Everyday Spiritual Practice PDF Download

Author: Scott W. Alexander
Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
ISBN: 9781558963757
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Have you wondered, "How do I integrate my heartfelt beliefs into my daily life?" Nearly 40 contributors address this creative dilemma and share their discoveries. Creating a home altar, practicing martial arts, fasting, quilting -- these are just some of the ways they've found to make every day more meaningful and satisfying.

Author: Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506454607
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
How the daily practices of life with children can shape our faith In the Midst of Chaos explores parenting as spiritual practice, building on Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore's fresh conceptions of children from her book Let the Children Come. She questions conventional perceptions that spiritual practices require silence, solitude, and uninterrupted prayer and that assume a life unburdened by care of others. She is both honest about the difficulties and attentive to the blessings present in everyday life and demonstrates that the life of faith encompasses children and the adults who care for them. Miller-McLemore explores how parents might use seven daily practices, such as play, reading, chores, and saying goodbye or goodnight as rich opportunities to shape both parent and child morally and spiritually. Through these experiences, she shows how the very care of children forms and reforms the faith of adults themselves, contrary to the belief that adults must form children. In the Midst of Chaos also goes beyond the typical focus on individual self-fulfillment by tackling difficult questions of social justice and mutuality in the ways families live together. Readers will find in this book an invitation to love those around them in the midst of life's craziness and to live more deeply in grace.

Author: Lisa Deam
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
ISBN: 1506461646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Propelled by a desire for the sacred, spiritual seekers of the Middle Ages were masters of pilgrimage, dedicated to their journeys of religious devotion. Their epic voyages took them across continents and treacherous mountain passages, and were undertaken with a keen awareness of the possible perils of the journey. Still, by faith, they went on pilgrimage in hopes of tracing the steps of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem. In 3000 Miles to Jesus Lisa Deam invites us to embrace the adventure of spiritual pilgrimage in our everyday lives. Bringing alive the rich stories of medieval pilgrims, she offers an intimate look at these quests for the sacred, helping us draw rich application for our walks of faith today. To take this road, we won't have to give up flushing toilets, warm beds, or cell phones. But we are invited to travel the rugged terrain of faith: journeying in risk and adventure through unfamiliar territory, across the unknown seas of the spiritual life, meeting life's difficult passages of loss, accompanied by the temptation to turn back even as we march on. In meeting challenges in the wise company of the ancient pilgrims, we learn hope and resolve as we walk a wild and wonderful way to a city that shimmers beyond a horizon we cannot yet see. We are headed for the Jerusalem of our hearts. When we understand the risks taken and the courage and conviction driving the medieval pilgrim, a bigger picture of a lifelong journey of faith comes into view. We are opened up to the sacred world before us in new and unexpected ways.

Author: Lewis Richmond
Publisher: Avery
ISBN: 1592407471
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Offers a Buddhist perspective on aging well, with anecdotes of the author's experiences with illness, aging, and transformation, and guided meditations.

Author: Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830899111
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Adele Calhoun's Spiritual Disciplines Handbook has become a standard for those who want to expand their knowledge of spiritual practices. Now this beloved resource has been revised throughout and expanded to include thirteen new disciplines along with a new preface by the author, giving us practical guidance in our continuing journey toward intimacy with Christ.

Author: Cheri Huber
Publisher: Keep It Simple Books
ISBN: 1953624049
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
This book provides a process for dealing with the dull pain of depression. It employs a custom hand-lettered font and many lighthearted illustrations. A self-guided retreat has been added to assist readers to explore how to be compassionate with themselves when depressed.

Author: Rachel G. Hackenberg
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 1640650245
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
Two ministers share their own stories about struggling to live out their faith. It’s the sort of experience familiar to many: Somewhere between illness and divorce, abusive relationships and brushes with death, faith failed to provide answers . . . or we failed to live as though we believed faith held answers. But surely, it’s different for clergy, the ones who preach and practice faith? But faith requires more, and authors Martha Spong and Rachel G. Hackenberg, who grew up in the church and became ordained ministers, know first-hand about coming to terms with God and life, the need to search for answers . . . or at least assurance we are not alone in struggling for renewed hope. Denial is My Spiritual Practice is a companion for the wondering and struggling. The authors offer their own stories as evidence that God remains, both when faith fails and when faith finds new understanding. They combine stark life experiences, offbeat spiritual perspectives, and Scripture to offer comfort, grace, laughter, and a few tears along the way.

Author: Shelly Miller
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493427954
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
We all long for certainty in life, yet things often don't go as we expect. When facing illness, job loss, strained relationships, and other struggles, our impulse is to question God and strive to fix things ourselves. In this book, Shelly Miller, a trusted ministry leader, explores how difficult times can actually be purposeful times of spiritual growth. Weaving the exodus story from the Bible with her own story, she shares how to focus on God rather than trying to overcome challenges in our own limited strength. Each chapter features a simple spiritual practice to help us enjoy the peace and security that is only possible through Christ. Uncertain seasons will soon be translated as an aha instead of an oh no.

Author: Becky Eldredge
Publisher: Loyola Press
ISBN: 0829449345
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
2021 Illumination Book Awards, Gold Medal: Spirituality What is the “inner chapel”? The place within where God meets us. We can trust God—and we can trust in God’s promises to us, including: We are never alone. We are loved--unconditionally. We have a companion in our suffering. Each of us has a unique call. But how do we experience all that God has given us? By going to the inner chapel, that sacred place within each person where God waits to love us unconditionally. There, God gives us all we need to find our way to a life of hope instead of despair, peace instead of continued restlessness, and joy instead of anxiety. Becky Eldredge offers readers down-to-earth stories, prayer experiences to try, and enthusiastic encouragement for spiritual growth and a deeper friendship with God. The Inner Chapel will inspire individuals but also provide excellent material for small groups and people going on retreat.​

Author: Will Johnson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 162055688X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
A guide to meditative breathing practices in Western religions and how these practices provide a direct experience of God • Reveals how Western spiritual traditions, such as the Book of Genesis, the Jewish teachings of ruach, and the poetry of Rumi, contain hidden instruction for meditative breathing practices • Explains how breathing practices can bring all of us, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, closer to a direct experience of the palpable presence of God • Provides guidelines and best practices for meditative breathing through a personal journal of the author’s own meditative retreat Surprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath. In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God. Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.