If there's one message that rings loud and clear throughout the essays in Ardath Rodale's inspirational book "Gifts of the Spirit," it's that life's experiences are universal. It's impossible to read it and not realize, "That's happened to me."
What makes us different is how each of us handles those experiences.
Rodale speculates that "life might be programmed--that things happen for a purpose and it's up to you to 'make or break.' "
To all appearances, Rodale might have it all, but her unqualified success in the corporate world as chairwoman of the board and chief executive officer of Rodale Press Inc.--publisher of Prevention magazine and other health-related publications--and chairwoman of the board of the Rodale Institute, as well as shelves full of awards for her humanitarian efforts, haven't insulated her against heartbreak.
She's faced the death of her husband, her son and her mother, as well as two personal bouts with cancer and one with spinal meningitis.
The saga of Rodale's life can be traced through the more than 50 essays in "Gifts of the Spirit" (Daybreak Books). Its message, she said, is "to slow down, rejuvenate our souls and bring harmony into our busy lives."
Rodale looks to nature to replenish her spirit. Her early morning walks around her rural Emmaus, Pa., farm "are a quiet time. It gives me a feeling of peace." And it's not only the countryside that holds serenity for her. She describes a recent trip to New York, where as a self-proclaimed early bird, she manages to find "a pencil of a sunrise between two skyscrapers."
The awe inspired by the miracles of nature permeates the book. On watching flocks of Canada geese fly northward, she wonders, "Are there any leaders in a flock of geese?"
Her observation answers her question. "As I watched, it became evident that they were all--leaders and followers--each one taking his turn."
But she also wonders, "How do they know the importance of shared responsibility? How do they know when the time comes to step back and be a follower? What triggers in their minds the knowledge that survival depends on helping one another?"
What if we were like the geese? Rodale asks. "What would happen in our world if we all decided to bring out the best in each other? Can you imagine the great team we would have living in harmony with each other and the world?"
The experience of watching the geese, she writes, was another "momentous day for my book of special days to remember."
