A Dresser of Sycamore Trees: The Finding of a Ministry

by Garret Keizer

The prophet Amos, a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees, had a parallel, and more challenging, calling as a shepherd of human souls. So too does Garret Keizer, an Episcopalian minister to the community of Island Pond in Vermont's Northeast Kindgdom. This profoundly contemporary book displays not only keizer's knowledge of life's small practicalities (winding the church clock, shopping for groceries), but also his insights about faith and the mysterious ways of God. With an eye attuned to both the pleasures and foibles that make life on earth so rich, he presents a refreshing and often hilarious account of the hands-on work needed to maintain a parish and sustain its spirit. He is a man who believes that God's intentions, if seldom apparent, are inevitably compassionate and compelling.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Theology, Spirituality, Faith, Literature, Biography Memoir

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1991

About the author

Garret Keizer is the author of eight books, the most recent of which are Getting Schooled and Privacy. A contributing editor of Harper's Magazine and a Guggenheim Fellow, he has written for Lapham's Quarterly, the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among other publications.

You can learn more about Keizer's work and also contact him at his website:

http://www.garretkeizer.com

The website of his current publisher is here:

http://us.macmillan.com/author/garret...

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whew, this was a tough read. I'm just not a big memoir fan, and although Keizer has some penetrating, even important insights about what it means to lead a flock in a messy world, I mostly found myself dreading a return to what felt like a disjointed series of reflections that rarely connected with me.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read this book. Great read. I like this author generally - but this is one of my favorites. He served as a lay vicar to a parish in Vermont and writes very well about the experience and the people. I think anyone going into the work of the clergy should read this. Even though I might not agree with some things this is the spirit and the way to go into this work. Beautiful.

[Kendra Chubbuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was given to me by a dear friend. She thought I would enjoy it since I'm an Episcopalian. She will be back to the Island in May so I better get reading. She has already read it and wants to talk to me about the book. It was a free book from the Island library. CR 1991. Mabel was correct, I really enjoyed this book. It was both funny and sad. It's a beautiful memoir about how religious life can fit into family and community life. Like trips to the grocery store for bananas(!), lesson plans, paying bills, and parades. This book is about faith and unexpected epiphanies he had. What was really interesting was he wrote about tackling increasing the minimum wage, racism, and trans-gender issues; things we are still tackling today. . .I'm so glad I read this book. This was a free book from the Island library. Thanks again Mabel for loaning it to me and telling me to read it.

[Norman Metzger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of a ministry -- a lay ministry, to be exact -- in a place called Island Pond in Main's Northeast Kingdom . A basic fact that as basic facts often do, ignores the emotions, and turmoil and self-discoveries that lie beneath. It is in its frankness and in the unflinching honesty of the main character, who is the author, to examine and share with us his path to belief as he grapples with forces that if not opposed to often severely test his beliefs. A compelling and enriching book.

[Susy Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book for a church book discussion, and it was slow going. For whatever reason, I couldn't quit it, instead I read it in small doses. While on vacation, I powered through the last half all in a 24-hour setting and I'm glad I hung with it. I appreciated his small stories about life, faith and our shared Episcopal religion.

It makes me want to visit Vermont, and maybe even Island Pond. I will also look at some of Keizer's other books for future reading.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Keizer's work very much, though this was not my favorite. My favorite is called Help, and I liked his other two about teaching--one about being a high school English teacher, and a more recent one about education in general . . . This one, A Dresser of Sycamore Trees, is about being a lay Episcopalian minister in Vermont. I liked the chapter about winding the clock best . . .

[Dave Kalach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful account of a spiritual journey. This story truly explains what it means to live ones faith. The lesson for me was that a persons faith is best found in little everyday kindnesses one does for our fellow man.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love this book, but it has some wonderful moments chronicling parish ministry and what it means to be an “ordinary” Christian.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, reading this book, and arguing with it and enjoying it and weeping over it, I thought...I wonder if any of my friends at all would like this?

And I think..maybe not, but that's okay. It's a sort of specialized book, a book of seeking in a kind of narrow field ("should I become an Episcopalian minister?") that bounds outside those narrow edges into questions of how one should live, what is important, what is a community, how do we help one another...

I'm not Episcopalian, and not recognized by any official branch of contemporary religion as a practitioner of their particular brand, but I much enjoy talking with people wandering some version of the great path, and I would love to sit down and chat with Keizer, if he is still around and still seeking and serving.

The book is around 20 years old, and reflects an even earlier era of political and spiritual thought, but it has some gems and some wry and touching moments.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why it took me so long to finish this book. Probably because I'm a fiction addict so I kept putting it aside to read something else. But this is a great book! I really enjoyed journeying with Keizer into his ministry. It inspired me to remember that some of the most mundane moments are filled with God. I especially loved the last three chapters of this book.

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing voice of kindness, humility, insight and wisdom, Keizer has an incomparable gift for seeing the beauty in human beings and in the simplest pleasures of life. This was absorbing and often funny; whatever your religious leanings, or lack thereof, if you are a human being in this world you will be enriched by reading it.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly read.

[Steve Schewe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A daily memoir of Chrisitan ministry in practice as told by a gifted writer.

[Adam Tierney-Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book meant a lot to me when I served churches on north central Maine. A good read that speaks to the experience of many in rural small-church ministry.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good it is on my re-read list. It is also one of the books that won't be leaving as I downsize my personal library.