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Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality: making space for God
Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyMay I be safe and protected. May I be at peace in mind and body. May I live with ease and kindness. (Kindness practice, p. 120)We can all engage with such longings - and wish these good things for the people we love. Mindfulness practice is hugely popular these days! But what, Tim Stead asks, does it have to offer Christianity? How might it help us to transform the way we manage stress and open up more completely to the promised 'life in all its fullness'? Key is the definition of mindfulness as being more fully aware of our own experience in the present moment in a non-judgmental way. The author finds that 'distractions', so often the bane of those trying to pray, can be taken note of without our being caught up in or taken over by them. A non-judgemental approach seems entirely consistent with talk of grace, and as Christians we know we can only ever experience God in the present moment. Tim reflects:'If I feel loved entirely without judgment, I will gradually dare to allow every aspect of myself to come into the light of God's gaze and so into relationship with the rest of myself - and this is how healing comes.'£9.99 -
See, Love, Be: mindfulness and the spiritual life
Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyMany have been hugely helped by mindfulness practice. But how do we move beyond our initial goal of functioning well to live a life marked by deep awareness, genuine compassion and ease of being? Tim Stead is an accredited mindfulness teacher who seeks to explore this very question. Offering new versions of familiar practices, he meditates on three key themes - see, love, be - that connect strongly with the concerns of many great spiritual traditions. A practical eight-week guide with audio MP3 CD£9.99 -
Advent and Christmas Wisdom from St Francis of Assisi
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearThe much loved Saint Francis of Assisi discarded the trappings of wealth and found Christ in the simple life. Through daily meditations, Scripture readings, and action-based spiritual exercises written for the Advent and Christmas season, we are each invited to examine our spiritual life, to listen to the wisdom of Saint Francis and to follow in the footsteps of Christ. St Francis of Assisi calls us to embrace a life of radical Christian discipleship. For Francis, to live the life of a disciple of Christ meant that one had to embrace the poverty and humility of Christ as made manifest in Christ's own birth. This Advent and Christmas, let Saint Francis guide you in finding the great expression of God's overflowing love for each one of us through reflection and prayer.£11.99 -
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Contemplative Prayer
Influences & Suggested Reading, Scripture & PrayerThomas Merton's classic study of monastic prayer and contemplation brings a tradition of spirituality alive for the present day. But, as A M Allchin points out in his Introduction to this new edition, Contemplative Prayer also shows us the present day in a new perspective, because we see it in the light of a long and living tradition. Merton stresses that in meditation we should not look for a 'method' or 'system' but cultivate an 'attitude' or 'outlook': faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, trust, joy. God is found in the desert of surrender, in giving up any expectation of a particular message and 'waiting on the Word of God in silence'. Merton insists on the humility of faith, which he argues 'will do far more to launch us into the full current of historical reality than the pompous rationalisation of politicians who think they are somehow the directors and manipulators of history'.£9.99