Childhood during the years of the Great Depression fostered the contemplative nature of Lois McGinnis, oldest of five children. The family took refuge on the abandoned, gully-washed ancestral farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Imagination transformed sheets of paper into paper dolls, small branches into bows and arrows, and scrap pieces of wood into an unwieldy sled. Hours were spent pouring through an outdated set of “The Book of Knowledge.”

Lois frequently sought refuge from harsh reality in her secret place beneath a bower of elderberry bushes. It was there that the unchurched 10-year old first knew the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who journeyed with her as she mothered a large family, worked as an administrative assistant, served as a hospital lay chaplain, spiritual guide, retreat leader and constant seeker of answers to the why’s of life.

This book is the fruit of her long trek to the way of inner peace, the True Self.