The ancient prophets and teachers of Israel were poets . . . or at least the ones we remember best and quote most often and hold most dear were. Jeremiah . . . Isaiah . . . Miriam . . . Judith . . . even King David himself. Who ever used language with more care than they? Who ever more completely allowed the precision and rhythms of language to become their truth as well as its vehicle? Who ever taught us more persuasively than they always, when in sacred conversation, to yearn for the beauty of the nuance and the gripping power of the ordinary turned to holy use. Who ever, indeed? Yet Kyndall Rothaus has understood these things since the first moments of her call to ministry. She has understood them, and she has employed them well. Preacher Breath is in part the story of that understanding, and, in part, it is the proof of it. Enter these pages with expectation. You will not be disappointed.-Phyllis TickleFounding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly Author of The Great Emergence and The Age of the Spirit