Book Review Part 2: Journey to Eloheh
Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being is a unique blend of vulnerable storytelling and wisdom in which the authors, Randy and Edith Woodley, clearly embody the values they’ve set out to teach.
The word “Eloheh” is a Cherokee word that means “the harmony way.” Thus this book is an invitation to join the journey in seeking and co-sustaining harmony among the entire community of creation. The beauty of such a journey is that it is a circle in which we may enter at any point along the way.
Learning from Randy’s teaching and writing over the last 12+ years (I was his student at Portland Seminary) has both challenged and inspired what it means to follow Jesus while shedding the destructive trappings of my Western worldview.
Randy and Edith’s lived wisdom, born of much heartache and setback which they share about in the first few chapters, roots itself into a better way of living in this throttled world. I believe them. And this book has profoundly aided my journey to Eloheh. Because I love them and the way they inspire me to live in harmony with the community of creation, my review might seem biased. Maybe we can think of it another way—aren’t many of us in search of guides who live out the values they teach over the long haul? The Woodleys are the guides you’ve been looking for!
The circular, embracing pathway the Woodley’s set fort in Journey to Eloheh is one in which we live toward balance and harmony with the whole of the community of creation via these 10 Indigenous values:
Seek harmony.
Respect the sacred.
We are all related.
Look forward by looking back.
Laugh at yourself.
Speak from your heart.
Listen to everyone.
Increase your friendships and family.
Work hard and rest well.
Share what you have.
Let’s be honest, there is likely much to untangle if you are anything like me. Historically White men, like myself, have not done well to listen, let alone listen to the Indigenous elders in our midst. This book might just be the gateway to healing our ears, our hearts, and our lives.
This book will aid in the untangling, stir repentance, and chart a renewed vision toward wholistic harmony and well-being. We will not be the same after reading and receiving the goodness that resides in the lives of the Woodleys, and in the pages of their book,
Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being.
I hope I meet you somewhere on the journey to Eloheh.
