From the earliest days of the Church, seekers have gone to the desert and found–in the barren terrain–a richer relationship with God. Following in this tradition, Renée Miller, an Episcopal priest who divides her time between the Arizona desert and Memphis, Tennessee, makes connections between the physical landscape of the desert and the landscape of the soul. Using the rhythm of the natural world as a common thread, Fertile Soil in a Barren Land evokes images of the desert and links them to the spiritual practices of the ancient desert fathers and mothers. For those whose journeys take them to the desert–and those who live far away from it–Fertile Soil in a Barren Land offers ways to find meaning and richness in their lives. Renée Miller, an Episcopal priest, is a faculty member and Senior Consultant for CREDO and writes extensively for explorefaith.org, an Episcopal website for spiritual seekers.

Renée Miller, an Episcopal priest, is a faculty member and Senior Consultant for CREDO and writes extensively for explorefaith.org, an Episcopal website for spiritual seekers.

". . . thoughtful, elegant ... Miller uses her considerable literal desert familiarity and knowledge to illuminate the soul's terrain, traversing such concepts as silence, identity, darkness, belonging, community, release and sacrifice. Readers can use Miller's straightforward exercises to delve into the riches of a seemingly lonely wasteland to replenish their souls. Desert aficionados in particular will find spiritual oasis here."--Publishers Weekly, June 2005

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"With vivid personal stories from her desert sojourns in the Southwest, explorations of our deepest desires, and spiritual exercises to undertake, Renée Miller invites the reader into a desert spirituality that moves from silence to sight, emptiness to fullness of life." -Timothy Sedgwick, Professor of Christian Ethics, Virginia Theological Seminary

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"Deeply contemplative. Renée Miller takes you on a spiritual journey to the barren wastelands of the physical desert which parallels the deep caverns of one's soul: the emptiness; the longing of what might have been and to discover/reaffirm the omnipresence of God and His grace . . . reaching out in love." -Cecilie S. Longid, Associate Professor, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

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"Both lyrical and challenging, this book will draw you in to yearn for the desert-not for romantic travel brochure landscapes, but the real wilderness where we find and are found by God." -The Reverend Canon Stephen Holmgren, Rector of Grace Church, St. Francisville, Louisiana, and author of Ethics after Easter

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"Imagine breaking open a rough rock in a barren desert expecting more of the same drab nothingness and discovering instead an ‘exquisite inner treasure.' Then imagine breaking your life open and discovering the same. Renée Miller invites us to such an adventure in Fertile Soil in a Barren Land." -The Reverend Canon Ernest L. Bennett, Diocese of Central Florida

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"Renée Miller lures us into the desert to encounter the unexpected and unsought within our own souls: toe-walking coyote, spiny and water-hoarding cactus, crystalline and friendly dark, the pain of solitude, and life-giving emptiness. All conspire to show us God, working a most mysterious creation in our deepest and driest places." -Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada

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"Canon Renee is a wonderful spiritual guide. Her words turn to song and lift us to the Presence we seek; in community, in silence and in the desert, where the still small voice of the Spirit gives us space and grace to confront our overstuffed lives and to absorb the scent of God; to recover our identity and move beyond the grave of busyness to connection with earth and heaven. Lucky us to have this treasure of spiritual exercises, biography, inspirational prose and insight-insight even into the catastrophe that is 9/11. This book is about the tried soul, the roadrunner and the coyote brought to Jesus-of-the-desert." -Richard Shimpfky

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"Using desert metaphors, Rene Miller provides the reader a roadmap through silence, solitude, darkness, and spiritual exercise to discover their true identity and experience a deeper relationship with God and Community." -John E. Harris Jr., CFP, CSA Financial Advisor and Managing Principal LifePlan Partners, Cincinnati, Ohio