In Five Stones and a Burnt Stick, author Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele gives us well-crafted stories embedded in wisdom that will lead us to the path of intimacy.  

We are designed for intimacy. The desire to know and be known is hard-wired into our DNA. In this skillfully-woven narrative, Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele wrestles with the elusive wisdom that often seems to slip through our grasping fists on our lifelong quest for intimacy. 

Combing allegory and insight, Five Stones & A Burnt Stick: Toward the Ancient Wisdom of Intimacy leaps into life at the edge of the desert, around the embers of a burning bush and within the heart of God’s seeking servant Moses. In the midst of these embers, Moses unearths five stones and a burnt stick, which represent the five paths toward intimacy – intimacy with God and intimacy with others. 

You are invited to pick up each of the five stones and to encounter their intricacy and beauty. The stones of demarcation, difference, dwelling, disclosure and discovery form the elements of the lifelong journey toward full intimacy, which is our true home.

Five Stones & A Burnt Stick invites us to let the words that reverberated through Moses reverberate through you.

“We have been created for intimacy, intimacy with God and intimacy with others.” 

“We often wonder how the dry bones of scripture can live for today’s readers and hearers. Here is one powerful, imaginative and stimulating approach. In a prosaic age, here is poetry. In a two-dimensional culture, here are three dimensions. In an age where intimacy is made cheap, here is intimacy made wise.”                                     

The Right Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford 

“In the tradition of the great myth-makers and storytellers, Ernesto leads us on a joyful and reverent journey into the heart of what it means to be spiritual. For those unknown to traditional religion, this story will open windows and doors.”

Brian McLaren, author & speaker

About the Author 



Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga Steele, an Artist-Priest, lives in the south east of England with his wife Marie.

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