The
Holy Intimacy of Strangers
How is
it that we can sometimes reveal our innermost secrets to a stranger sitting
next to us on an airplane yet find it difficult to be as open with our close
friends?
In The Holy Intimacy of Strangers Sarah
York explores our common yearning for deeper and more meaningful connection
with one another. The book presents the paradox we often observe: how our
seemingly casual interactions with strangers can unlock the door to our hearts
and help us discover how we need (and yet often resist) true intimacy in our
relationships.
This
provocative book gives us a new way to look at the qualities of our exchanges
with strangers. Once we begin this journey we can trace the outlines of our
lives together in community—our expressions of caring and hospitality, the
costs of prejudice and judgment, our fears and defensiveness, the tension
between being inclusive vs. exclusive, our expectations and assumptions about
one another.
The Holy Intimacy of Strangers is filled with stories—from a heart
warming encounter with a family on a picnic in the park to being stuck in an
elevator with unpleasant fellow passengers - that illuminate the presence and meaning of strangers in our
lives. The greatest spiritual gift we will receive from this book will be the
one we give ourselves - of deepening compassion for ourselves and others as we gain
a sense our own power to make the world a gentler, more generous place.
The Author
Sarah York (Asheville, NC) is an ordained minister (M.Div., Harvard Divinity School) and
author of Pilgrim Heart: The Inner
Journey Home and Remembering Well:
Rituals for Celebrating Life and Mourning Death both from Jossey-Bass
Publishers. Sarah
York is also author of Into the Wilderness, Apollo Ranch Institute
Press, and popular retreat and workshop leader.
On
Back Cover
What Do Our Encounters With Strangers Teach Us About Ourselves—and
Our Connection Others
“Fear of the stranger is far too common among us—and since September
11th, our fear has only deepened. But in a world rich in human diversity, much
depends on understanding how our encounters with ‘otherness’ can enlarge and
renew our lives. Sarah York’s superb book opens door after door to that
understanding. The Holy Intimacy of
Strangers is not only timely but deeply soul-searching and wonderfully
well-written. If we are willing to live into its insights, we will feel more at
home on earth and help make earth home for others."
--Parker J. Palmer, author, Let Your Life Speak and The Courage to Teach
“In
our market driven atomistic age, we are often thrown on the kindness of
strangers. In this wise and poignant book, Sarah York shows us how to imbue
these relationships with trust—and, yes, love.”
--Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author, Creating
a Life and chair, National Parenting Association
“The Holy Intimacy of Strangers is a gift
to the soul. In an often distracted, coarse, and fear-full culture, Sarah York
awakens us to everyday moments of trust, connection, and care—and our capacity
to choose what kind of ‘strangers’ we want to be. This book will unlock your
imagination and open your heart.”
--Sharon Daloz Parks, coauthor, Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment in
a Complex World
From the Critics:
Publisher's Weekly
Unitarian Universalist minister York made a splash with her slender
inspirational books Remembering Well and Pilgrim Heart;
fans won' t be disappointed with this third volume, in which she turns her
attention to hospitality. What does it mean to encounter the stranger? In a
world that seems increasingly anomic, how can we create intimacy? Stories from
York' s own life exemplify hospitality she takes a homeless man to a diner for
breakfast and finds meaning and closeness in small talk she makes with a man she
often sees on her jogging route. (Don' t be fooled, though: York, always a
personable narrator, doesn' t present herself as perfectly virtuous. She also
loses her temper in traffic and dislikes waiting in lines.) One especially
moving tale is that of Gary Smith, a minister who found himself stranded in a
strange town with a toddler and a hospitalized wife. Another minister, whom
Smith had never met before, came to the rescue, taking the toddler into his home
until Smith' s wife had recuperated. Stories like that, York suggests, are not
so unusual; most of us can remember a time when we were helped by a stranger.
York also offers practical tips: share a meal with friends; think of the
Internet not as an atomizing force, but as a place of intimacy where old friends
can reconnect; revive that older ethic of neighborliness. Above all, York
stresses, hospitality means presence. Readers will find here what they have come
to expect from York wisdom, humor and a glimpse of God' s love. (Aug.) Copyright
2002 Cahners Business Information.
