Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind
Written by Barbara Becker
Narrated by Gabra Zackman
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
“We can do extraordinary things when we lead with love,” Barbara Becker reminds us in her debut memoir Heartwood.
When her earliest childhood friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Becker sets off on a quest to immerse herself in what it means to be mortal. Can we live our lives more fully knowing some day we will die?
With a keen eye towards that which makes life worth living, interfaith minister, mom and perpetual seeker Barbara Becker recounts stories where life and death intersect in unexpected ways. She volunteers on a hospice floor, becomes an eager student of the many ways people find meaning at the end of life, and accompanies her parents in their final days.
Becker inspires listeners to live with the end in mind and proves that turning toward loss rather than away from it is the only true way to live life to its fullest. Just as with the heartwood of a tree—the central core that is no longer alive yet supports the newer growth rings—the dead become an enduring source of strength to the living.
With life-affirming prose, Becker helps us see that that grief is not a problem to be solved, but rather a sacred invitation—an opportunity to let go into something even greater…a love that will inform all the days of our lives.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
"Becker’s eloquence is a salve for confronting a difficult topic...This will be a comfort for anyone contemplating their own mortality, or those in search of advice for others. " —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Barbara Becker
Barbara Becker has dedicated more than twenty-five years to partnering with human-rights advocates around the world in pursuit of peace and interreligious understanding. She has worked with the United Nations, Human Rights First, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, and has participated in a delegation of Zen Peacemakers and Lakota elders in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota. She is an ordained interfaith minister and has sat with hundreds of people as a hospice volunteer. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.
Related to Heartwood
Related audiobooks
The Science of the Good Samaritan: Thinking Bigger about Loving Our Neighbors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5To Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in my First Hundred Years Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Present Over Perfect Guided Journal: Journey to a Simpler, More Soulful Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Divine Love That Reorders a Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Feels: Discover Why Emotions Are (Mostly) Awesome and How to Untangle Them When They’re Not Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Kind to Yourself: Releasing Frustrations and Embracing Joy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Disruptive Compassion: Becoming the Revolutionary You Were Born to Be Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWords from the Window Seat: The Everyday Magic of Kindness, Courage, and Being Your True Self Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing--and How We Can Revive Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pilgrimage of a Soul: Contemplative Spirituality for the Active Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dare to Bloom: Trusting God Through Painful Endings and New Beginnings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sweet Like Jasmine: Finding Identity in a Culture of Loneliness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Beautiful Than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soul Care to Save Your Life: How Radical Honesty Leads to Real Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meant for Good: The Adventure of Trusting God and His Plans for You Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Courage for Caregivers: Sustenance for the Journey in Company with Henri J. M. Nouwen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhole: Restoring What is Broken in Me, You, and the Entire World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Severe Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Religious Biographies For You
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil is Afraid of Me: The Life and Work of the World's Most Famous Exorcist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiding Place Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Included Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak: Lessons on Faith from Nine Biblical Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Exorcist Tells His Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twelve Ordinary Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography of a Yogi (Unabridged) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Confessions of St. Augustine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Presence of My Enemies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paul: A Biography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Autobiography of a Yogi: The Original 1946 Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Storey Mountain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Magic of Marie Laveau: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found it Again Through Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Toltec Art of Life and Death Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God's Smuggler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Severe Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Share My Life: A Journey of Love, Faith and Redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Heartwood
13 ratings0 reviews