Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness - by Liza Rankow (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Wise and beautiful, an offering of great depth."--Alice Walker, author, The Color Purple and In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

"This is a book for our time, a treasure trove of good medicine for the soul." --Parker Palmer

Each day brings news of worsening ecological, political, and social upheaval. None of us individually can solve the intersecting crises we face; we are not meant to. Yet each of us carries a vital gift for these times. As we navigate the collapse of a world built on domination and division, we can engage in the birthing of new possibilities, finding strength in our belonging to a wholeness that is ancient, infinite, and eternal.

Combining the insightful analysis of a longtime grassroots activist with the compassion of a seasoned spiritual guide, Liza J. Rankow shows readers how to live with purpose and meaning, not just in spite of the rising tide of calamities around us, but as our response to them.

With an approach to liberation inspired by "mystic activists" from various faith and cultural traditions, Soul Medicine for a Fractured World offers an integrative path toward healing and social transformation, rooted in our kinship with one another, the Earth, and all of life.

Rich with practical application, the book includes questions for reflection as well as an array of spiritual and healing practices to help readers put the ideas shared into embodied action.

From the Back Cover

US $26.00

RELIGION / Spirituality

SELF-HELP / Spiritual

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Activism & Social Justice

SOUL MEDICINE FOR A FRACTURED WORLD

Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness

ISBN 978-1-62698-637-4

ORBIS LOGO

Cover photo: Laura Loescher / Earth Altars

Cover design: Michael Calvente

Review Quotes

"This is a book of wisdom gleaned from a life lived from the core of the heart."--Alice Walker, author, The Color Purple and In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

"This is a book for our time, a treasure-trove of good medicine for the soul. Liza Rankow draws on a lifetime of healing wounded hearts in service of a wounded world. Standing at the intersection of activism and mysticism--and telling powerful stories that bring what that means to life--she helps us understand that social change cannot be divorced from personal and societal healing. As an activist who has tried to serve the cause of the Beloved Community, this is the book I've been waiting for."--Parker J. Palmer, author, Let Your Life Speak and Healing the Heart of Democracy

"In the ashes of all we have lost, a world of liberation is waiting to be born, if we are brave enough to labor for it. Like the wisest midwife, Liza Rankow takes our hand and offers practical tools to unlock a courage we did not know we had. The result: a journey into healing, spirituality, and social justice that rebirths the world within us and around us."--Valarie Kaur, author, See No Stranger and Sage Warrior, Founder of the Revolutionary Love Project

"Soul Medicine for a Fractured World offers a wellspring of wisdom and inspiration, braiding mysticism, spirituality and justice into a beautiful healing vision for ourselves, our communities, and our world."--Michelle Alexander, author, The New Jim Crow

"A deeply courageous and tender offering--one that weaves mysticism, justice, and ancestral wisdom into a map for collective healing. Liza Rankow speaks directly to the wounds of our time with insight and integrity, guiding us through personal and social transformation with practices that are both spiritual and grounded. This book reminded me that even amidst collapse, we can choose to live with purpose, reverence, and fierce love."--Kazu Haga, author, Fierce Vulnerability and Healing Resistance

"Soul Medicine is a treasure--a profound solace and guide to navigate these difficult and tumultuous times. The writing is lucid and accessible, and the author's lived experience shines through to offer grounding, humility, and grace."--Nina Simons, author, Nature, Culture, and the Sacred, co-founder of Bioneers

"Within the great chasm of upheaval and uncertainty, we can forge the necessary skills to build toward a world more whole for us all. True to the wisdom of mystics throughout the ages, Liza Rankow offers an array of paths for us to walk in our unique way, together. For who among us does not need such life-nourishing medicine?"--Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Rōshi, co-author, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation

"Soul Medicine is a balm for the weary, a guide for the searching, and a radiant vision of hope for our shared future. With the wisdom and tenderness of a spiritual elder, Liza Rankow accompanies us on a journey of personal transformation and collective healing, reminding us of what becomes possible when spirit and justice meet. What a profound gift she has given the world."--Jen Bailey, author, To My Beloveds, founder of Faith Matters Network

"The work is breathtaking, informative, and deeply reflective of the expansiveness of Rankow's spirituality. An amazing contribution to the field."--Barbara A. Holmes, author, Joy Unspeakable and Crisis Contemplation

"Deep in our soul, we know that healing the brokenness of the world is tied to our own spiritual growth. Liza Rankow's Soul Medicine for a Fractured World is a profound meditation on how to have love and healing spill out, over and over again, washing the whole world over. It is a book not only to be read, but taken to heart."--Omid Safi, author, Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition

"In Soul Medicine for a Fractured World, Liza Rankow offers us a blessed opportunity to seize this apocalyptic moment of death and rebirth, to reimagine the in-between spaces of our personal dreams and worldly hopes, for an expansive healing and restoration of this terrestrial space that we call home."--Walter E. Fluker, author, Ethical Leadership, director of the Howard Thurman Papers Project

"In the midst of chaos and collapse, Rankow invites us to restore a kind of wholeness that comes from an ancestral and insightful awareness of our soul's wisdom. We have the medicine within us for the wounds systemically inflicted upon us."--Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Oshō, author, Opening to Darkness and The Way of Tenderness

About the Author

Liza J. Rankow, PhD, MHS, is an interfaith minister, educator, activist, and writer. Her lifework centers the deep healing that is essential to personal and social transformation. Liza is the founder and former executive director of OneLife Institute, which for almost 20 years supported the well-being of frontline activists, caregivers, and community. She has been a spiritual counselor and teacher for more than three decades, and is co-editor of The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection.

Find her at: www.lizarankow.org