{"product_id":"the-opening-ritual-9781961209145","title":"The Opening Ritual","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe conclusion of G. C. Waldrep's trilogy exploring chronic illness.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Opening Ritual\u003c\/i\u003e, G. C. Waldrep contends with the failure of the body, the irreducible body, in the light of faith. What can or should \"healing\" mean when it can't ever mean \"wholeness\" again? And what kind of architecture is \"mercy\" when we live inside damage? These are poems that take both the material and the spiritual seriously, that cast their unsparing glances toward \"All that is not \/ \u0026amp; could never be a parable.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The collection concludes with a sequence of truly grand meditations on spiritual consciousness--in one the poet notes how, in the stillness of contemplation, the world begins to hum and resound with music.\u003ci\u003e The Opening Ritual\u003c\/i\u003e attends to and fashions its song from that music. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Tupelo Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781961209145\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 82\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/21\/2024\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"G. C. Waldrep","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44752330195125,"sku":"9781961209145","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_51875909-2035-4190-9fa4-e7bea6aa64e2.jpg?v=1730214836","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-opening-ritual-9781961209145","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}