Tall in Spirit: Meditations for the Chronically Ill

Reading this book is like visiting with an old friend. I am impressed with the candid and insightful essays. This book would make a wonderful gift. Having a chronic illness myself, I can relate to the feelings that Joni describes. Buy a copy for yourself and for a family member/friend who doesn't quite understand how it feels to cope with illness every day.

I really like this book. It helped me realize what people who have chronic illness go through. It is a useful book for people who are caregivers, relatives or friends of an ill person because of its revealing nature. Psychologically, I found this book to be insightful and well-balanced. Spiritually, I found it to be deep, honest and inspiring, written through the authenticity that can only be derived first hand by an author who has experienced firsthand what she is writing about. I also liked the format of this book which lends itself well to easy reading. A touching, creative and well-written book.

As I began reading each meditation, I was struck with the positive outlook in her writing. Her unique way of sharing each meditation brought me images that seemed to increase my understanding of the importance of her message throughout this book. When trying to cope with chronic illness, it is so easy to forget about one's spirituality. Persevering through the constant emotions caused by chronic illness is extremely difficult. Frustrations mount and adversity can cloud our perception and reception to the spirit that we so badly need for our inner strength. As Joni says at the close of her introduction, "When we are tall in spirit, we have the grace to see beyond dark days and dark times, even when we are still in the midst of them. Hope arrives, inner strength grows, and endurance grounds us. We begin to view the unknowns of our lives as an unraveling. We learn that there is rhythm to waiting". Tall in Spirit provided me with many images and brought about many reflections with regard to my own illness. When I read the last sentence above, "We learn there is rhythm to waiting", I began to make a connection to Joni's thoughts which continued throughout her book. Tall in Spirit will make you smile. It will cause you to search your soul. It will allow you to renew your hope. More importantly, you will begin to realize that the spirit you may have left behind while enduring illness, is still present and just waiting for you to embrace it. You would never know that this book is Joni's first. Her ability to share her own life through these meditations gives the reader so much hope and I cannot recommend Tall in Spirit enough. Truly a book to renew one's strength but will also help ground you in the spirit needed for coping with chronic illness.

"Tall in Spirit: Meditations for the Chronically Ill" by Joni Woelfel Reviewed by Don Gadow, Associate Professor of English Winona State (MN) UniversityAlthough Joni Woelfel suffers from debilitating and incurable illnesses including Meniere's Disease, facial Bell's Palsy, lipid storage myopathy, and a heart disorder, Tall in Spirit is no ordinary "how to" book filled with advice for victims and their loved ones. Instead, this collection of 40 brief essays celebrates the lessons taught by her everyday experiences, dreams, family memories, and, above all, the spirit of the land around her.Tall in Spirit, the author's first published book, is upbeat but honest. Woelfel compares living with incurable illness to flying a kite. "It's not too hard once you get the hang of it." She tells us that illness does not make us gentle, but authentic. This book defies pigeon-holing,it's the world in microcosm, perceived by a mind rich in analogy revealed through her titles: "The Killing Frost," "Alligators of Fear," "Snakeskin Shoes and Pink Refrigerators," "Diamonds for Toads," and "Prayerful Howling."Living in Seaforth, Minnesota (pop.87), in a remodeled former country church nicknamed "Annie," Woelfel is no reclusive Emily Dickinson even though poor health keeps her at home most of the time. Through her many published newspaper and magazine articles, she has become a "strand gatherer" who draws a wide range of writers and thinkers into her web of spirituality.There's something of the Earth Mother in the author, who adheres to Wordsworth's prescript,"Let nature be your teacher."" A legacy of the land and its people informs her writing. Woelfel's Norwegian grandmother has been an important influence. This "woman of the land" only raised her voice to call the cows, yet endured the cold winters of family illness and tragedy. Woelfel remembers her grandmother wading "knee-deep in the tides of life."Philosophy Point, Snake Stream, Little Fellow's Fishing Hole, A Path Untrod, the Great Grandmother Trees--favorite spots along the meditation trail near her home. While balancing on the rocks mid-stream at Red Rock Rapids in the early stages of illness when no one knew exactly what was wrong with her, Woelfel saw a rusted lock and key in the clear water. Soon after, during a consultation, the neurologist gave her support but not much hope. First discouraged,Woelfel then made a connection: hope and support are one and the same, like the lock and key. "There is no shame in saying, 'I can't make it through this myself.'"Each essay is prefaced with a relevant Biblical quotation and ends with a meditation addressed to one of God's many faces: Healing God of Support and Hope, Enchanting God of Trees That Sway When There's No Wind, God of All That Howls, Dassling White Mother God, Tender Hearted God of Fallen Trees and Bare-Branched People."Move On" is about the clutterbug in most of us. According to St.Matthew, "Do not worry about your