters with beasts in Africa and friendships with the Native peoples (Navajos in Arizona and Yupic tribes in Alaska) and about his boldness in facing the elements, in Australia backcountry or under Northern Lights.

Secondly, calling these essays might dissuade some who feel like that is too intellectual or polemical a style for their tastes. Fear not! These journalistic accounts —- all published in various literary, travel, scientific, or other obscure periodicals or journals — are not dry essays but are loaded with story, with his love of places, with his respect for friends, with the color of plants and sky, the smell of the air, the feel of the land. Whether he is writing a tribute to a great researcher who hung out with Alaskan Natives as he studied wolves, learning from them, or extolling some of the most brave explorers around the Cabo de Hornos —or of the huge albatrosses he saw there —   his stories are more like memoir, his remembrances of that which he loves.

Lopez won the National Book Award years ago for Arctic Dreams. He was known for a groundbreaking work on wolves (in the late 1970s) and many other books of reportage from the front lines of ecological studies, animal science, and adventurous travel.

As booksellers we knew of his important work but I never picked up one of his volumes until Eugene Petersons suggested him. Lopez was mesmerizing, a good, even colorful writer, elegant and intelligent, willing to talk about hard stuff, funny stuff, and, on occasion, even prayer. This collection is superb.

The Traveler’s Path: Finding Spiritual Growth and Inspiration Through Travel Douglas J. Brouwer (Reformed Journal Books) $22.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.60

I gave a shout out to this before it came out, inviting folks to pre-order it. It’s on an indie press full of great writers, this book is itself an adventure, telling great tales of this PC(USA) pastor and his world-wide travels.

I don’t know exactly what drives folks to read travel literature but it is a rare bookstore that doesn’t have a travel section. From books about various places to the theology of travel, from taking spiritual pilgrimages to the joys of backcountry adventure, we’ve got plenty. This one is nearly archetypal: each chapter is a warm, lovely, report of a certain place Brouwer has visited. And it’s very nicely crafted; Brouwer is a very fine writer.

But he’s a preacher, remember, so there’s some theologizing and spiritual formation tips and insights about the reason for it all. Surely one of the big takeaways — besides the joy of learning about different places — is to have an open heart. We can, as one travel agent on the back cover put it, “walk in the footsteps of the divine, and see with open hearts wherever we are called.”

(And, by the way, Brouwer’s trips are not all just for leisure. There are dramatic mission trips and moves to new places due to job relocations, yes, even pilgrimages. Not all are the proverbial big vacation.The first time I highlighted this I noted that there is a moving chapter about the incarcerated — those who cannot travel.)

Might we grow a bit by moving out of our comfort zones? No doubt. For those of us too busy or broke to travel much, this book is a chase price of a global ticket abroad. Enjoy!

Every Step Is Home: A Spiritual geography from Appalachia to Alaska Lori Erickson (WJK) $20.00 // OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

I raved about this writer each time she did a new book — one was about genealogies and another was about tracing practices of death and dying around the world —and this one is equally captivating, enjoyable, inspiring.

The first chapter is about the Marching Bears geographical space in Iowa, her home state. I was hooked.

The chapter titles each start with one word title — dirt, air, stone, caves, trees, etc.

They are about places in the United States that might be considered natural wonders, from mysterious mounds along the Ancient Ohio Trail to the majestic Redwood National and State Parks in California to the Dunbar Cave in Tennessee. I loved the astronomy lesson of the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico  and the incredible Sandhill Crane Migration in Nebraska (made famous by the spectacular Tom Hank’s narrated show The Americas.)

For those of us who haven’t travelled that much in the US this is grand reporting, a nicely spiritual view of traveling this “spiritual geography.”

Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees Beth Norcross & Leah Ramey (Broadleaf Books) $22.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

There have been a number of beloved books of late about the role of trees in our lives, how they grow and relate. (I trust you know the important work of Peter Wohlleben, such as his justly famous The Hidden Life of Trees.) We have a number of titles like this. This recent one is remarkable; I’m only part way through but it is captivating.

Norcross and Rampy run “The Center for Spirituality in Nature” and one of the big proponents of their work and this book is the great Presbyterian mystic, Belden Lane. (I hope you know his serious Oxford University Press titles, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes or his Backpacking with the Saints, or his curious one focused on his relationship with a tree, The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul.) He says this book “speaks the language of trees.”

Maybe you know the lovely Quaker singer-songwriter (and author) Carrie Newcomer. She writes about Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees:

A beautiful meditation on the wisdom found in the natural world and the transformative power of being in relationship with trees. Norcross and Rampy are exceptional teachers and knowledgeable guides, graciously leading the reader down tree-lined wooded paths where they share scientific knowledge, insightful personal experience, compelling metaphors, and spiritual insights. — Carrie Newcomer, Emmy-winning performer, songwriter, and recording artist of the albums A Great Wild Mercy and The Beautiful Not Yet

This Is God’s Table: Finding Church Beyond the Walls Anna Woofenden (Herald Press) $16.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

This is one that I raved about when it first came out maybe five years ago, now. It’s a delight to read, a bit provocative, and a great story very well told. And maybe it might be just the right blend of entertaining story and serious missional theology and nature loving wisdom to capture your attention this summer.

Here’s the gist: Anna more or less (it’s frustrating to use overused words) creates a faith community experiencing some sort of fresher experience of the Body of Christ in the middle of an urban garden. With some foodie vibe, the urban passion of Sara Miles (who wrote a great forward) she finds God on the streets, among strangers who become friends, all around this loving endeavor of growing food.

This really is God’s table and if you are feeling like you might want to give up on church, read about this barren lot and see what happens when it is approached with something like sacramental care. See what sort of temptation comes out of this imaginative journey “embracing abundance” As Carol Howard Merritt wrote, it is “a beautiful glimpse into the hard and generous work of growing a church, a garden, and a community.”

By the way, Ann Woofenden, has been a leader in the faith and food movement (and had a podcast called Food and Faith.) Last year she and a former Pittsburgh guy, Derek Weston, worked together to release Just Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection and Celebration. Hooray.

When Anna Woofenden felt God’s prompting to plant a church, she didn’t necessarily expect actual planting to be involved. But down on her knees, with hands in the dirt, she faithfully tended both crops and congregation. This Is God’s Table shares the story not just of the Garden Church, but of a community strengthened together through its hunger. — Kendall Vanderclice, We Will Feast

Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home Linda S. Svitak and Christin Jane Eaton, with Lee Svitak Dean; Photography by Tom Wallace (University of Minnesota Press) $29.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.96

Speaking of foodies and urban gardeners (and enjoying the stuff of Earth) how about a new cookbook to celebrate the goodness of the Earth, the bounty of creation? (And, yes, that it is international in scope reminds us not only of the joyful tastes and textures of God’s diverse world and the real variety of food cultures there are, but also of the sorrows and crisis of the summer of 2025 with the daily inappropriate captures and scary disappearances, right here in America.) So, yes. This one is beautiful but I name it with an undercurrent of sadness.

The spices and leaves and nice pictures on the back cover invite us inside, where there are vivid photos and great stories of food from around the world.

As it says in the colorful inside flyleaf, “Immigrants carry more than hope as they cross oceans and traverse continents to come to the United States. They hold tightly to stories and recipes, remembrances of what they left behind. Kitchen of Hope brings together there memories from contributors who hail from more than thirty countries, offering a glimpse of their kitchen and insight into their lives.

They continue:

This book is a celebration of people and cuisines from around the world, infused with the aromas of epazote and cardamom, the tang of fish sauce, the heat of chile peppers, and the bite of mustard greens.

Some of the immigrants who tell their stories here come to the US fleeing war and violence while others seek education and opportunity. Some have called the US home for years, if not decades.

These recipes and food photos reflect the connections and values of characteristics of the contributors. There are over fifty recipes “from curry, mole, biryani, and borscht, to pita, pho, sabusas, pupas, and so much more.” Welcome to the Kitchens of Hope table.

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