Touching the Edge: A Mother′s Spiritual Path From Loss to Life - Hardcover

Wurtele, Margaret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471222879 ISBN 13: 9780471222873

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2003

Synopsis

Praise for Touching the Edge

"Touching the Edge is an homage to love, loss, and the rising grace that comes when grief is transformed into peace. Margaret Wurtele′s bow to her son, Phil, is a story we can all recognize within the context of each family′s dance with death. Her words can heal the fall of a human heart."
–Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge, Red, and Leap

"Touching the Edge is an extraordinary memoir. Margaret Wurtele writes of the most painful events a parent can ever imagine, and yet she writes so honestly, so clearly, with prose as lucid and shimmering as cut crystal, that the book shines with a quiet grace. I too have a single grown child. I read this book and trembled. But I also saw, through Margaret Wurtele′s eyes, a glimpse of the light that guided her through the darkness. It was a privilege to read this book."
–Susan Allen Toth, author of Blooming: A Small–Town Girlhood and My Love Affair with England

"I happened to be climbing on Rainier the day that Phil was killed, and I often wondered who he was, what he was like. Now, thanks to this beautifully told account, I have a very good idea. And I have an even clearer sense of what it means to be a parent, and a child of God. This book will choke you up, but the tears will be more than worth it."
–Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Long Distance: Testing the Limits of Body and Spirit in a Year of Living Strenuously

"The experience of love and loss, when shared, can become the alchemy of a rebirth of the spirit in others. In this journey to the other side of grief, Margaret Wurtele is fearlessly true to her experience of loss and makes herself available to be an agent of transformation for her readers. This is the glory of the human story: we really are ′members of one another′ whether we realize it or not."
–Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, and author of Seasons of Grace, The Soul′s Journey, and Living the Truth

About this title

Review:

"TOUCHING THE EDGE is an homage to love, loss, and the rising grace that comes when grief is transformed into peace. Margaret Wurtele′s bow to her son, Phil, is a story we can all recognize within the context of each family′s dance with death. Her words can heal the fall of a human heart." Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge, Red, and Leap

"TOUCHING THE EDGE is an extraordinary memoir. Margaret Wurtele writes of the most painful events a parent can ever imagine, and yet she writes so honestly, so clearly, with prose as lucid and shimmering as cut crystal, that the book shines with a quiet grace. I too have a single grown child. I read this book and trembled. But I also saw, through Margaret Wurtele′s eyes, a glimpse of the light that guided her through the darkness. It was a privilege to read this book." Susan Allen Toth, author of Blooming: A Small–Town Girlhood and My Love Affair with England

"I happened to be climbing on Rainier the day that Phil Wurtele was killed, and often wondered who he was, what he was like. Now, thanks to this beautifully told account, I have a very good idea. And I have an even clearer sense of what it means to be a parent, and a child of God. This book will choke you up, but the tears will be more than worth it." Bill McKibben, New Yorker writer and author of the bestselling The End of Nature and Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously

"The experience of love and loss, when shared, can become the alchemy of a rebirth of the spirit in others. In this journey to the other side of grief, Margaret Wurtele is fearlessly true to her experience of loss and makes herself available to be a an agent of transformation for her readers. This is the glory of the human story: we really are ′members one of another′ whether we realize it or not."––Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, and author of The Soul′s Journey, Living the Truth, and Seasons of Grace

Synopsis:

From grief to growth after a son's death In August 1995, Margaret Wurtele got the worst news any parent can receive: Philip, her twenty-two-year-old son, had just died in a climbing accident on Mount Rainier. At the time, Wurtele was absorbed in an intense midlife spiritual awakening. Suddenly she felt betrayed by the God she had only just embraced. In this beautifully written memoir, Wurtele takes us along on her spiritual journey in the aftermath of Philip's death. With a novelist's eye for detail, she conveys the dark nights of the soul and the crises of faith she experienced - as well as the love of family, friends, and community and the prayer that helped her move back from the edge of grief to find a rekindled and more meaningful spiritual life. For every woman - and for anyone faced with a personal tragedy or crisis of spirit - this heartfelt, exquisite, and wise book offers hope and comfort. Margaret Wurtele (Minneapolis, MN) is the cofounder and co-owner of Ruminator Books Press, a small independent publisher in Minnesota.

The author of a previous spiritual memoir, Taking Root, she is a former board chair of Minnesota's Episcopal House of Prayer and she and her husband own a vineyard in the Napa Valley.

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0471222879
• ISBN 13: 9780471222873
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 246