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Prayer: encounter with the living God
Scripture & PrayerIn this deceptively simple set of talks, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev explains with grace and clarity the Orthodox understanding of prayer. Beginning with conception of prayer as creating a space of encounter with God, we are guided through the Orthodox ethos of prayer and its irreplaceable role in our Christian lives. With his usual lucidity, Metropolitan Hilarion reminds us of what lies at the very heart of prayer to the Living God: God does not need words; He needs men s hearts. Words are secondary; of paramount importance are the feeling and disposition with which we approach God. The thirty-two part series on prayer was transcribed and translated from television episodes presented on Russian television in the spring of 1999 by Igumen (now Metropolitan) Hilarion (Alfeyev) with the blessing of His Holiness, the late Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Russia.£7.99 -
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To Dare the Our Father: A transformative spiritual practice
Scripture & PrayerThe Lord's Prayer accompanies the lives of Christians. When we are happy or sad, when we eagerly wait for a child to be born or silently keep watch as an elder dies, alone in the woods or together in liturgy, filled with gratitude or emptied by grief, driven to praise or dragged to repent, the Our Father finds its way to our lips. To Dare the Our Father recognizes and respects these experiences but it envisions praying the prayer as a more sustained and challenging undertaking. How does praying the Our Father inform our thinking, feeling, willing, and acting? How does it become for us a transformative spiritual practice? John Shea explores these questions and more to discover what it looks like to become people of prayer.Original price was: £12.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
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Obtainable Expectations; a timely exposition of the Sermon on the Mount
Scripture & PrayerObtainable Expectations shows the reader how to apply the principles of the Sermon on the Mount in one's life and ministry.Original price was: £12.00.£5.00Current price is: £5.00. -
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Sounding the Seasons: 70 sonnets for the Christian Year
Church & Leadership, Creativity, Resources for the Christian Year, Scripture & PrayerPoetry has always been a central element of Christian spirituality and is increasingly used in worship, in pastoral services and guided meditation. In Sounding the Seasons, Cambridge poet, priest and singer-songwriter Malcolm Guite transforms seventy lectionary readings into lucid, inspiring poems, for use in regular worship, seasonal services, meditative reading or on retreat. Already widely recognised, Malcolm's writing has been acclaimed by Rowan Williams and Luci Shaw, two leading contemporary religious poets. A section of practical help and advice for using poetry creatively and effectively in worship is also included.Original price was: £9.99.£7.99Current price is: £7.99. -
Timeless Beauty: in the arts and everyday life
Creativity, Everyday Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyOnce people were instinctively tuned to the beautiful. In those distant days before the advent of the motor car and the washing machine, the electric toothbrush and the wheel, craftsmen and musicians, masons and poets, painters and dancers simply did not know how to make an ugly thing; they could not close their hearts to the light of heaven. For them countless numbers of them beauty was as necessary as the air they breathed. It gave dignity and meaning to drab and impoverished lives, and inspired great (but often brutal) civilizations in which people lived creative and useful lives. Beauty is the nourishment of the soul. It is something that gives us dignity as a species. John Lane calls us to awaken to the possibilities of a culture that recognizes the importance of beauty, and to acknowledge that we are only fully human in contact with the beautiful.£9.95 -
Befriending Our Desires
Everyday Life, Scripture & Prayer, Seasons of Life, Spiritual Growth, The Inner JourneyDesire is at the heart of what it is to be human. The power of desire, while embodied and sensuous, is God-given and the key to all human spirituality. Humanity is blessed with a deep longing that is infinite in extent and can only ultimately be satisfied in God. Befriending Our Desires portrays the intimate connection between desire and the spiritual journey. Drawing on Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Christian spiritual classics (with some reference to Buddhist spirituality), poetry, and other literature, plus personal and pastoral experience, Philip Sheldrake explores the role of desire in relation to God, prayer, sexuality, making choices, and responding to change.£9.99 -
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 -
Things Hidden: scripture as spirituality
Influences & Suggested Reading, Scripture & Prayer, The Inner JourneyOnly when the two come together, inner and outer authority, do we have true spiritual wisdom. We have for too long insisted on outer authority alone, without any teaching of prayer, inner journey and maturing consciousness. The results for the world and for religion have been disastrous ...I offer these reflections to again unite what should never have been separated: sacred Scripture and Christian spirituality.' From the introduction In this exploration of central themes of Scripture, Richard Rohr transforms the written word, discovering in these ancient texts a new and vital meaning, relevant and essential for modern Christians. He uncovers what the Bible says about morality, power, wisdom and the generosity of God in a manner that demands a life-changing response from believers. Rohr offers his readers a Christian vision of abundance, grace and joy to counteract a world filled with scarcity, judgement and fear-a vision that can revolutionize how we relate to ourselves, others and the world.£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 -
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 -
Discernment Matters: listening with the ear of the heart
Desert Monasticism, Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyDiscernment Matters is a resource for those who want to learn and practice discernment as taught by the early monastic tradition. it includes an accessible summary of teachings about discernment from monastic traditions of late antiquity, consideration of important tools for making decisions today and practical examples from the lives of St. Benedict and St. Patrick, as well as the experience of monastics today. With this fifth volume of the Matters Series, Sr Meg Funk completes one of the most comprehensive presentations of the spiritual life available today, demonstrating why this inner work is both necessary and such a joy.£14.50 -
The Sacred Way: spiritual practices for everyday life.
Everyday Life, Spiritual Exercises, The Inner JourneyIn a world that thrives on fast food and facile political slogans, where feeling comfortable seems to be the American high ideal, The Sacred Way is an invitation to explore spiritual practices that will quicken and expand our everyday lives. Tony Jones is a patient and loyal companion and guide, one who anticipates our hesitations and doubts with good-humoured understanding. His informed style and personal conviction are compelling. His insights, rooted in solid research and reflection, are often inspiring.£7.99
