We’re excited to announce the publication of our latest book from SDI Press—Ordinary Heaven: Exploring Spiritual Direction and the Journey of Human Life.
It is our honor to share this work with the SDI Community. This extraordinary book is written by Australian spiritual director and longtime SDI contributor Philip Carter, and the practical and mystical wisdom he has gleaned from half a century of walking with others on their own spiritual journeys. My colleague Seicho Roth provided editorial oversight of the text, while Ann Lancaster handled the text layout and design. It was my own honor to create the cover design, and I took great care in this work. Here I want to share what hopefully conveys to you our intention, and my process, for the book cover design.
We began with a meeting of myself, Philip, Rev. SeiFu, and Seicho. We discussed the themes of the book together, exploring images that resonated with these themes. Two in particular arose: the image of Earth from space, and the “image” of the hazelnut received by Julian of Norwich.
The image of Earth taken from outer space, often called “Earthrise” or “Blue Marble,” revealed our planet as a small, fragile sphere suspended in space. This perspective highlighted Earth’s beauty, unity, and vulnerability, showing it as a singlular, shared home without visible borders. The image profoundly shifted human awareness, inspiring a sense of interconnectedness and the urgency to protect our environment.
In her vision of the hazelnut, Julian of Norwich saw a small, simple object in her hand, like a hazelnut, which she understood as representing all of creation. She was reassured that this tiny thing was loved, held, and protected by God, who created, sustains, and cherishes it. Through this image, Julian realized that all things exist because of God’s love and care, and that nothing would perish if it rests in this love.
I knew then that I wanted to incorporate all of these into the cover design. I imagined Julian’s hand, contemplating the hazelnut, against a backdrop of the cosmos. But I also knew it necessary to tie in our work as spiritual directors and companions…
First, I went to the local co-op grocery and got a bag of hazelnuts from the bulk section. Then, I turned Rev. SeiFu’s office into a photo studio—he’s been on sabbatical, so it was available—don’t worry I cleaned it up. Ann Lancaster and our Membership Assistant Judy Moi-Hoffman were good sports about serving as hand models. I wanted soft lighting and good detail in the hands and in the hazelnuts, being so small. I experimented with different poses and gestures, with a palm holding one hazelnut, then several, dropping them, or picking them up.
As we experimented, it became apparent to me how to weave in the work of spiritual direction. It could not be “Julian’s” hand alone. Rather, two separate hands—one holding hazelnuts, and another reaching to take one. We started playing with the gesture of one hand giving hazelnuts to an open and empty palm or having two sets of hands holding the same hazelnut, dropping and catching them, which resulted in some interesting action photos that did not for our intentions.
In the final design you’ll see the choice of gestures, which I believe most elegantly align with our work—one hand, palm-upward, holding four hazelnuts in offering, as a spiritual director might offer, “take, and contemplate, if you wish.” The companion—the one ready to deepen in understanding and wisdom—reaches to take the hazelnut being offered, so they may contemplate for themselves, to see, and to know. Or is the hand above depositing hazelnuts in the palm of the other, for the benefit of their own contemplation? I like that multiple meanings are possible, and that the “giver” and “receiver” depends on our perspective. Just as we know our relational work as spiritual companions can be nourishing to us as well as to those we companion. The final image here offers, I hope, an expression of that mutuality and reciprocity.
Rather than one hazelnut being contemplated, I like having a few. I think it implies in our work as spiritual directors that what we offer to those we companion is not our own way of seeing “Ordinary Heaven.” Rather, we hold space for others to find their way, so they can see through their own eyes. Perhaps the image tells a story of discernment, where one hazelnut is picked up and considered, while the director patiently waits. Then that nut can be placed back in the other’s palm, and another one picked up. I also found having multiple hazelnuts to be more visually interesting than one but having lots of hazelnuts was too busy. The four in the cover feel “just right.” The final touch was to add a starry sky as a background. The small and the large, the “little thing” and “all that is made,” revealed together.
Philip’s approach to spiritual direction is to evoke the wonder and mystery that underlies each of our mundane, ordinary lives, and is the very ground of our lives. And, as spiritual directors, we offer space for this wonder to be discoverable and contemplated to all those we companion—those who can and will receive that same eternity in their own ordinary. We live in “Ordinary Heaven” here and now and Philip’s book invites us to see and live in this reality. He told me in our recent interview, “In spiritual direction, there’s a great opening up of a life. What I thought was me—my fears, my anxieties, my preoccupations…is a small part of me. There is a depth to me. A treasure.”
Through spiritual direction, we are invited to find that treasure, and to enjoy it.
You can now order your own copy of Ordinary Heaven today on the SDI Store.
