Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it simply a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that Centering Prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition. She provides a practical, complete course in the practice and then goes deeper to analyze what actually happens in Centering Prayer: the mind effectively switches to a new operating system that makes possible the perception of nonduality. With this understanding in place, she then takes us on a journey through one of the sources of the practice, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing, revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault's illumination of the Centering Prayer path provides compelling evidence of how important the practice has become in the half-century since it first arose among American Trappist monks, and of its maturation and refinement over the ensuing years of sincere study and practice. It will resonate with beginners on the Centering Prayer path as well as with seasoned practitioners.
The smash bestseller with a new preface by the author in a special tie-in edition to Rob Bell's talk during Oprah's "The Life You Want" Fall 2014 arena tour.
What We Talk About When We Talk About God: A Special Edition includes a new preface in which Rob talks about the book, how it has touched so many lives--opening minds and dialogues--and transformed his own.
In this instant classic, Rob offered us a new way to talk about God. He does here for God what he did for heaven and hell in Love Wins he shows how traditional ideas have grown stale and dysfunctional and reveals a new path for how to return vitality and vibrancy to how we understand God. Bell reveals how we got stuck, why culture resists certain ways of talking about God, and how we can reconnect with the God who is with us, for us, and ahead of us, pulling us forward into a better future--and ready to help us live life to the fullest.
Only the Bible has been more influential as a source of Christian devotional reading than The Imitation of Christ. This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. Ignatius Loyola to Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul I. Written by the Augustinian monk Thomas Kempis between 1420 and 1427, it contains clear instructions for renouncing wordly vanities and locating eternal truths. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal: "My son, to the degree that you can leave yourself behind, to that degree will you be able to enter into Me." With a new Preface by Sally Cunneen, author of In Search of Mary: The Woman and the Symbol.
"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."--Archbishop Desmond Tutu
This New York Times best-selling book is a guide for families, educators, and communities to raise their children to be able and active anti-racist allies.
With a foreword by Tim Wise, Raising White Kids is for families, churches, educators, and communities who want to equip their children to be active and able participants in a society that is becoming one of the most racially diverse in the world while remaining full of racial tensions. For white people who are committed to equity and justice, living in a nation that remains racially unjust and deeply segregated creates unique conundrums.
These conundrums begin early in life and impact the racial development of white children in powerful ways. What can we do within our homes, communities and schools? Should we teach our children to be "colorblind"? Or, should we teach them to notice race? What roles do we want to equip them to play in addressing racism when they encounter it? What strategies will help our children learn to function well in a diverse nation? Talking about race means naming the reality of white privilege and hierarchy. How do we talk about race honestly, then, without making our children feel bad about being white? Most importantly, how do we do any of this in age-appropriate ways? While a great deal of public discussion exists in regard to the impact of race and racism on children of color, meaningful dialogue about and resources for understanding the impact of race on white children are woefully absent. Raising White Kids steps into that void."Most white Americans didn't get from our own families the concrete teaching and modeling we needed to be active in the work of racial justice ourselves, let alone to feel equipped now to talk about race with and teach anti-racism to our children. There is so much we need to learn and it's urgent that we do so. But the good news is: we can," says Jennifer Harvey.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD
Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don't have a clue? If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that's a lie.
If you have ever said any of these things to yourself . . .
- Something else will make me happy.
- I'm not a good mom.
- I will never get past this.
- I am defined by my weight.
- I should be further along by now.
. . . then you could benefit from the unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity Rachel Hollis has in store for you. In this challenging but conversational book, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and misconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively, lies we've told ourselves so often we don't even hear them anymore.
Rachel is real and talks about real issues. More than that, she reveals the specific practical strategies that helped her move past them. In the process, she encourages, entertains, and even kicks a little butt, all to convince you to do whatever it takes to get real and become the joyous, confident woman you were meant to be. Because you really can live with passion and hustle - and give yourself grace without giving up.
The runaway New York Time's bestseller
Can a simple concept shift your entire world? Bob certainty thinks so. When it comes to loving your neighbors, instead of focusing on having the "right answers" or checking the "right boxes," what if you decide to simply do love? To shamelessly show love and grace to those around you--what would that look like? Not the kind of love that stops at thoughts and feelings, Bob's love takes action. Bob believes Love Does.
It might look like spending 16 days in the Pacific Ocean with five guys and a crate of canned meat. It might look like taking your kids on a world tour to eat ice cream with heads of state. It might look like taking a road trip with a stressed-out college student--even though you just got married a few days before.
When Love Does, life gets interesting. Light and fun, unique and profound, the lessons drawn from Bob's life and attitude in this collection of stories just might inspire you to be secretly incredible, too.
If you love Love Does, don't forget to check out Everybody, Always for more of Bob's delightful and inspiring stories
In his sequel to The Ragamuffin Gospel, bestselling Christian author Brennan Manning shows us how true and radical trust in God can transform our lives. The Ragamuffin Gospel helped those who suffered from shame and doubt to find a deeper peace; one that comes from understanding and accepting the unconditional love and grace of God.
In Ruthless Trust, Manning goes a step further, addressing the primary obstacle to achieving this peace. He argues that without absolute trust in God, we can never achieve our spiritual goals. Brennan Manning, a former Franciscan monk, is the author of fourteen books, including the bestselling The Ragamuffin Gospel. He leads spiritual retreats in the United States and Europe for people of all ages and backgrounds. "Brennan Manning has led one of the richest and fullest lives of anyone I know. This wise book expresses the theme of that life - a rock-bottom trust Brennan has learned through pain and joy, through ecstasy and tragedy." - Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace?
Controversial evangelical Bible scholar, popular blogger and podcast host of The Bible for Normal People, and author of The Bible Tells Me So and The Sin of Certainty explains that the Bible is not an instruction manual or rule book but a powerful learning tool that nurtures our spiritual growth by refusing to provide us with easy answers but instead forces us to acquire wisdom.
For many Christians, the Bible is a how-to manual filled with literal truths about belief that must be strictly followed. But the Bible is not static, Peter Enns argues. It does not hold easy answers to the perplexing questions and issues that confront us in our daily lives. Rather, the Bible is a dynamic instrument for study that not only offers an abundance of insights but provokes us to find our own answers to spiritual questions, cultivating God's wisdom within us.
"The Bible becomes a confusing mess when we expect it to function as a rulebook for faith. But when we allow the Bible to determine our expectations, we see that Wisdom, not answers, is the Bible's true subject matter," writes Enns. This distinction, he points out, is important because when we come to the Bible expecting it to be a textbook intended by God to give us unwavering certainty about our faith, we are actually creating problems for ourselves. The Bible, in other words, really isn't the problem; having the wrong expectation is what interferes with our reading.
Rather than considering the Bible as an ancient book weighed down with problems, flaws, and contradictions that must be defended by modern readers, Enns offers a vision of the holy scriptures as an inspired and empowering resource to help us better understand how to live as a person of faith today.
How the Bible Actually Works makes clear that there is no one right way to read the Bible. Moving us beyond the damaging idea that "being right" is the most important measure of faith, Enns's freeing approach to Bible study helps us to instead focus on pursuing enlightenment and building our relationship with God--which is exactly what the Bible was designed to do.
Finding safe people provides the foundation for building healthy, lasting relationships. Here's how to identify safe people.
