Spirituality of Flowers
What Flowers Do for Us
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2024
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Publisher's Description
As a child, Brid Kennedy was fascinated with the beautiful scents, colors, and shapes of flowers. They stirred something deep within that she could not name. The mystery and beauty of flowers sparked her curiosity to develop her research question: Is flower appreciation a participation in a Divine-human transformation process, and if so, how is it being expressed? Through a practice of authentic interiority striving towards beauty, intelligibility, truth, goodness, and love, the author now realizes how interdependent humans are with all creation. Flowers are an essential part of creation bringing in wisdom and healing. Appreciating them is a participation in a Divine-human transformation process expressed through our acknowledgement of the scent, color, shape, and any changes in these through deeply knowing that something sacred is within them. Taking precious moments to stand and smell flowers enriches the soul as it reminds people of who they are as humans and to care for Mother Earth. Drawing on science, spirituality studies, psycho-spiritual perspectives, and historical and cultural literature awakened Kennedy's appreciation of "beauty within." Flowers are evidence of the purpose in the universe. Consider and contemplate them in depth, as this book invites and initiates. The well-being of one's body is not possible without the well-being of the planet.
Endorsements (6)
“This is a gem of a book, thoughtful and engaging. It is so very relevant in this time of a climate emergency in which we need to change and deepen our spiritual relationship with the planet.”
“Flowers touch something essential, deep within us, and in sundry ways they move us. Bríd Kennedy’s book is a transformative and life-enhancing exploration of the captivating world of flowers. With themes such as love and joy, beauty, scent and color, resilience, gratitude, and awakening, the reader is led into the garden of experience which is burgeoning with all that makes up the mystery of life.”
“Flowering plants represent the pinnacle of evolutionary achievement in the plant world: the unfolding of living possibility in which God is experienced. And yet the significance of this is a theme that has never been explored in any depth in accounts of modern creation spirituality. Bríd Kennedy’s book is a pioneering work in this regard, opening a door on a world of beauty and complexity that enriches both spirituality and theology, and opens new possibilities for how we care for the earth and for the development of a new ecumenism.”
“This beautiful book stands at the vanguard of the emerging literature on the spirituality of flowers. The importance of nature to our spiritual lives is well known, but not the unique gifts that flowers offer to our healing and to our spiritual development. Bríd Kennedy brings the reader on a rich and colorful journey through diverse aspects of the ancient relationship between humans and the floral universe. She touches on the aesthetic, artistic, medicinal, somatic and religious qualities of flower wisdom and brings it all together to present the spiritual benefit to humans when we are present to flowers in a contemplative way. Writing from her personal experience of the healing benefits of being with the flowers in her garden during COVID-19, and grounded in fascinating academic research, Kennedy demonstrates how her contemplative relationship with flowers supported her inner journey of human-divine transformation, and how flowers can support our awakening too. This book is a joy to read – full of light, color, and wisdom that brings floral healing to body and soul, and most importantly, to the heart. A reading experience that evokes the joy of being in a field of wildflowers on a summer’s day.”
“At a time of climate change, where we witness the damaging effects of human intervention on the earth, this book reminds us of the interconnectedness and sacredness of the universe of which flowers and humans are a part. It helps us to appreciate the spirituality of the ‘ordinary’ or the ‘mundane.’ Using a methodology of authentic subjectivity, Bríd engages on a spiritual journey of meaning-making, connection, and transformation while studying the Divine-human transformational process of flower appreciation. In doing so, she takes the reader on a similar journey of appreciation of the spirituality of flowers.”
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