My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Finding the sacred in everyday (and some very strange) places

by Marjorie Turner Hollman

“Liturgy” can mean a written order of worship, and can also describe "a way of meeting God." Here, liturgy takes on the widest interpretation of finding God. Learn how a ball, a bell, and a bicycle offer a path toward healing. Easy Walks, a phrase the author has become known for, has brought the author physical healing, spiritual refreshment, and joy.

A Liturgy of Easy Walks is a memoir of learning to thrive in the face of life-changing events. Writing has helped the author make peace with her experiences. The Easy Walks book series shares information about how to get outdoors safely. This latest book in the Easy Walks collection inspires hope for those facing lives altered by illness or injury.

A Liturgy of Easy Walks tells the personal side of the author’s story. Readers will learn how a simple childhood game becomes a portal for spiritual awakening. A walk in the woods brings moments of insight. Encounters with strangers foster understanding and joy. Emotional, physical and spiritual struggles are all part of living with chronic illness, out of the mainstream. Adjusting to changed life circumstances can be difficult, isolating, and lonely. The author shares her own challenges, ponderings, and triumphs, discovering unexpected healing along the way.

193 pages, Paperback

Published March 16, 2022

Reviews

[Mary Tonks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sitting in a comfy reading chair and sharing Ms Hollman's life experiences is like having her in the room with you, telling you in friendly language how she overcame some very difficult situations. I found myself nodding and agreeing with her as she spoke about her recovery, both physically and emotionally. She inspires her readers to celebrate something as small as streamers to sport on the handle of her cane. Share her joy!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful essays that are easy to read, but thought provoking with details many of us would forget or never notice. Many are humorous as well as inspirational, but never preachy. I love the story about bouncing a basketball to help with her balance during the early days of her recovery. They don't have to be read in order, but they are grouped in helpful ways.

[Mary Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely, inspirational and accessible guide to what really matters
Guide to resilience, families, and friendship, and some wonderful reminders of the value of getting outside into nature exploring and appreciating spiritual refreshment and joy.

[William Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful, reflective, a bit sentimental, but never maudlin! While reading “My Liturgy of Easy Walks – Reclaiming Hope in a World Turned Upside Down” by Marjorie Turner Hollman, I thought, this may not be the book I thought I wanted, but it may be the book we all need. The author (full disclosure, a writing colleague who I know personally), has gone through her share of personal, physical, and emotional difficulties, but they are all relatable. This book is a collection of essays she has written and sometimes published, between 1998 through 2023. As the author writes, these are writings “on a life altered by divorce, illness, and healing.” Hollman reflects on various events in her life, and many are quiet, everyday occurrences that readers will relate to. In particular, she finds peace and solitude on short walks, often in southern New England, a few farther away. Illness has limited her mobility, and she is quite honest in discussing how it impacts her both physically and mentally, but she perseveres, and to this reader, she reaches a lot of places (Hey I have not gotten to the Grand Canyon yet). Why should you read “My Liturgy of Easy Walks?” Because it contains quiet reflection and insight. This is not a wrenching story, but rather thoughtful ruminations and meditations about how one person has dealt with the problems life tossed her way. Today, there is a lot of noise in the world, in many places. This book celebrates the value of going on easy walks in quiet places (and as the book shows, you can find those quite places all around you) to tune out those noises, or at least to turn down the volume. I think a lot of us can use that. A quick read and highly recommended.

[Julia Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marjorie's beautiful collection of essays captures moments of hope, beauty, and faith and learning to live through illness and hardship with grace and beauty. A very poignant collection for anyone who is struggling with the experience of getting back in touch with their body and nature after illness, and brings the reader gently along on a path of living life slowly and intentionally, finding joy in children, stillness, and memory.

I had the pleasure of being a beta reader of this collection and it was a true delight to hold the final physical book in my hands to enjoy for years to come.

[Neil E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “My Liturgy of Easy Walks,” the author invites us to walk with her as familiar friends rediscovering familiar paths, inviting us to see our physical world with fresh eyes. With humor and grace, she also invites us to walk along a more challenging trail, a trail which many of us avoid. She walks with us along a trail of human struggle, disappointment, determination, and joy. She invites us to join her on a path of self revelation and self discovery. She reminds us that we can all overcome and adapt to life’s challenges–one step at a time. “My Liturgy of Easy Walks” is a valuable lesson for us all.