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A personal invitation to walk with God through one of the great classics of Christian spirituality. This book of daily devotions is based upon The Cloud of Unknowing. In this edition Robinson sought to remain as true as possible to the voice of this medieval classic. Cloud Devotion follows the original Middle English text sentence by sentence, with Robinson's own translation and paraphrase, divided work into 366 small portions, with a Scripture passage related to the theme from each daily reading. "My heart has yearned for this book. I wanted a guide to help me savor and reflect on the spiritual classic The Cloud of Unknowing. David has insightfully discerned how we might do this. The partnership of this unknown, ancient writer and this known, living pastor is masterful. I invite you into the clouds with the slow reading of this book." --Dr. MaryKate Morse, author and mentor-professor of formation and leadership

Margaret B. Ingraham's collection Exploring this Terrain bids the reader to join her in a journey of discovery. In a world in which speed is increasingly regarded as a virtue and distraction is its inevitable consequence, each of these poems offers escape and consolation. One by one they invite the reader to be still, to observe, to listen, to "taste and see" - and ultimately to experience the wonder that only attention can discover hiding in the thin places within the various terrains of our everyday lives. "What is the terrain that Margaret Ingraham explores in Exploring this Terrain? It ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Pluto. The path crosses the trails of memory and illness, the natural world and disintegration, and various parts unseen. Yet it stays, as Margaret says near the end of the book, in the 'secret places of my brokenness.' It is the beautiful landscape of wonder, the uneven country of love, the difficult ground of faith." --Loren Graham, author of Places I Was Dreaming.

A companion book for anyone observing the Christian season of Lent, prayers and practices from a variety of denominations and traditions.

As word of the wisdom and purity of the Desert Fathers and Mothers spread throughout the Roman Empire, Christians streamed to the caves of these hermits, seeking counsel on the interior life. The hermits' ascetic practices and teachings were a shining witness to a living faith - offering wisdom for both monastic and lay Christians. Encouraging humility, patience, prayer, introspection, and love, the Desert Fathers and Mothers have influenced centuries of believers, showing how contemplative practice can reveal the true meaning of everyday life."Let Christians care for nothing that they cannot take away with them. We ought rather to seek after that which will lead us to heaven, namely wisdom, chastity, justice, virtue, an ever watchful mind, care of the poor, firm faith in Christ, a mind that can control anger, and hospitality. Striving after these things, we shall prepare for ourselves a dwelling in the land of the peaceful." (from the book)

The remarkable author of Girl Meets God and Real Sex shares her quest to enrich faith with daily spiritual disciplines.

All things are possible to one who believes; even more to one who hopes; still more to one who loves.

Previous books - Parched (978-1596090811) and Redeemed (9780670018635)

This enhanced edition of Brother Lawrence's classic work will appeal to anyone who desires to make spirituality a moment-by-moment way of life.

St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Siena, an Anonymous monk of 14th-century England, and Thomas a Kempis

Kindle your prayer life with the words, guidance, and spirit of Francis of Assisi.

Andalusian Hours: Poems from the Porch of Flannery O’Connor is a collection of 101 sonnets that channel the voice of celebrated fiction writer, Flannery O’Connor. In these poems, poet and scholar Angela Alaimo O’Donnell imagines the rich interior life Flannery lived during the last fourteen years of her life in rural Georgia on her family’s farm named “Andalusia.” Each poem begins with an epigraph taken from O’Connor’s essays, stories, or letters; the poet then plumbs Flannery’s thoughts and the poignant circumstances behind them, welcoming the reader into O’Connor’s private world. Together the poems tell the story of a brilliant young woman who enjoyed a bright and promising childhood, was struck with lupus just as her writing career hit its stride, and was forced to return home and live out her days in exile, far from the literary world she loved. By turns tragic and comic, the poems in Andalusian Hours explore Flannery’s loves and losses, her complex relationship with her mother, her battle with her illness and disability, and her passion for her writing. The poems mark time in keeping with the liturgical hours O’Connor herself honored in her prayer life and in her quasi-monastic devotion to her vocation and to the home she learned to love, Andalusia.  

Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church is an invitation to a life of joy. Phoebe Farag Mikhail explains what joy is and how to experience it through seven spiritual practices that cultivate our inner lives and connect us to our communities. These seven practices, which include giving thanks, hospitality, praise, and more, take us on a journey that leads to joy through the giving and receiving of sacrificial love. She describes her own experiences and struggles with joy and offers practical ways to implement these practices to increase joy in our own lives and in the lives of all those around us.

Poet and literature professor Scott Cairns ran headlong into his midlife crisis — a fairly common experience among men nearing the age of fifty—while walking on the beach with his Labrador. His was not a desperate attempt to recapture youth, filled with sports cars and younger women. Instead, Cairns realized his spiritual life was advancing at a snail''s pace and time was running out. Midlife crisis for this this Baptist turned Eastern Orthodox manifested as a desperate need to seek out prayer. Originally published in 2007, this new edition of Short Trip to the Edge include photos, maps and an expanded narrative of Scott''s spiritual journey to the mystical peninsula of Mt. Athos. With twenty monasteries and thirteen sketes scattered across its sloping terrain, the Holy Mountain was the perfect place for Scott to seek out a prayer father and discover the stillness of the true prayer life. Told with wit and exquisite prose, his narrative takes the reader from a beach in Virginia to the most holy Orthodox monasteries in the world to a monastery in Arizona and back again as Scott struggles to find his prayer path. Along the way, Cairns forged relationships with monks, priests, and fellow pilgrims.

"This book is the masterpiece from which all other Christian memoirs flow. Augustine's astonishing story remains as fresh as it did when he wrote it in the late fourth century. " -James Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints

St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Siena, an Anonymous monk of 14th-century England, and Thomas a Kempis

These saints have spoken to the hearts of millions. They've helped many on the way to understanding the role of God in their lives. In this collection, may their words again help all who long for a life of meaning, touched and transfigured by God.Holy Thirst presents all the essential themes of Carmelite spirituality, excerpted from classics such as The Way of Perfection of St. Teresa of Avila, The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St. John of the Cross, The Story of a Soul of St. Therese of Lisieux, and The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Also included are shorter portions by lesser known, more recent Carmelites: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), and Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit (Jessica Powers)."As you hold this collection, it is important to recall the beginnings of Carmelite spirituality, a beginning that takes us back to the twelfth century and the time of the Crusades. A band of brothers-conscientious objectors, of sorts-witnessed firsthand the clash of civilizations and all that it entailed. They knew death, they knew loss, and their very souls were bruised. The only next step that they could envision was to leave the world as they knew it and settle on the sacred mountain known for centuries to Jews, Christians and Muslims as the holy home of the Prophet Elijah..." -Adam Bucko, from the Foreword

The poems in Dreaming of Stones are about what endures: hope and desire, changing seasons, wild places, love, and the wisdom of mystics. Inspired by the poet's time living in Ireland these readings invite you into deeper ways of seeing the world. They have an incantational quality. Drawing on her commitment as a Benedictine oblate, the poems arise out of a practice of sitting in silence and lectio divina, in which life becomes the holy text. No stranger to poetry, Paintner's bestselling spirituality titles have often included poems. In this first exclusively poetic collection, she writes with a contemplative heart about kinship with nature, ancestral connections, intimacy, the landscape, the unfolding nature of time, and Christian mystics. It can be read for reflection to spark the heart and to offer solace and inspiration in difficult times. BreathThisbreathingin is a miracle,this breathing out, release,this breathing in a welcome tothe unseen gifts which sustain me eachmoment, this breathing out a sweet sigh,a bow to my mortality, this breathing ina holy yes to life, this breathing outa sacred no to all that causesme to clench and grasp,this breathing in is arevelation, thisbreathing out,freedom.

There are other introductory books about Orthodoxy. This one comprehensively covers the history, theology, and practice without talking over your head. Mathewes- Green takes the original approach of bringing you into a typical church for a series of visits. That is how Christians learned the faith for most of history, by coming into a community and keeping their eyes and ears open. Designed primarily for newcomers to come to understand Orthodoxy and Orthodox Christians, this guide to the faith is also a non-threatening and accessible introduction to people already "e;in the pews."e; Inviting rather than argumentative, this is a book Orthodox Christians will be giving to their friends. "e;Plenty of books deal with Christian theology in weighty and abstruse ways, but few apply the theology so wholly to the everyday lived realities of life, and in such easily accessible prose, as does Welcome to the Orthodox Church. Take warning, though: if you do read this thoughtful, passionate book, you run the risk of having to take the claims of Orthodox Christianity very seriously indeed."e; -Philip Jenkins, Baylor University"e;How do you introduce (Eastern) Orthodoxy? Frederica suggests we treat it as a large, and muchloved, family house. She takes us round it, showing us all the rooms and what goes on in them. . . . There is lots of information, and she deals directly with problems to be encountered. This is a wonderful book."e; -The Very Revd Archpriest Andrew Louth, Durham University, author of Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology"e;With exhilarating clarity, Frederica Mathewes-Green introduces the profound mystery at the heart of the Orthodox Christian faith, which is also our common inheritance: it is a way of life to be encountered and performed; it is not reducible to a range of propositions to be considered. With great charm and with characteristic wit and humor, she prepares the way for those who arrive at an Orthodox church for services, letting them know what to expect, what to watch for, how to lean in-letting them know how best to open their hearts to this worship that is both ancient and ever new."e; -Scott Cairns"e;In her own warm and engaging way, Frederica takes you on a journey into a strange and exotic world for those unfamiliar with it but a spiritual refuge and oasis for those who have embraced it. This just may be the Church you have been looking for and didn't even know it existed."e; -John Maddex, CEO Ancient Faith Ministries"e;Beautifully written and carefully explained with a heart for the non- Orthodox. As an evangelical, who grew up in the Greek Orthodox Church, until being shipped off to boarding school in England, I found myself longing to revisit the liturgy and traditions of my youth!"e; -Emmanuel Kampouris, Former Chairman & CEO of American Standard Companies, Founder of www.biblemesh.com"e;This excellent book is most valuable because it is more like a friend than a book. It's the voice you hope to hear beside you in church, murmuring explanations and encouragement as you make your journey. I highly recommend it."e; - Rev. Dr. Christopher Metropulos, Executive Director, Orthodox Christian Network, MyOCN.net

This joint biography illuminates the lives of Francis and Clare and their way of life. It shows how they were bound together by devotion to God as well as the violent objections of their families to religious life. It explores a variety of issues they faced, including the treatment of lepers in medieval society, corruption in the church, and attitudes toward the created world. You will learn how Clare's spirituality influenced that of other prominent women, how Francis lost control of his own movement, and why Francis's body was secretly buried after his death.

This collection of poems engages in new and animating ways with one of the profoundest texts of our past, the Book of Psalms. These poems are Clarke''s response to his experience of reading the Psalter through once every month according to Cranmer’s divisions in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.