Out of the Kiln: Vessels of Hope is a collection of poetry embodying a journey of personal transformation, from the emptiness of loss to the light of hope. Seventy-five poems are contained in three parts; wholeness, brokenness, and openness-conveying shifts in the movements that shape our lives. Wholeness is the essence of the soul, while brokenness and openness are changing seasons of the heart. These poems are reflections of the fullness of life, as well as the challenges that give reason to pause; and at times, bring about turnings in different directions, and sight, into new ways of seeing.

The forty-five poems in this volume are about leaving the familiar, walking into a new landscape, and returning to find that the oldneighborhood we left behind appears to be thesame, but how we see it will never be. And that, changes everything.Three years ago, I walked the French countrysidefrom Paris to Chartres. I was leaving and returning at the same time, leaving my current home to return to my ancestral roots. It was with great excitement that I embarked on this adventure. I would be walking in the authentic ways of the generations that preceded me. Knowingthere was more this journey still had to reveal, I signed up for another week of walking in France in May 2009. Under the weight of my backpack, more serious lessons shed light on who I was, who I was not, and who I might become.A shift was occurring in both my body and my inner spiritual terrain, and there was nothingI could do to alter its momentum. Change happens. The experiences of both pilgrimages ultimately led me back to myself. This book is poetry from the path...my actual walking experiences and the lessons that life had in store for me.