You are invited to a special book launch on Saturday, May 30th from 2-4pm at Holy Trinity Pembroke for Hands Like Roots: Notes on an Entangled Contemplative Life by Rev. Dr. Therese DesCamp.
In a luminous and open-hearted series of essays, Therese DesCamp explores the meeting point of daily life with science and contemplative practice. Therese is a writer, spiritual director, minister and contemplative; a 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize long-lister, author of numerous scholarly and popular articles, and a columnist on spirituality for the Valley Voice newspaper. While she’s been writing since she could hold a pencil, this collection of essays takes the reader deeply into the places where words falter.
Therese holds an M.Div. from Pacific School of Religion and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She was ordained in the United Church of Christ, admitted to the United Church of Canada, and has worked with groups in these churches as well as the Anglican Church, the Episcopal Church, and the Presbyterian Church. She has taught graduate school courses in spirituality, biblical studies, feminist studies and cognitive linguistics. She has been a Benedictine oblate, co-taught retreats with a Zen Buddhist priest, co-ministered with a Jewish rabbi, and first learned meditation from a Sufi teacher.
Therese’s current work includes an evolving form of community spiritual companionship outside the walls of church, rooted deeply in Christ, scripture, and community. She leads a monthly contemplative group, a bi-monthly prayer group, works as a spiritual director, and serves on the board of The Contemplative Society. Her past volunteer work includes ten years on the Slocan Lake Stewardship Society and a yearlong stint in Grade 4-5-6 at Lucerne Elementary in New Denver, B.C., where she lives with her husband George Meier.
At the event on May 30th books will be available for purchase for $25.00, with cash or interact e-transfer.
Quotes about Hands like Roots:
“When an extraordinarily gifted and skilled writer offers essays on the contemplative dimensions of life, we would all do well to pay attention...”
Brian D. McLaren, author and public theologian, Life After Faith and Faith After Doubt
“Her hands, her feet, her heart are firmly planted in the physicality of our planet. And she writes about this, beautifully...”
Alanna Mitchell, international award-winning author of Seasick: The Global Ocean in Crisis
“I didn’t know I had been thirsting until I discovered I was drinking at your waterfall...”
Joy Kogawa, international award winning poet and author of Obasan
“...if you are among those who have chosen to keep loving this beautiful, aching world, you need this book.”
Dr. Mardi Tindal, former Moderator of The United Church of Canada
“Hands Like Roots is an extraordinary work of hope in a moment that often feels completely bereft of hope...”
Douglas Christie, Ph.D, author of The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology