This Wheel of Rocks

An Unexpected Spiritual Journey

By: Sister Marya Grathwohl

Narrated by: Sister Marya Grathwohl

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The memoir of a Catholic nun’s spiritual journey that explores the deep connections between faith and the natural world

Growing up in the Midwest, Judy Grathwohl never felt she belonged. “I belong out west,” she remembers telling her father. After joining the Sisters of St. Francis in the early 1960s and becoming Sister Marya, she came to realize that she craved a life beyond the traditional path of a Catholic nun. “Something other than dedicating my life to God was summoning me, some other life purpose,” she writes.

It took several years and several detours, but when Sister Marya eventually was assigned by her order to the Northwest, she felt an immediate connection to the place and to its Native people, the Crow and Northern Cheyenne. Little by little, she was invited to become part of their communities, to share their customs and rituals, and eventually was adopted into one of their families. She came to understand that the blending of Catholic teachings and Native traditions helped build within her a deeper respect for the Earth—this wheel of rocks—that she could not have built on her own.

In this intimate, revelatory memoir, Sister Marya recounts her own spiritual journey, her settling in Montana, how she—a Catholic nun from Ohio—came to be embraced by the Crow and Northern Cheyenne, and how their traditions prompted in her an expanding devotion to the land, its resources, and its connections to faith and God.

Honest and eye-opening, funny and heartfelt, This Wheel of Rocks shows how living a spiritual life committed to preserving nature and community can be both fulfilling and productive.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing a list of additional gospel references mentioned in the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Sister Marya Grathwohl (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“I predict that the shining knowledge and insights inside these pages will blow your soul wide awake in ways you can scarcely imagine. Woven into the lyric prose are forty years of learning among Native Americans, Earth activists, cosmologists and scientists, spiritual seekers, and Earth herself—even her rocks on mountains that seem far too harsh for life.” —Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

“Sister Marya’s memoir is as compelling as a novel, bringing the reader into the lives of Native people who helped her transform her understanding of our relationship with Earth. The prose is clear and lovely, and the voice is instantly trustworthy.” —Denny LeBoeuf, Director, ACLU John Adams Project

“This is one of the most moving books I have read in a long time. Sister Marya invites us into her fascinating spiritual journey. With engaging stories she shares her questions and struggles as well as her emerging insights and integration. This is a life-changing book to be savored for years to come.” —Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University, co-author of Journey of the Universe

Right there. Front and center!

What a heart trip this was! Having known Marya for 60+ years, AND having had the gift of sometimes walking with her, sometimes behind her, always eager to see*hear*share reflections on our journey. I still hunger. You know? That feeling of WOW one has when soul is stirred. Oh, yes, I am so enriched, my heart so much lighter, my eyes and ears so keen to take note, to embrace, to have giddy, gut wrenching laughter and sweet, salty tears. It's all here if you want it. Really, you DO want it! Enjoy.

Connection between humans and earth.

This book is beautiful. I loved hearing the story of the Earth, and all the beauty it provides us.