Healing Light: Thirty Messages of Love, Hope, and Courage

My husband was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. The experience is too painful to look back on. But, 4 years after his untimely death, I received a copy of this beautiful little book. Someone was reaching out with compassion and beauty, like throwing a warm blanket around me and saying, "I am so very sorry for your loss. Please, accept my words of comfort". That someone is Alexandra de Borchgrave. I have spoken to other families who also received a copy and everyone was pleasantly surprised and amazed by this fine gift. We are all still healing and Healing Light helps to feather our comfort zone. I have purchased, and will purchase again, a copy of this book to give to others. Finding beauty beyond such horror is what makes life bearable.

The most moving part of the commemorative ceremony marking the second anniversary of 9/11 was when the children came forward one by one to name mothers and fathers lost in the rubble of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. From time to time as the sad litany of names rolled on, a child would call out to a missing father or mother as though expecting a reply, and then the resulting silence brought home to a nation watching on television the real meaning of loss. Recalling the ceremony this week, Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave said she had felt a growing desire to somehow reach out to those children with words of compassion, encouragement, and hope. The result is "Healing Light: Thirty Message of Love, Hope and Courage" (New York: Glitterati Incorporated, 96 pages, $30), a collection of verse prayers inspired by the children of 9/11 but suitable for a reader of any age who needs to lift his or her spirit. The book, says its author, is "for all those who strive to overcome the adversity of life and who seek comfort, joy, strength...to meet the challenges of today." Though de Borchgrave had never written any poetry before, she says the words came pouring out of her onto the page, and within a month she had produced 30 delicately crafted gems -- points of light in a world darkened by devastation and terror, inflicted by both man and nature. The language is simple, meditative and, above all, honest. She has taken to heart Keats' admonition that poetry should be "unobtrusive, a thing that enters into one's soul and does not startle or amaze it with itself, but with its subject." "My message is simple, the need for courage to overcome the fear within us, for hope to rebuild after the devastation of a tragic event, and for love and faith," de Borchgrave said Tuesday. The poems invoke a non-denominational diety, and the gorgeously reproduced, and largely unpublished, Indian Mughal miniature paintings as illustrations are both perfect visual counterpoints and serve to emphasize the book's universal application. "the details of the emotive animals, brilliant stars, and glorious flowers in the miniatures conveyed the same emotions (as the poems) and completed my message," she said. The book preface is by India's foreign minister, K. Natwar Singh, who calls it "an inspirational reflection of a cosmic connectivity that binds the human race together in its quest for ultimate understanding." The foreword is by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian-born former Secretary General of the United Nations, who describes the work as "an oasis of compassion and inner calm." That universality is also evident in the fact that some of the verses are a perfect fit for Hurricane Katrina. The poem "Sudden Gale" starts: "When change descends/like a sudden gale/Let my spirit be first/to stand and prevail./When wind and rain/ challenge the sun,/Let my step remain firm/until calm is won..." But generally Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave's benign vision of nature wou

It is clear to me that lots of thought and deep feeling went into this wondrous and beautiful work of art; the outcome is infinitely great. It touches on the most essential elements of what makes us all equal, and brings our humanity into direct and tender focus, cutting to the truth and reminding us of what is important. The book was inspired by the first anniversary of 9/11, and as someone who lost a family member in that horrible attack, I want to express that this book is exactly the kind of thing that brings me comfort in the face of all the madness and pain in our world. It is always up to us to see the good in things, so that things really may become better. The goodness in the world is always there, and there are people who are willing to see that goodness--people like author Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave. I cannot thank her enough for her pure and peaceful vision of truth and love and spirituality. If everyone took this book to heart, the world would be immensely better for it.

"Healing Light" is an enchanting book that is elegantly illustrated with the most magnificent artwork and poignant words that bring enormous comfort, peace and hope. I keep this book by my bedside and read a poem each night to end my day with beauty. This is a perfect gift or keepsake for anyone with adversity in their life that they will treasure forever!

Alexandra de Borchgrave has an amazing talent for expressing the love that God has blessed us all with. Her poetry stimulates the wonderful thoughts that escape many of us during times of disruption and doubt. The artwork in this book conveys the same message as the beautiful words themselves. If you know anyone who is struggling, or simply needs a "lift", this book is the answer!