The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary

This revelatory mix of nature writing and memoir from conservationist Williams (Erosion) reflects on encounters, which she calls “Glorians,” that reveal the interconnectedness of the natural world. These ordinary, often overlooked moments can include an ant carrying a flower to its colony or millions of stars merging into the Milky Way, scenes she describes witnessing from her home in Southern Utah. Williams posits that by cultivating the patience for discovering Glorians, observers become more aware of the sacredness and vulnerability of life, especially amid crises like climate change and pandemics. Written in part during the Covid-19 pandemic, the account places Glorians in the context of isolation and death; when Williams and her husband go to pick out their burial plots, they choose a spot that appears to be inhabited by badgers, noting that “when Death comes, we know our place and who our caretakers will be—not in the afterlife, but the underground.” She also writes about her time teaching at Harvard Divinity School, where she immersed herself in religious texts that connected her to “the shape and perception of other minds in other times,” making her less lonely. Evocative and richly personal, Williams’s writing seamlessly weaves together meditations on mortality, nature, and the modern world. Readers will be inspired. (Mar.)