Deb, Deepak, Desmond and the Dalai Lama

The "Deb" among the spiritual world leaders in the headline is writer Debra Landwehr Engle, a wonderful friend and author whose way with words is delicate, dazzling and deep. I just came from a book signing/reading at Beaverdale Books featuring Deb and her essay, "The Land," which is part of The Art of Living: A Practical Guide to Being Alive. While the book was released in Spain in November, this beautiful collection of essays focused on our shared humanity and interrelationships is new to the U.S. The other "D" folks in the headline?  Their written inspirations for thought and action are included too.

Profits from the book go to Green Cross International, a Switzerland-based NGO founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, whose essay is in the same section at Deb's: Messages from Mother Earth. Green Cross is dedicated to sustainable development and the transformation of consciousness. 

Deb wrote about feeling the rich connection to the land in Iowa and living in Madison County, which she calls "sacred ground, a land of enchantment, an answer to prayer." It's a tribute to how Iowans are nourished not just by the food that is produced here, but by the beauty—the green, the aliveness—that surrounds us. Deb's divinely crafted message reveals how love lives in Madison County far beyond the covered bridges. 

I'd sit down and read every thought-provoking entry in the book right now, but it's a gorgeous afternoon in Iowa, and I'm called to get outside with the green and be nurtured. Digging in the ground is my choice right now for enjoying the art of living.