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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 -
Finding Your Hidden Treasure: The Way of Silent Prayer
Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyThe most important journey in life is the journey inwards, to the depths of our own being. It is a journey we are all invited to make. It takes us beyond words and images into silence. The silence allows the restless mind to become still and in the stillness we enter a new world. We return to our hearts. Here we find our true selves. We discover an ancient way of finding God that has almost become lost. Slowly, we realize that we are in union with the source of life and love itself. Our whole life changes. Our goal now is to take God’s love to others in our everyday lives.£11.99 -
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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. -
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 -
Sacred Strangers: what the Bible’s outsiders can teach Christians
Culture & Mission, Everyday Life, Scripture & PrayerThe Bible is laced with stories in which strangers behave better than believers. What do these encounters with "others"--people from different cultures, religions, genders, economic and social classes--teach us about our own spiritual values, about the faith and God behind them? In Sacred Strangers, Nancy Haught leads readers through these stories, line by line, offering insight to open hearts to sacred strangers at a time when personal encounters can make us or break us--as people and citizens of the world.£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 -
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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 -
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 -
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 -
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An Altar in the World
Church & Leadership, Everyday Life, Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyIn this highly acclaimed and lyrical book, the best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor reveals the countless ways we can discover divine depths in the small things we do and see every day. People go to extraordinary lenghts, she writes, to discover this treasure. 'They will spend hours launching prayers into the heavens. They will travel half way around the world to visit a monastery in India...The last place most people will look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents and encounters of their lives...the reason so many of us cannot see the red X marks the spot is because we're standing on it.' An Altar in the the World shows us how heaven and earth meet in such ordinary occurrences as hanging out the wahing, doing the supermarket shop, feeding an animal, losing our way. It will transfrom our understanding of ourselves and the word we live in and renew our sense of wonder at the extraordinary gift of life.£12.99 -
From Darkness to Light
Lent & Easter, Scripture & PrayerFrom Darkness to Light is a masterpiece of contemplative exegesis of the Bible. Daniel Bourguet takes the reader on a challenging, three-chapter pilgrimage exploring the mystery of three conversions: in the darkness at Jesus's death, in the cries of descent into the grave, and in the light at his garden resurrection. Bourguet interprets with precision and passion the story of the one thief's conversion on the cross as he witnesses Jesus's suffering love. His treatment of Heman's cry from the depths in Psalm 88 plumbs the depths of a biblical theology of the cross. His final chapter on Mary Magdalene's transformative encounter with Jesus in the garden is brilliant, inspiring more careful study, contemplative prayer, and adoration.£17.00 -
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 -
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 -
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