by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

In a time of rapid change, the Rev. Lydia Sohn, senior pastor of Walnut United Methodist Church, gives a fresh perspective with her debut book, “Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving.”

The book, published by Convergent, hits stores February 25. A free and open to the public book launch and signing event follows at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 1 at Claremont United Methodist Church, 211 W. Foothill Blvd. RSVP at eventbrite.com, search “Lydia Sohn.”

Part memoir, part spiritual reflection, Sohn described the book as a “countercultural book about transforming our circumstances and finding fulfillment right where we are, and going against the societal pressure and norm and messaging to always leave behind our circumstances, and our communities and our relationships, in search of something better.”

“When we leave to escape a difficult situation or because we’re bored, ultimately what happens is that the same kind of emotions come up as soon as we get to the next place, right?” Sohn said. “Like the same feeling of [fear of missing out] and restlessness and boredom will always come up.”

To break that cycle, Sohn advocates being mindful, so that leaving “… feels like a homecoming.”

“It’s because we feel in our soul that this is the next step that we’re being called to, and so there’s this sense of deep peace and a feeling of coming home, even when we’re leaving a situation,” she said.

The Rev. Lydia Sohn’s debut book, “Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving,” comes out February 25. Photo/courtesy of the Rev. Lydia Sohn

Some 12 years ago Sohn was a secretary with the Claremont School of Theology. She recalled one student who had been rejected by her church, yet remained committed to the religious life, as she had taken the three Benedictine vows of obedience, stability, and “conversatio morum,” roughly translated as “fidelity to the monastic life.”

The concept of staying instead of pivoting to another profession lingered, ultimately becoming the seed for “Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving.”

She researched the “Benedictine spirituality of stability,” and put it into practice in her own life.  At one point she was tempted to leave the ministry. At another, she wanted to end her marriage when things got difficult. Each time, she dug deeper. “Then eventually, slowly and steadily, it just became a whole book,” Sohn said.

She began writing in fall 2021 during a weekend trip to a cabin near El Camino Pines, a Lutheran retreat center in Frazier Park. After two years of writing and editing, she got a publishing deal. 

“It revealed to me that … there is a rootlessness that further worsened during the pandemic when people all of a sudden could live anywhere and live alone,” she said. “I think this book really hit a nerve and met a deep need during this time.”

“Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving” includes anecdotes of her parents’ journey from South Korea to the U.S. and her own life experiences.

Claremont — where her parents own Ecoterra and she and her husband went to college — also plays a role.

“I feel this very mystical connection to this land,” Sohn said. “And so that’s another reason why when I talk about stability and commitment, it’s not just to the people, it’s also to the place where we find ourselves.”

Sohn hopes the book prompts readers to ask themselves deep questions.

“What I would love for readers to get from the reading of this book is exactly what I promise that it will give, which is to help them look twice at their lives and their situations before they bolt, before they cut ties and go to the next best thing, to open their eyes to the wonder of their current circumstances,” she said. The book is, “for anybody who is living a life believing that somewhere else is where they need to be happier.” 

Writing the book brought with it some new insight into connecting with readers.

“Something that is very interesting and paradoxical that I learned as a writer is that when we try to be too broad and too general and to be inclusive as possible, we actually don’t speak to anybody,” Sohn said. “But when we speak from our real life experiences, as specific as possible, from the particularity of our own life experiences, it actually ends up speaking to more people.”

“Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving” goes on sale Tuesday, February 25. A book launch and signing event will follow Saturday, March 1, at 2 p.m. at Claremont United Methodist Church, 211 W. Foothill Blvd. RSVP at eventbrite.com, search “Lydia Sohn.”