Marvelously Made

Each chapter in Marvelously Made focuses on a vital part of the body, the heart, the lungs, the brain, the joints. For each section, Mary provides reader-friendly information about the wonders of the organ or body part, and offers a prayer and a set of gratitude practices in the form of a physical and spiritual meditation exercise to deepen your appreciation of the body.

“A beautiful resource for those of us who want to enter more deeply into a prayerful experience of the body. Through a series of thoughtful contemplative practices that bring us to a deepened sense of our own grace, Earle leads the reader gently to a renewed sense of wonder, amazement, and profound gratitude for the gift of being in a body. Highly recommended.” – Christine Valters Paintner, author of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom

“Mary Earle helps us see that our bodies are marvelously made, a ‘sacred space,’ where God’s wondrous and mysterious ways can be appreciated contemplatively, with gratitude. But she also takes gratitude to its next step, in suggesting ways of serving others’ bodily needs with compassion and conviction.” – Brian C. Taylor, author of Becoming Christ: Transformation Through Contemplation

Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.