Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Dynamic and Evolving Landscape | Page 19

Back to the Garden:
A Review of The Lively Place

Stephen Kendrick’s new book about Mount
Auburn (Boston: Beacon Press, 2016)
By James N. Levitt

While I am neither a native of New England nor a
Unitarian, I have from time to time taken the opportunity
to listen to the musings of Stephen Kendrick, the spiritual
leader of a congregation—the Unitarian-Universalist First
Church in Boston—that is foundational to the culture of
Boston, of Massachusetts, and of America. In reading his
newest book, my attention was richly rewarded.
In The Lively Place, Kendrick illuminates the spirit of
Mount Auburn Cemetery, which he first came to know
as a divinity student at Harvard and more recently as his
Church’s senior minister. He reveals Mount Auburn as a
“storyscape,” a sacred place replete with stories: of the
natural history and the art of horticulture; of the lives
of the famous and not-so-famous individuals for whom
the Cemetery is a final resting place; and of how Mount
Auburn has become, over the past 185 years, a renowned
arboretum, wildlife sanctuary, sculpture garden, nationally significant historic resource, and wellspring of solace
for the bereaved. Perhaps most importantly, he has found
a way to teach us how important the age-old narrative
of the Garden of Eden was to Boston’s founders in the
early 1600s, as well as to Mount Auburn’s founders in the
early 1800s. In doing so, he helps us understand how this
ancient story has relevance for those of us striving to build
a culture of conservation and deep respect for the natural
world in the early 21st century.
In t