The Book of Nature

“Regardless of where one's spirituality (or lack of it) may lie, Barbara Mahany's The Book of Nature is a deeply rich celebration of the ageless overlap between religion and the many faces of the natural world--the 'Book of Nature' to which mystics, monks, and others have turned for insight into the sacred. Best of all, this thought-provoking exploration is wrapped in Mahany's luscious and luminous writing, which makes every page a delight.”

Scott Weidensaul

“Attention is among the deepest forms of integrity. In The Book of Nature, Barbara Mahany pays attention. She doesn't look through nature; she looks at nature and, there, sees the mysteries that make and unmake us. In an age of environmental threat and neglect, Barbara Mahany's book is a theological, poetic, and devoted plea for attention to our most fundamental constitution: matter--and everything that comes from it, including us.”

Pádraig Ó Tuama

“The Book of Nature is an invitation to step into the newness of each day: sunrise, garden, forest, waters, nightfall. These pages reflect both awe and heartbreak, a pause when our world feels on fire and the climate crisis calls us to collective lament, communion, and action.”

Mallory McDuff

“Following in and deepening the footsteps of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, Barbara Mahany's The Book of Nature invites you to engage with nature as the body of God: to know that all life is the happening of a nondual Aliveness called by many names. Calling to a humanity drunk on transcendence and desperate to escape from Nature and our responsibility to Her, The Book of Nature reveals the sobering immanence of God as the Source and Substance of all reality.”

Rabbi Rami Shapiro

“Lovely and smart reflections--the perfect book to slip into a rucksack on a day you're planning a wander through the larger world!”

Bill McKibben