The Force of Spirit

by Scott Russell Sanders

Book Overview

"One of America's finest essayists. Sanders writes with a rare grace and sensitivity, befriending the reader by being so human himself." -Phillip Lopate Scott Russell Sanders reveals how the pressure of the sacred breaks through the surfaces of ordinary life-a life devoted to grown-up children and aging parents, the craft of writing, and the natural world. Whether writing to his daughter and his son as each prepares to get married, or describing an...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807062979
• ISBN13: 9780807062975
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Essays on Life's Center

"Sanders is the writer I turn to when I feel the need to slow down, pay attention, ponder the blessings of life..." I've lifted that from the dust jacket because I can't say it any better. The Force of Spirit is a collection of essays on the existence of, and belief in, a spiritual center to life. Through personal anecdotes and musings Sanders approaches the topic from a dozen directions, gradually making a case for his own belief but never dictating yours. I'm far from a fan of precious memoirs (see my review of Marley and Me), and I don't share Sanders' belief in any sort of true universal spirit. But there are iconic experiences, and maybe primordial instincts, that can guide us away from life's frantic effemera toward a sense of calm, perhaps even centeredness, which seems to be its own reward. Sanders gently walks a path around and through some of the places and experiences in his life that have brought him a kind of peace and perhaps understanding, and I find that his observations quietly encourage me to value similar essentials in my own life. You don't have to believe in God to understand that a solitary meander beside a woodland stream can do you a world of good. This book is a subtle and eloquent reminder "to slow down, pay attention, ponder the blessings of life."

A Common Thread

Scott Russell Sanders speaks to and through all of us with his poignant collection of universal experiences. His voice contains an authentic and quiet dignity that is increasingly difficult to hear in the cacophony of modern life.