Five Stones & a Burnt Stick: Wisdom Stories About Intimacy

Publisher Marketing: We were designed for intimacy. The desire to know and be known is hard-wired into our DNA. In this skilfully woven narrative, Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele wrestles with the elusive wisdom that often seems to slip through our grasping fists on our lifelong quest for intimacy. Combining allegory and insight the story leaps into life at the edge of the desert, around the embers of a burning bush...within the heart of God's seeking servant, Moses. In the midst of these embers, Moses unearths five stones and a burnt stick which represent the five paths towards intimacy-intimacy with God and intimacy with others. We are invited to pick up each of the five stones, beckoned to come closer, and invited to encounter their intricacy and beauty. The stones of demarcation, difference, dwelling, disclosure and discovery form the elements of the lifelong journey towards the full intimacy which is our true home. It is a journey which takes us through the rich discovery of celebrating differences, accepting disclosure, establishing boundaries that are not barriers, learning what it means to dwell in God's presence, and relaxing into the realization that spoken words are secondary to the language of the heart. The invitation is to let the words that reverberated through Moses reverberate through you. "We have been created for intimacy: intimacy with God and intimacy with others." Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele is a Peruvian writer and painter currently living in the south of England. He studied Theology and Social Anthropology in Lima and trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is a co-founder of the Ark T Centre, Oxford, and a founder member of The Creative Tent of Makers & Keepers. Ernesto divides his time between creative endeavors and serving his community as an Anglican minister.