This is a book about how, on a cosmic and a personal level, darkness gives way to light. It does not sugar-coat the reality of darkness but is full of hope, reminding voyagers that 'light shines in the darkness', that darkness is required to perceive light - and that Easter means the light has come, life triumphs, and the promised Holy Spirit will empower us for growth: 'eastering' ...

These reflective, prayerful poems are 'a ticket and passport for a spiritual journey' and can be used in a daily discipline or with groups.

'For each traveller I pray journeying mercies,' Bonnie Thurston writes. 'And I remind pilgrims: Take heart. He will come.'

Having resigned a professorship and chair in New Testament studies, Bonnie Thurston now lives quietly as a solitary near Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, working as a spiritual director and retreat leader and volunteering in a food bank. She is the author of over 20 books.

'You are in skilled hands here, so let yourself be carried along, ready to experience delight, or be jarred into discomfort. Above all ponder, weigh, take time. For each poem comes out of the quiet depths of a person who is a fellow pilgrim, illuminating the familiar with her own God-given insight.'

• Esther de Waal