Book excerpt: THE TENDERNESS OF STONE is a memoir of the power of the Sacred Mountain operating in human spirituality, recounted in the histories of a particular place of power, the Middle Mountain (Sutter Buttes), a sharp cluster of old volcanoes rising from the center of California's Central Valley. It is also the story of one man's life-long obsession with the Mountain, as its lore and meaning are revealed in his experience. LORD OF THE VALLEY is a book filled with stories of ancient mythic wisdom, pioneer psychodrama, and the passions and people of the present day, as they have encountered this sacred place. But the real offering of this work is of a renewed vision of the eternal incarnation of truth and revelation in the Place of Sacred Power, exemplified in this remarkable place. This first volume is the intimate story of a boy's sudden absorption in the power of this mountain, and the shattering - and unifying - drama that resulted in his life-long exploration of its mysteries.