Sacred Companions Sacred Community is a practical and sacred journey into holy companionship. It speaks to the longing inside each of us as we traverse this earth in search of love.
We need companions on our spiritual journey. In this inviting guide, David G. Benner introduces readers to the riches of spiritual friendship and direction, explaining what they are and how they are practiced. Through prayerful, guided attunement to God's activity, sacred companions provide care for the soul, and Benner models the kind of traveling companion who can move us toward deeper intimacy with God.
Born into Spanish nobility in 1515, Teresa entered the monastic life at age 20 and was eventually guided to reform the Carmelite Order, where she introduced the practice of meditation. This edition makes her timeless wisdom fully contemporary through translations of Teresa's words followed by a practical interpretation and a brief, inviting meditation.
Prayers to guide your journey of raising kids in a complicated world. In an age of distraction and overwhelm, finding the words to meaningfully pray for our children--and for our journey as parents--can feel impossible. Written with warmth and welcome, To Light Their Way gives voice to your prayers when words won't come. Filled with more than 100 modern liturgies, this book guides you into an intentional conversation with God for your children and the world they live in. From everyday struggles like helping your child find friends or thrive in school to larger issues like praying for a brighter world rooted in peace and truth, these pleas and petitions act as a gentle guide, reminding us that while our words may fail, God never does. At the core of To Light Their Way is the deepest of prayers: that our children will experience the love of God so deeply that their lives will be an outpouring of love that lights up the world.
Among the smiling faces in church on Sunday mornings are those who long for deeper, more genuine relationships within their local congregations--active, intentional relationships that nurture the soul and encourage personal encounters with God. Drawing on decades of experience in spiritual direction, congregational ministry, and seminary teaching, this book offers a clear and rich introduction to the theology and practice of spiritual companioning in the Protestant tradition. The authors explore the topic in a biblically based and historically informed manner and give practical help for cultivating spiritual relationships in congregations and beyond, using stories throughout to illustrate key ideas. Discussion questions are included.
The Routledge Companion to Management and Workplace Spirituality provides readers with a broad, cutting-edge overview of the discipline of management spirituality and religion (MSR). Marques has gathered leading scholars from around the world who share their insights and research on important topics such as linking spirituality and religion, cultural influences on workplace spirituality, mindfulness, and managing spiritually averse people. The volume also covers each of the major religions from both East and West, as well as leadership and spirituality, and issues related to linking spirituality to ethics, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. This volume will prove invaluable to any student or researcher looking for a comprehensive survey of the field of MSR.
An inside look at an interfaith program for the homeless in New York City, including in-depth stories of those who have graduated and made new lives. In a metropolis like New York, homelessness can blend into the urban landscape. For Susan Greenfield, however, New York is the place where a community of resilient, remarkable individuals is yearning for a voice. Sacred Shelter follows the lives of thirteen formerly homeless people, all of whom have graduated from an interfaith life skills program for current and former homeless individuals in the city. Through interviews, these individuals share traumas from their youth, their experience with homelessness, and the healing they’ve discovered through community and faith. Edna Humphrey talks about losing her grandparents, father, and sister to illness, accident, and abuse. Lisa Sperber discusses her bipolar disorder and her whiteness. Dennis Barton speaks about his unconventional path to becoming a first-generation college student and his journey to reconnect with his family. The memoirists share stories about youth, family, jobs, and love. They describe their experiences with racism, mental illness, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Each of the thirteen storytellers honestly expresses his or her broken-heartedness and how finding community and faith gave them hope to carry on. Interspersed are reflections from program directors, clerics, mentors, and volunteers, including the cofounder of the program. While Sacred Shelter does not tackle the socioeconomic conditions and inequities that cause homelessness, it provides a voice for a demographic group that continues to suffer from systemic injustice and marginalization.
Contemporary life is leaving us frazzled, overwhelmed, and out of sorts. Our life's rhythm is often borrowed from the pace of life around us. Humans have created such a loud, fast tempo of perfection and production that we often forget--if we ever knew it at all--the rhythms designed for our well-being. In The Sacred Pulse, pastor and author April Fiet invites us to examine the frantic patterns of our lives to reclaim the deeper, sacred pulses that pattern our days. Through stories, scripture, and practical guidance for daily living, she lays out twelve rhythms--including gardening, handcrafts, friendship, and holidays--that are both sustainable and sustaining. Everyday acts like mealtime and shopping, and sporadic rhythms like the occasional snow day: reclaiming these patterns can remind us of the holy movement of God in the world. In a world of hustle and bravado, silencing the noise takes practice. The Sacred Pulse shows us how to strip away all of the competing beats we have settled for so we can tap into the joyful, holy rhythms of life.
In recent years, many Christian clergy, laity and mental health professionals have rediscovered the ancient practices of spiritual direction. Seen as a refreshing alternative to the techniques and limitations of modern psychology, such practices offer new insights for pastoral care. But many remain unclear on what spiritual direction is and whether its methods are applicable to their own clients and parishioners. Spiritual direction is a practice of Christian soul care that is found most notably in the Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopal traditions but is also present in Wesleyan/Holiness, Pentecostal/charismatic, social justice and Reformed communities. Predating modern counseling and psychotherapy movements but sharing key principles and insights for spiritual formation, spiritual direction offers significant resources for today s pastors, counselors, therapists, chaplains and other caregivers attuned to the work of God in people s lives. In this landmark volume, editors Gary W. Moon and David G. Benner, along with a team of expert contributors, provide a comprehensive survey of spiritual direction in its myriad Christian forms. Specific chapters offer careful historical perspective and contemporary analysis of how Christians from various backgrounds have practiced spiritual direction, with particular attention to each tradition s definition of spiritual direction, the process of authentic transformation, the role of the spiritual director, indicators of mature spirituality and other aspects of the spiritual direction process. Chapters also provide psychological and clinical insight into how spiritual direction is similar to, different from and can be integrated with psychotherapy and pastoral counseling to help others experience spiritual transformation and union with God.
We long to nurture our weary souls. But what if ordinary relationships are the answer? Intimacy with others is a part of our soul's architecture, and it can restore life and health to our depleted souls. Spiritual Friendship introduces you to principles of friendship that bring focus to your spiritual life. You'll discover what it takes to have a rich, God-centered relationship that will nourish your soul.