Stroll, journey offer different paths to confronting stress

(CNS photos)

Sure, you've heard dozens of talks and homilies about the Eight Beatitudes, but have you ever taken "a friendly stroll" through them? Sister Mary Lea Hill, a Daughter of St. Paul, invites readers to do that in "Blessed are the Stressed: Secrets to a Happy Heart From a Crabby Mystic."
If one thinks of strolling as a low-impact exercise, then this is a low-impact but effective spiritual exercise because of the content and how it is presented. Strolls are for conversation, for ambling with no particular purpose other than to take in the surroundings or to informally converse with a companion.
Here, the beatitudes are the surroundings; Sister Hill starts the conversation. And like conversation that occurs during a stroll, she jumps from topic to topic, always linking each to one of the beatitudes. From this conversation comes reflections such as: "The beatitudes are our spiritual selfies. They are individual snapshots of our soul at work." In speaking about the meek, she relates it to handles. Remember, this is strolling conversation; it can go in any direction, with any connection.