The Nest in the Stream

“In a quiet, gradually illuminating way Michael Kearney introduces us to a few key spiritual and emotional discoveries he made during his work as a palliative care doctor and as a novice in Native American rites of passage.

The writing is clear and beautiful, the lessons easily taken to heart, and the vision truly inspiring. I loved reading this book and know that its wisdom will stay with me, lightening the burden.”

—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul

“In this dear book, Michael yet again takes us deeper, closer. He nudges us to see that to understand someone is to care for them. Yes, love them. This book is most directly about the cautions and craft of caregiving. And it is about receiving too, as though by necessity these come together. This is the sweet reciprocal loop that Michael has been pointing out to me for many years now and I’m so glad he’s offered us more stories and intimacies to reify this subtly potent point. For all its quietness, this book is full of brave explorations just beyond the line of familiarity. And since he dares to look and see—we can too.”

—B.J. Miller MD, Zen Hospice Project, presenter of 2015 TED talk What Really Matters at The End of Life

“Kearney’s work is deep, thorough, risky, elegant and poetic. He is an exemplar for all those who come to realize that self-healing is a necessary condition for helping others to be healed. It is a win-win bargain. This is a warrior’s path, redefining the meaning of manhood and bravery and engaging the deepest and most challenging purposes of life.”

—Edward Bastian, PhD, Director Spiritual Paths Foundation

“Michael Kearney has written a wonderful book. I read it in one sitting and was left with a new sense of the preciousness of life and present again to the longing to make a difference in other people’s lives that motivates whole person care. It should be mandatory reading for all medical students and physicians in practice. But its interest is not limited to people with medical expertise. I find it hard to imagine a person who would not enjoy and benefit from this soul-nurturing book.”

—Tom Hutchinson MD, Medical Director McGill Center for Whole Person Care, McGill University, Montreal