Open Spaces Sacred Places

This gem of a book is co-authored by St. Anne’s parishioner Tom Stoner who, with his wife Kitty, started the TKF Foundation in 1996.

On a trip to London in 1995, the Stoner’s, out for a walk in a London neighborhood near the hotel where they were staying, came upon an urban oasis; a small, nearly hidden park in the middle of a bustling London neighborhood.

They came to find out that that tranquil space, densely protected by mature trees and shrubs, was used during World War II by many Londoners as a place of refuge. They noticed that on the backs of the wooden benches have been placed reflections by those who felt peace in a sheltered place of community with others during the darkest days of that horrible war.

Upon returning to the States, Tom and Kitty decided to form a foundation for funding the creation in our region of similar, small but very special, still places for reflection, healing and recovery of personal harmony.

Two such places are located in Annapolis. One is just adjacent to the headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) in Bay Ridge while the other located in the “front yard” of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. I have spent “retreat” time in both, and am grateful for their proximity to where I live and work. The one very near the CBF headquarters, called “Inspiration Point,” can be found down a long, narrow path to a quiet creek where the views from the bench are framed by Southern white oak and Virginia pine trees overhead. The specific location was tested by kayakers and hikers who separately converged at the same place on the creek while the site plan was based on local flying patterns of birds.

Open Spaces Sacred Places: Stories of How Nature Heals and Unifies is a book that depicts the inspiration of those who joined with TKF Foundation to create the sacred places, and it skillfully documents many of them with more than 150 beautiful photographs of the places.

For more information and to purchase this very informative and well-presented book, please visit the Open Spaces Sacred Places website- http://www.openspacessacredplaces.com

--Dick Williams, St. Anne’s Men’s Fellowship and Bible Study ministry