Hands That Touch, Hands That Heal

Rating:
Summary: Sister Rosalind is a living saint
Review: As the author of the book, I must say that it was a honor to have Sister Rosalind's life story entrusted to my care. After spending a great deal of time with her and speaking to many people about her life and work, I developed the greatest respect for the tremendous contribution Sister Rosalind has made to the world, impacting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people through a ripple effect.

Today, massage is very popular and very accepted. However, when Sister Rosalind started publicly doing massage twenty years ago, that was not the case. It was associated with prostitution, and it brought a great deal of shame upon her. Many considered her a "dirty old woman" as she says. Can you imagine how she could continue to do this work, ostracized not only by her own religious community, but looked down upon by those outside her religious community as well?

Well, she steadfastly listened to that inner calling from God to practice massage, and kept at it against all odds. Consequently, she has made a major contribution towards the widespread acceptance of massage.

I am rating this book five stars not on my behalf as the author, but is recognition of the great life story that is contained in this biography of Sister Rosalind. In her presence, I truly feel the love of God, and to get a back rub and hug from Sister Rosalind is to experience a little heaven on earth.

I want the world to know about this little woman (under five feet tall) whom I and many others consider to be a living saint. A little woman with hands of iron and a heart of gold, Sister Rosalind considers her work a ministry and not a business. With her massage ministry, she is determined to spread God's love through healing touch to the whole world.

Rating:
Summary: Very Inspiring Book!
Review: I love getting massages, and I was really shocked and surprised to read about how unacceptable massage used to be --- not too long ago. My friends and I get massages to help undwind from all the stress in our lives and I had no idea how difficult it was for anyone trying to be a legitimate massage therapist before massage became popular in the 1990s. I guess we have come a long way in a very short time. I have heard that there are now 150,000 massage therapists in the U.S. and that this number is growing every year as is the number of people getting massages.

Sister Rosalind's story is really interesting. She had a very tough childhood growing up on a farm in North Dakota during the Depression and Dust Bowl. Her descriptions are very vivid about living in that time, and it should make all of us grateful to have the comforts and conveniences we now have in America. Sister Rosalind's family had no running water, no toilets, no electricity and had to butcher their own animals and do hard labor in the fields. Her father died when she was six years old and her mother had to raise 13 children.

Sister Rosalind suffered a lot, even when she was in the convent. But she kept her faith and finally was able to overcome all obstacles to do what she felt God called her to do as her mission in life - healing touch.

Her strong spirit and her honesty and caring for others comes through in the book. I simply could not put the book down and felt really inspired after reading the book. I think that Sister Rosalind's life illustrates certain steps everyone takes on a spiritual path, whether in a religious organization or just living in the world. You go through hardship, opposition, and yet, if you endure, and keep trying, eventually you emerge victorious.

This book is very easy-to-read, with lots of subheads and short chapters. It is down-to-earth and it contains many excerpts of Sister Rosalind actually describing her life and experiences. I would recommend it for anyone in the healing professions as well as people interested in uplifting and inspiring true life stories, and especially people of faith.