After the deaths of her brother, father and mother, the poet and writer Carla Grosch Miller felt that her world and faith had fallen apart. Numbed by grief and lacking any answers, she swapped going to church for going for long walks where, despite feeling like she was walking away from a way of life, she discovered that the Holy had no intention of leaving her.

Lifelines is the fruit of what followed. These searingly honest yet hopeful poems reflect on the mystery at the heart of Christian faith: a seed falls into the earth and dies in order for new life to rise up. But as these poems reflect, the journey through death to resurrection can be arduous and cannot be hurried.

This collection is in two parts. Wrestling the Word roots the reality of this journey of transformation in the sacred stories that have shaped Christian life for centuries and that we hear in the Lectionary. Gathering Up Grace attempts to name and claim the presence of the ineffable even amidst the ruins, and ultimately to celebrate the triumph of resilient love.