Honey from Stone: A Naturalist's Search for God

by Chet Raymo

“What is the relevance of traditional religion in the world described by contemporary science? Is scientific knowledge a satisfactory ground for the religious experience? Can the language of traditional religion constitute an appropriately modern language of praise?”
―from Honey from Stone

Framing his meditations as a Book of Hours, scientist Chet Raymo exercises the languages of theology and science to express the majesty of Ireland's remote Dingle Peninsula. As he wanders the land year upon year, Raymo gathers the revelations embedded in the geological and cultural history of this wild and ancient place. “When I called out for the Absolute, I was answered by the wind,” Raymo writes. “If it was God's voice in the wind, then I heard it.”

In poetic prose grounded in a mind trained to discover fact, Honey from Stone enters the wonder of the material world in search of our deepest nature.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Essays, Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Chet Raymo (born September 17, 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column Science Musings appeared in the Boston Globe for twenty years, and his musings can still be read online at www.sciencemusings.com.

His most famous book was the novel entitled The Dork of Cork, and was made into the feature length film Frankie Starlight. Raymo is also the author of Walking Zero, a scientific and historical account of his wanderings along the Prime Meridian in Great Britain.

Raymo was the recipient of the 1998 Lannan Literary Award for his Nonfiction work.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me of a few lines in the Ada Limón poem ‘What It Looks Like To Us and the Words We Use’:

and I think of that walk in the valley where
J said, You don’t believe in God? And I said,
No. I believe in this connection we all have
to nature, to each other, to the universe.
And she said, Yeah, God. [...]

The most special, the most spiritual, the most magical thing to me has always been feeling connected to nature. Nothing manmade can fill you with the same awe as the Grand Canyon or the Aurora Borealis. One of my favorite childhood places was a nearby state park where hitting the rocks of a boulder field with hammers would produce a bell-like ringing sound, the cause not entirely known. I still think fondly of an 800-year-old Rimu tree I visited once near Wellington, NZ.

And like Chet Raymo, the author of Honey from Stone, I’ve felt especially connected to nature since coming here to Ireland. Moving in the middle of covid lockdown meant that for my first few months I spent a lot more time with the mountains than I did with other other people. And since then, I quickly came to realize that the truth of Irish weather is that when there’s any hint of sun you spend as much time outside making the most of it as you can (not that I haven’t spent plenty of time outdoors in the rain here, too).

Raymo’s focus in this beautiful book is the Dingle peninsula, and I’ve spent plenty of time there as well, hiking Mount Brandon or jogging along the Slea Head. If you’ve been to Dingle, you will surely recognize it in his depictions, and if you haven’t yet been lucky enough to visit, you will see it in your mind thanks to his vivid writing. I feel as though I learned so much about the place both from the more academic aspects of the book and from the more poetic ruminations on life within nature.

Julian of Norwich asked: ‘What is the use of praying if God does not answer?' In starlight, God answers. Starlight blows through my body like wind through the hedge. My atoms ebb and flow in a cosmic tide of radiation. Vega surges into luminescence and electrons do handsprings in the cortex of my brain. Planets are gathered in Vega's dusty brim; I am warmed by their gentle heat. If you sip the sea but once, said the Zen master, you will know the taste of all of the oceans of the world. Tonight I have sipped 10,000 stars. I have tasted the universe.

Honey from Stone will enter my personal canon of most important books, and I hope to continue to cultivate the connection to the earth of which Raymo writes.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There are underlying patterns in nature—taxonomies, classifications, orders of relation, genealogies, laws. There are days when I am content to contemplate these patterns, as described by science on the printed page, as one might read in science the score on a Bach fugue, marveling at the carefully woven threads of counterpoint that provide the underlying structure of the music. And there are other days when the music is enough, in the ear alone, unanalyzed, resonant, imperative, all-enclosing," writes author Raymo, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Stonehill College in Massachusetts.

Yes. Do you find God in the overall grandeur or in the remarkably dizzying detail?

Raymo's non-fiction books are collections of essays that weave together his love of nature and astronomy (He finds his greatest inspiration looking deep into the night sky) but he is also a student of religion.

"I have studied science. For thirty years I have explored every recess of what science has learned about the world we inhabit, probed every corner of natural philosophy, gone down every rabbit hole. There is no bottom. Every apparent bottom is false. Down, down I have gone until the bottomlessness itself has become a thing, a tangible sponge of limitless interstices that soaks up soul and self. 'Whom should I adore,' asked [Saint:] Lawrence, 'the Creator or the creation?' And the night answers: The creation! Beautiful. Terrifying. Infinite. Deep. In the transparent air of the summer night there is a taste of salt from the sea: It is the taste of God. I press a limestone pebble against my lips. It is the kiss of his mouth."

Yes. What should I love? The Creator or the creation? Raymo: "And I am struck dumb; the question has no meaning. My eye and the eye of God are one eye -- one vision, one knowledge, one love."

[Braden Canfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable reading experience. Wonderfully written.

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book Chet Raymo describes his observations and explorations of the Dingle peninsula in Ireland. While I learned some interesting facts, this turned out to not be the book for me. I had trouble following the relevance of long descriptions of comets, the star Vega, Irish geology, snowflakes or other topics. To me this book lacked a clear theme to tie the author's thoughts together. I'm glad others liked it though and liked talking about science and faith in our book club discussion.

[Susan C Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nature study - Non-fiction. The sub-title "A Naturalist's Search for God" is misleading. Found this in the religion section but very little "religion" in it. More science and nature.

[C. H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astronomy, history, botany, theology, and philosophy all beautifully bound together by Raymo's exquisite prose.

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite of Raymo's, but still beautiful prose on astronomy.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that he is a renowned astronomer and physicist, Raymo no doubt has written many an academic tome. He also is a seeker in the grandest sense of the word. Honey from Stone is a series of meditations organized around the theme of a medieval Book of Hours. Raymo takes the reader on a spiritual journey framed by the geology and astronmy of the Irish peninsula of Dingle. He shares his musings about the mysteries of the human spiritual impulse and its relevance to the physical world. Informative and poetic and a celebration of the mysterious universe.

[David Given Schwarm · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book from a very cool bookshop in Bandon, OR. It is a science guy exploring Ireland in a series of essays based on the monastic day book--vespers is about the stars type of thing.

I enjoyed it more than I thought it would.

The science is that kind of fun reflection that gets you searching Google for more details. There is a lot of historical biology type stuff--like why there are no snakes in Ireland kind of fun playful stuff.

The essays are very short and easy to read. The language is fun and playful in that Irish way. A good Read.

[Bob Paterson-watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most unusual format for a book by a former religious person turned scientist/naturalist. He used the 'hours' of monastic prayer to unpack his experience of wonder/beauty/awe on the south-western edge of Ireland, the Dingle Peninsula. A fascinating interior journey through the ancient geography of that place, and his educated and life-long love of land, sea, sky and beyond. Can't recommend this highly enough.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and poetic. Every time I re-read this book I enjoy the sense of being welcomed along for the journey. Raymo's descriptions take me to a whole other world, and yet somehow also sharpen the details of my own. I highly recommend this little gem.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read (or, more accurately, a re-re-re-re-re-re-you-get the-idea-rre-read). Possibly my all-time favorite book...definitely my all-time favorite non-fiction book.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Not at all preachy. Just beautifully written.

[Gail Kennon]

A lovely, gentle, scientific and meditative look from one perspective in one landscape.

[Art]

followed down from Chet's blog

[Jeff DeRosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book weaves multidisciplinary science with spirituality. Using Ireland's rugged Dingle Peninsula as the setting, Chet Raymo discusses a variety of topics including accretion, snow crystals, storm petrels, meteors, cancer, archaeology, the green flash, and much more. This is a quick, engaging read.