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Postcards from the Land of Grief
Seasons of LifeGrief can often feel like a gnawing homesickness for a place where you used to live, but to which you can never return. Richard Littledale has written a series of short, candid thoughts and reflections from his own experience of widowhood that will resonate and bring comfort and understanding to anyone experiencing bereavement. These thoughts are written as postcards from the land of grief, as they are used to convey a message from this foreign country of bereavement. Postcards are, by definition, a small snapshot of a feeling at any one time, not long and drawn out essays, and these thoughts provide an accessible way to identify feelings and draw hope from a fellow traveller. Richard also includes practical resources and advice on the grieving process, and reflects on how his faith in God has sustained him. The book is deliberately designed to be able to dip in and out of as required at the point of need. It is also useful for those who want to give a helpful book to comfort a friend, or for anyone wanting to help understand how their bereaved loved one might be feeling.£12.99 -
Sacred Rhythms : Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation
Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyDo you long for a deep, fundamental change in your life with God? Do you desire a greater intimacy with God? Do you wonder how you might truly live your life as God created you to live it? Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God's transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives. Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a "rule of life" that allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines, this book takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life. Each chapter includes exercises to help you begin the practices--individually and in a group context. The final chapter puts it all together in a way that will help you arrange your life for spiritual transformation. The choice to establish your own sacred rhythm is the most important choice you can make with your life.£15.99 -
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 -
Making Room in Advent: 25 devotions for a season of wonder
Advent & Christmas, Daily ReadingsPreparation for the Christmas season can often feel busy and frantic, but it doesn't have to be this way. What if we stopped and listened to the movement and unfolding of God's plan around us? Making Room in Advent is an invitation away from the chaos and into the space where God is at work. The unfolding of God's plan often happens in unlikely spaces, both in Scripture and in our own lives. Join Bette Dickinson as she moves through the story of Jesus' birth and the stories of the many people that were part of the journey. Each page is filled with an original painting that will fill you with hope and wonder during the Advent season. The twenty-five devotionals offer spiritual practices, breath prayers, and reflection questions that allow you to truly make room for God's work in your life, your community, and the world.£14.99 -
Sacred North
Celtic Sites & Saints, Celtic Studies & SpiritualityWhether you share Fr John's passion, and regard the saints as 'friends'; have a thirst for history, ancient places and the lifestyle of our ancestors; and/or are intrigued by the majesty of the environment at its wildest and most beautiful, you will doubtless enjoy Sacred North and its selection of the nearly 250 sites visited and photographed over seven research trips conducted between March 2016 and May 2017, and, hopefully, catch a little of the 'fire' that burned within these modern-day pilgrims. "The inspiration for Sacred North was fuelled by my passion for the early Christian saints. Despite a lifetime of research, we still encountered constant surprises on each of our three long journeys following in the footsteps of these holy men and women, revealing a rich heritage of ancient crosses, remote caves and hidden hermitages, healing wells, ancient chapels, and islands 'at the end of the world'."£25.00 -
Invitation to Retreat: The Gift and Necessity of Time Away with God
Seasons of Life, The Inner Journey"Come away and rest awhile." Jesus invites us to be with him, offering our full and undivided attention to him. When we choose retreat, we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. We are not always generous with ourselves where God is concerned. Many of us have tried to incorporate regular times of solitude and silence into the rhythm of our ordinary lives, which may mean that we give God twenty minutes here and half an hour there. And there's no question we are better for it! But we need more. Indeed, we long for more. In these pages Transforming Centre founder and seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently leads us into retreat as a key practice that opens us to God. Based on her own practice and her experience leading hundreds of retreats for others, she will guide you in a very personal exploration of seven specific invitations contained within the general invitation to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender. There has never been a time when the invitation to retreat is so radical and so relevant, so needed and so welcome. It is not a luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual life.£14.99 -
Glimpses of Eden: field notes from the edge of eternity
Everyday Life, Seasons of Life, The Inner Journey'The land has a long memory...it forgets nothing, waiting only for the opportunity to ease the heart.' Glimpses of Eden is a seasonally-arranged collection of the very best of novelist Jonathan Tulloch's acclaimed nature column, which ran in The Tablet for more than 10 years. In 96 evocative daily records of his exploration of the land, mostly within an hour's bike ride of his North Yorkshire home, Jonathan captures snapshots of the wonders of the natural world. Here are eternal stories of resilience and beauty, hope and death, survival and renewal, a tapestry of miraculous creation to enrich our souls and deepen our understanding of life. Each reading is followed by a new reflection written for this book.£19.95 -
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 -
Lost in Wonder: Rediscovering the Spiritual Art of Attentiveness
Everyday Life, The Inner Journey'To take time to be apart ... is not a luxury, it is essential. The gift of space for myself seems so simple, and in a way it is; but it is also surprisingly difficult to do without some form of external encouragement. And that is the very simple purpose of this book.' With these words, Ester de Waal begins to show us ways into a fuller and deeper sense of attentiveness to the world around us and to the presence of God in that world. As she observes, 'if we fail to find the time to stand back, to give ourselves a break, a breathing space we are in danger of failing to be fully alive, or to enjoy that fullness of life for which we were created.' Many aspects of modern life can distract us: busyness, boredom, stress, lethargy, lack of direction. Yet Christ's invitation to each of us is, 'Come and see'. Responding to this call, Lost in Wonder clears and refreshes our inner vision, teaching us again how to use those gifts we may have come to take for granted or forgotten we had: sight, sound, silence, awareness, mystery, wonder.£9.99 -
Brightest and Best: 31 Advent Devotions on Jesus
Advent & Christmas, Daily ReadingsThis 31-day Advent devotional built around the words of well-loved carols will bring comfort and hope in the darkest time of the year. In a world of poverty, prejudice, and sickness it can be hard to sing "Tis the season to be jolly" and mean it. We are in a world laden with darkness and grief, and yet by the end of November, so much around us seems to be yelling: HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS. Is this what advent is then? A building pressure to put reality on hold for a while, and to just Have a Good Time? Brightest and Best is a collection of Advent devotions that point to the comfort that God has promised: the coming of Jesus. Philippa Wilson communicates joyful, uplifting, and glorious Christmas truths in fresh ways. The purpose of each devotion is to stir up hope and faith, and praise for Jesus, as well as to encourage readers to think biblically and deeply about the carols we sing each year. Each devotion includes a passage of Scripture to ponder, a short, encouraging reading, the lyrics of a popular Christmas carol. Part One is focused on Christmas, and all that it means that Jesus has come. Part Two covers the days leading up to the new year; readings to cover that tricky post-Christmas period to give you courage for whatever lies ahead.£9.99 -
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Practising the Way
Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyJohn Mark Comer, the New York Times bestselling author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Live No Lies, shows readers what is holding them back from authentically following Jesus - and reveals the countercultural practices to connect us with a vibrant lifelong faith. "One of the most important books I have read in a decade... If we would all follow in this way, our lives would change and the world would change." Jennie Allen, author of Get Out of Your Head and Find Your PeopleWe all have experienced unwanted parts of our spiritual journey: distance from God, gaps in our character, the fear that our lives will be trivial and empty... Jesus is calling us into more. Calling us to be shaped in his likeness. To experience his abundance of life. But how, practically, can we do that? By becoming his apprentice. By practicing the Way. Outlining the timeless process of being with Jesus, becoming like him, and living as he did, bestselling author and pastoral voice John Mark Comer delineates God's vision for the journey of our soul. In this powerful and practical work, he defines his core philosophy of spiritual formation to help us form a "rule of life."Along the way, readers benefit from his rich cultural insight, deep biblical teaching, and honest and hopeful view of the potential of each human soul. You feel like there's more to life than this? You're right. Now come discover just how much life awaits you.£16.99 -
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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