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A Retreat with Thomas Merton
The Inner JourneyThe celebrated spiritual writer Thomas Merton remains one of the most influential voices of our day. His many books have become modern spiritual classics and he opened up the riches of the monastic tradition for many. Here, Esther de Waal devises a seven day personal or group retreat programme using extracts from Thomas Merton's writings and a selection of the photography for which he was also renowned. She creates a retreat that can be made at home, at a centre or on holiday, over a week or a period of weeks. The focus of each of the seven days is: The Call; Response; The Solitary Within; Encounter With Christ; The Demands of Love; Common and Natural and Ordinary; Integration.£14.00 -
Ancient Paths CD
Celtic Prayer, Creativity, Music & Creativity, Spiritual GrowthAnna's first solo album includes some of her 'signature' pieces as well as some songs of her own. Some of you will recognise familiar words from the Complines in Celtic Daily Prayer drawn from Carmina Gadelica and other traditional sources. Here they are set to Anna's own music which has emerged over the years of saying and singing these night-time prayers with her children, Joel and Martha. Anna says, 'I hope you will want to play this album often and that it will capture something of the rhythm of the tides, the sounds of the island and also its stillness.'£12.00 -
The Promise of Paradox: a celebration of contradictions in the Christian life
The Inner JourneyFirst published in 1980 - and reissued here with a feisty new introductory essay - The Promise of Paradox launched Parker J. Palmer s career as an author and his ongoing exploration of the contradictions that vex and enrich our lives. In this probing and heartfelt book, the distinguished writer, teacher, and activist examines some of the challenging questions at the core of Christian spirituality. How do we live with the apparent opposition between good and evil, scarcity and abundance, individuality and community, death and new life? We can hold them as paradoxes, not "either/ors", allowing them to open our minds and hearts to new ways of seeing and being. Animated by the insights of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, The Promise of Paradox explores spiritual questions in the open and generous spirit of Christian mysticism, challenging forms of Christianity that are closed and even cruel. There are no easy answers to these questions, and there may be no answers at all. But with the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Palmer advocates the rich possibilities that emerge when we learn to "live the questions".£15.99 -
Advent for Everyone: A Journey with the Apostles
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearJoin Tom Wright on a journey with the Apostles, exploring the New Testament themes of thankfulness, patience, humility and joy. Within each of these themes, Wright offers a week of daily readings and meditations, beginning with the Sunday reading in the Revised Common Lectionary and ending with stimulating questions for personal reflection or group discussion. Drawing on key passages in his popular For Everyone series of commentaries, these sparkling reflections take you on a journey of spiritual enlightenment, guiding you towards the wonder and joy of Christmas.£8.99 -
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyNew from best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor, perhaps best known for An Altar in the World, comes Learning to Walk in the Dark. In this hardback book she writes with wisdom, grace and beauty as she seeks to rehabilitate what we have learned to fear - the dark. Here she reflects on how our lives do not only work when everything is brightly lit; twilight and deep darkness have treasures of their own waiting to be discovered. Babara Brown Taylor writes: 'Darkness is shorthand for anything that scares me - either because I am sure that I do not have the resources to survive ti or because I do not want to have to find out. If I had my way, I would eliminate everything from chronic back pain ti the fear of the devil from my life ad the lives of those I love. At least I think I would. The problem is this: when, despite all my best efforts, the lights have gone off in my life, plunging me into the kind of darkness that turns my knees to water, I have not died. The monsters have not dragged me out of bed and taken me back to their lair. Instead, I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light. Learning to Walk in the Dark is a wise spiritual companion and guide for those times in life when we don't have all the answers. Recognising our tendency to associate all that is good with light, and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness, Barbara Brown Taylor asks whether God doesn't work at night too? With her characteristic grace and generosity, she invites us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to discover all that the darkness has to teach us. She takes us to underground caverns, subterranean chapels, basement night clubs and unlit cabins in the woods on moonless nights. Through darkness, we begin to see the world and sense God's presence around us in new ways, guiding us through things seen an unseen, and teaching us to find out footing in times of uncertainty. Like seeds buried in the ground, we will find how darkness is essential for our own growth and flourishing.£12.99 -
Advent and Christmas Wisdom with Thomas Merton
Advent & Christmas, Resources for the Christian YearAdvent and Christmas are special times for all Christians. The spiritual longing of the Advent season can only be satisfied by the joy and celebration of a Christmas focused on Jesus' birth in our hearts. Advent and Christmas Wisdom with Thomas Merton give readers the opportunity to experience Advent and Christmas in a way that unwraps the spiritual joy, allowing it to shine brighter that all the tinsel and trappings that can blind our eyes to the deeper meaning of the season. This book is arranged for use on every day of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Each day's reflection begins with a scriptural quotation, continues with a thought from the writings of Thomas Merton, and concludes with a prayer for the day. Merton's writing capture the familiar themes of the season: the Incarnation, anticipation, angels, giving, and many others - each drawing us closer to the joy of welcoming the Saviour into our lives. An appendix includes a suggested plan for using each day's meditation as part of a morning or evening prayer.£11.99 -
Contemplation in a World of Action
The Inner JourneyThe spiritual and psychological insights of these essays were nurtured in a monastic milieu, but their issues are universally human. Thomas Merton lays a foundation for personal growth and transformation through fidelity to "our own truth and inner being". Our desire and need to attain "a fully human and personal identity" is the focus of Merton's concern.£24.99 -
Sustaining Leadership : You are more important than your ministry
Church & LeadershipMany books on leadership and ministry are written from the point of view of success and strength. In Sustaining Leadership Paul Swann writes out of the raw experience of failure, getting to the heart of who we are as leaders rather than what we do. From this he offers both hope and practical resources for sustaining effective long-term ministry, looking at self-care, balance and healthy ministry, feasting on divine love, and more. As he says, this is the best gift we can offer those we serve.£8.99 -
Sabbath Time: A hermitage journey of retreat, return, communion
Seasons of Life, The Inner Journey'A serious health breakdown in my thirties, where I spent over six months in recovery, made me aware of the need for greater balance in my life. Yet since then, I have continued to do too much, say “yes” instead of “no” too often, and I have struggled to set aside time for rest, prayer and reflection. But finally, after a year of thought and planning, I decided to take a whole six months off...' From the Author Preface Description Being left alone to embark on a reflective journey is a great gift – particularly in our age, where remaining connected is such a driving expectation. Charles decided to take a whole six months off and to spend much of this time in a hermitage on friends’ property. To enter a space of disconnection is both a scary and an exhilarating experience. And to 'down' tools and be still without an agenda of expectations is wonderfully open and freeing. It is also walking into mystery. Who knows what might happen? About the Author Charles Ringma has taught in universities, colleges and seminaries in Asia, Australia and N. America. And he has worked in urban and overseas mission for several decades. He is Emeritus Professor of Regent College, Vancouver, is a Franciscan Tertiary (tssf) and companion of Northumbria Community, Brisbane. Besides working for justice, he plants rain forest trees, grows vegetables and pens books on Christian spirituality.£7.99 -
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 -
The Awesome Journey: Life’s Pilgrimage
Scripture & PrayerDrawing on a lifetime of Christian pilgrimage, David Adam reflects on biblical encounters with the divine. God's question to Adam, 'Where are you?' is relevant to us all; Abraham's long journey of hearing and obeying (and learning the art of having no agenda) is ours too; Jacob's great discovery – that heaven is found on earth and earth is raise to heaven – helps us to become aware that we often already possess what we think we're searching for. Moses' desert experiences of grief and glory encourage us to press on to the Promised Land; Elijah's powerlessness reminds us that God often call us out of darkness and weakness, and that we may need stillness to hear him. The story of the prodigal son's return is a disarming reminder of the welcome that awaits each one of us; while Paul's call to rejoice inspires us to be present fully to each day. As we continue to move forward, these profound insights – on grief and glory, emptiness and fulfilment, repentance and forgiveness, loving and being loved will transform the way we live and the way we relate to God, here and now.£8.99 -
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Reconciliation
Lent & Easter, Resources for the Christian YearThe Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2019 Global in scope, but homing in on the role ordinary people play in conflict and division, Reconciliation enables Christians to engage confidently in a ministry bequeathed to us by Christ himself. The book issues a vibrant call to the Church to support and strengthen relationships among church members; to cross borders to build connections with different denominations; and to maintain open attitudes towards our neighbours from other religions and ideologies. Forty biblically based meditations introduce topics such as impediments to reconciliation, risking the self, humility and self-criticism, radical openness to the other and peace with justice. Questions for reflection are included, making Reconciliation suitable for use at weekly gatherings or for everyday devotion during Lent.Original price was: £9.99.£6.99Current price is: £6.99. -
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Compassion : A Reflection on the Christian Life
The Inner JourneyIn this provocative essay on that least understood virtue, compassion, the authors challenge themselves and us with these questions: Where do we place compassion in our lives? Is it enough to live a life in which we hurt one another as little as possible? Is our guiding ideal a life of maximum pleasure and minimum pain? Compassion answers no. After years of study and discussion among themselves, and with men and women at the very centre of national politics, the authors look at compassion with a vigorous new perspective. They place compassion at the heart of a Christian life in a world governed far too long by principles of power and destructive control. Compassion, no longer merely an eraser of human mistakes, is a force of prayer and action - the expression of God's love for us and our love for God and one another. Compassion is a book that says no to a compassion of guilt and failure and yes to a compassionate love that pervades our spirit and moves us to action. Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison have written a moving document on what it means to be a Christian in a difficult time.Original price was: £10.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
Bread and Ashes
Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerMary writes, 'These poems and prayers were written in response to the season of Lent, a time to consider what is separating us from a full and loving relationship with our Creator God and to prepare ourselves for the joyful celebration of Easter. Join with me as I contemplate these things through poetry, prayer and words from the Bible.' This book is staple bound, A6 (10.5x14.8cm) and 20 pages.£3.75 -
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As the Rain Hides the Stars CD
Creativity, Spiritual GrowthCeltic inspired worship music. Folky and rootsy songs of faith, love and life from Clare Hunt, Mike Clifford, Tim Thwaites with guest Joe Thwaites. Proceeds from the sale of this CD support the work of Northumbria Community. [playlist ids="8592,8594,8596,8598,8600,8602,8604,8606,8608,8610,8612,8614,8616"]Original price was: £10.00.£8.00Current price is: £8.00. -
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Precious Thoughts: daily readings from Thomas Merton
Daily Readings, Influences & Suggested Reading, Traditional MonasticismThomas Merton wrote to people of all faiths and none; he wrote to people who were searching, and those who were firmly established in religious orders; he wrote to students, peace activists and `ordinary' people who had read about him and were curious. Some are letters of spiritual direction, a sharing of spiritual insights and social concerns, some more personal. In this carefully selected collection, Merton scholar, Fiona Gardner, has focused on extracts that seem to speak to all who are searching. They have been chosen because they offer an opening into something other - to provide a way into both silence and contemplative prayer.£10.99 -
Acquainted with the Night: An Exploration of Spirituality and Depression
Everyday Life, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyDepression is pandemic today; as the demands of modern life prove too much for many adults, it has also clawed its way into the minds and souls of our young people, so that it is not unusual to hear that teenagers, or even children, are taking anti-depressants, sometimes committing suicide. The aim of this book is to illustrate that depression is often a spiritual malaise that can be "treated" by spiritual measures. Award-winning author, Robert Waldron explores the common causes and symptoms of depression, and in so doing underscores the Socratic ideal of "the unexamined life is not worth living." When depressives take their depression seriously, they see that they are living superficially and understand that there is a deeper kind of living available: it is this realization that leads them into a spiritual dimension. Indeed the cure for much depression lies within the Christian message of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, acceptance and love. Using Jungian theory on spirituality as a foundation, Acquainted With The Night goes on to explore the scrutiny and expression famous Christians have given to their individual acquaintance and struggle with darkness, these include: Gerard Manley Hopkins, T.S. Eliot, Henri Nouwen, Philip Toynbee, Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Loran Hurnscot.£12.99 -
The Seven Storey Mountain
Influences & Suggested Reading, Traditional MonasticismThe complete and unedited edition of Thomas Merton's famous autobiography, one of the greatest works of spiritual pilgrimage ever written. Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968) was a Trappist monk, writer, peace and civil rights activist.£21.00 -
Becoming a Disciple
Scripture & PrayerIn this little book Daniel Bourguet guides our meditations on three scriptural passages that lead the reader along the pathway ordained by Christ into the depths of his being. Successively, the disciple first follows behind Jesus along the way of perfect love (Mark 1:14-20); then experiences what it is to bear the yoke with Christ and there find rest (Matt 11:28-30); and finally enters the mystery of communion in which he is in Jesus and Jesus abides in him (John 15:1-17). It is a pathway passing from vocation to struggle and then to fellowship, but leading always to joy. In Becoming a Disciple, we see the fruit of Bourget's years of intercession, spiritual direction, and insightful exegesis--all of this at the feet of Christ. Here we see how the Gospels lead us into intimate encounters and authentic discipleship£16.00 -
Help me to journey beyond the familiar 210mm square print
Celtic Sites & Saints, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Creativity, Spiritual GrowthLynda Owen-Hussey, a companion with the Northumbria Community, is a mixed media artist living on the shores of the West Coast of Ireland in County Kerry, close to the birthplace of St Brendan. These days, her work is inspired by the many gifts of the sea she encounters on walks along the shore, often pondering the life of St Brendan and the many monks of old who inhabited this land. In describing this original artwork Lynda says:£12.00Painted whilst on retreat at Nether Springs, the Mother House of the Northumbria Community, this artwork is inspired by a verse in the Northumbria Community’s Brendan Liturgy:
Lord, I will trust You, help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.
Brendan’s journey begins as his heart is stirred by a vision that takes him beyond his present circumstances and surroundings. In Genesis 12 we find Abram, who like Brendan, followed the call of God to leave the familiar comforts of home and venture towards the land of promise. Sometimes we hear that call ourselves, but oftentimes it is discomfort or the unexpected which proves to be the catalyst that opens us afresh to seeking out new ways as we journey in trust.
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Merton’s Palace of Nowhere
Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneySpiritual identity is the quest to know who we are, to find meaning in life and to overcome that sense of "is that all there is?" At the heart of this quest are found Thomas Meron's illuminating insights leading from an awareness of the false and illusory self as the way to a realization of the true self. For twenty-five years, Merton's Palace of Nowhere has been the standard for exploring, reflecting on, and understanding this rich vein of Merton's thought.£14.00 -
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A Silent Action: engagements with Thomas Merton
Spiritual GrowthThomas Merton's life, especially once he had become a writer, was to a great extent one of dialogue with people who were distant, both geographically and historically. In these probing and perceptive studies, Rowan Williams looks closely at the key intellectual and spiritual relationships that emerge in Merton's writings, exploring the impact on him of thinkers as diverse as Hannah Arendt, Karl Barth, William Blake, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Olivier Clement, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Paul Evdokimov, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Vladimir Lossky, John Henry Newman, Boris Pasternak and St John of the Cross.£10.99 -
Lent With the Beloved Disciple: The 2024 Lent book
Daily Readings, Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerThe 2024 Bloomsbury Lent Book invites you on a six-week journey in the company of the "beloved disciple" as found in the narrative of the Gospel of St John. As the only disciple to have stayed close to Jesus at every stage from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion at Calvary, this eagle-eyed eyewitness intentionally records certain subtle details and signs which, when perceived with the eyes of faith, indicate a deeper and far lasting significance. Michael Marshall explores what these signs are and how, with prayerful reflection, they draw us ever more deeply into the personal, eternal and cosmic significance and awareness of all that Christ accomplished by his death and resurrection: the Paschal Mystery. Ideal for both individual use and for small group study, Lent with the Beloved Disciple takes us into the heart of that Paschal Mystery, by which all things in heaven and earth are ultimately fulfilled in the risen and ascended Christ, who is "all in all".£10.99 -
All’s Well that Ends Well: From Dust to Resurrection. 40 days with Shakespeare
Daily Readings, Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerFew writers have a deeper understanding of the foibles of human nature and life's absurdities and tragedies than William Shakespeare. This makes him a fascinating companion for the season of Lent, a traditional time for a spot of self-examination. This engaging, wise and often amusing Lent book sets quotations from Shakespeare's characters and poems alongside biblical passages and reflects on the resonance between them - one reflection for each day of the season. It starts with dust on Ash Wednesday ('Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust', from Cymbeline) and ends with resurrection as Easter Sunday approaches ('It is required you do awake your faith', from The Winter's Tale). In between, it considers many rich spiritual themes: mercy, love, loyalty, trust, good vs evil, guilt, forgiveness, ageing, grief, death, hope and more. Each day's reflection opens with a quotation from Shakespeare and explores its ideas in conversation with the Bible and Christian thought.£12.99 -
The Whole Easter Story: The BRF 2025 Lent book
Daily Readings, Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerExplore the profound meaning of Easter beyond personal spirituality. There is no doubt that each of us has a place in the Easter story, but what happened on the cross is not just a story of me and Jesus. It is far deeper and wider than that. In this Lenten journey, Jo Swinney explores the broader impact of the Easter story on God’s relationship with creation. Through Bible readings, reflections and stories from A Rocha’s global conservation efforts, discover how the cross transforms not just our own individual connection with Jesus, but also our relationships with each other and our world.£9.99 -
The White Stone: The art of letting go
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyEsther de Waal is one of today's most beloved spiritual writers. In The White Stone, she reflects on the changes and losses that come with growing older. Esther reflects on solitude and, following a period of illness, saying goodbye to a family home and the Welsh border landscape she had known for decades which inspired some of her greatest writing, and adjusting to a new city environment. In her characteristic style, she sees everything as a portal into a deeper spiritual understanding. She draws on the wealth of the Christian tradition, especially scripture and the monastic and Celtic spiritualities she knows so well, to help her navigate her way through not only the inevitable sense of loss that accompanies such change, but also to embrace the new possibilities it brings. The white stone of the title refers to a small pebble from the river that ran through her garden that she keeps in her pocket, but also strikes a note of hope referring to the new identity promised by God (Revelation 2.17). This is a book of simple, profound wisdom that will speak to many coping with change in their own lives.£12.99 -
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Into the depths: A Journey of Loss and Vocation
Everyday Life, The Inner JourneyIn January 1984, Sr Mary Margaret Funk, a Benedictine nun from Indiana, paid a visit to Maryknoll missionary nuns working in Bolivia. On what should have been a routine trip to the local town for a convocation ceremony, a flash flood swept away the jeep in which she, three nuns, a priest, and a disabled boy they had adopted were travelling. Only she and the priest survived What happened that night catapulted Sr Meg into twenty-five years of prayer and self-examination. She relentlessly explored her relationship with the transcendent and immanent God, the profundities of her religious tradition, her commitment to spiritual practice, and her very human failings. It was a journey that left her spiritually naked before the terrible love of God; a journey to keep one's heart open to the transforming wounds of suffering. In the great tradition of spiritual confessions from Augustine to Thomas Merton's The Seven-Story Mountain, Into the Depths is a fearlessly honest and simply told account of one woman's struggle to engage at the deeper levels with the most profound questions of faith.Original price was: £12.99.£8.99Current price is: £8.99.