Download or read book Swinging on the Garden Gate written by Elizabeth Andrew and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on 2000 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A woman's coming-of-age journey through the rugged landscape of Wales to the reflective quiet of a retreat center. Along the way she questions and explores the depth of her Methodist faith as she comes to terms with her bisexual identity.

Download or read book Introduction to the Spiritual Life written by Brant Pitre and published by Image. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling exploration of the biblical foundations, contemplative practices, and spiritual path of Jesus himself—from the bestselling author of The Case for Jesus “What happens when a biblical theologian explores classic spirituality? This book. Pitre’s students have asked, Why have we never heard this before? The reader wonders the same.”—Dr. David Fagerberg, author of Liturgical Mysticism The path of following Jesus is an ancient and storied spiritual tradition. Yet many believers are not familiar with the three major forms of prayer and the three stages of spiritual growth that exist to bring them closer to God. In his most personal book yet, Brant Pitre, PhD, draws on the riches of the Bible, the words of Jesus, and the writings of mystics across the centuries to shed light on the mystery—and wonder—of the spiritual life. Starting with the age-old belief that the path of prayer is not only informative but transformative, Dr. Pitre explores • the scriptural roots of the major forms of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation • the purgative, illuminative, and unitive stages of spiritual growth • the spiritual exercises of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving • the Jewish roots of the Lord’s Prayer • Lectio Divina: how to pray with the Bible • seven vices and their seven opposing virtues • the battle of prayer: how to deal with difficulty and distractions • the “dark night of the soul” in the Scriptures Full of sacred truths, contemplative insights, and practical steps, Introduction to the Spiritual Life is a biblical road map of the spiritual landscape that enables us to follow Jesus as our primary guide.

Download or read book Creating from the Spirit written by Dan Wakefield and published by Beech River Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A journalist/novelist debunks many of the myths associated with the creative process and shows how to access our natural perceptions and hidden resources to attain clarity of mind, body and spirit. Includes interviews and examples of 'creators from the spirit'"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Writing for Bliss written by and published by Loving Healing Press. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÿWriting for Blissÿis most fundamentally about reflection, truth, and freedom. With techniques and prompts for both the seasoned and novice writer, it will lead you to tap into your creativity through storytelling and poetry,examine how life-changing experiences can inspire writing,pursue self-examination and self-discovery through the written word, and,understand how published writers have been transformed by writing.Poet and memoirist Raab (Lust) credits her lifelong love of writing and its therapeutic effects with inspiring her to write this thoughtful and detailed primer that targets pretty much anyone interested in writing a memoir. Most compelling here is Raab?s willingness to share her intimate stories (e.g., the loss of a relative, ongoing struggles with cancer, a difficult relationship with her mother). Her revelations are encouraging to writers who feel they need ?permission to take... a voyage of self-discovery.? The book?s seven-step plan includes plenty of guidance, including on learning to ?read like a writer,? and on addressing readers as if ?seated across the table .? Raab covers big topics such as the ?art and power of storytelling? and small details such as choosing pens and notebooks that you enjoy using. She also helps readers with the important step of ?finding your form.? --PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY "Writing for Blissÿis about the profound ways in which we may be transformed in and through the act of writing. I am grateful to Diana Raab for sharing it, and I trust that you will feel the same as you read on. May you savor the journey." --from the foreword by MARK FREEMAN, PhD "By listening to ourselves and being aware of what we are saying and feeling, the true story of our life's past experience is revealed. Diana Raab?s book gives us the insights by which we can achieve this through her life-coaching wisdom and our writing." --BERNIE SIEGEL, MD, author ofÿThe Art of Healing "Only a talented writer who has fought hard to overcome life?s many obstacles could take her readers by the hand and lead them through the writing process with such enormous compassion, amazing insight, and kindness. Diana Raab is a powerful, wise, intelligent guide well worth our following." --JAMES BROWN, author ofÿThe Los Angeles DiariesÿandÿThe River "Writing for Blissÿis far more than a 'how-to manual'; it enlightens the creative process with wisdom and a delightful sense of adventure. Bravo to Bliss!" --LINDA GRAY SEXTON, author ofÿSearching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton "Uniquely blending inspiring insights with practical advice, Diana guides you on a path to discover the story that is truly inside you?and yearning to be told." --PATRICK SWEENEY, coauthor of the New York Times bestsellerÿSucceed on Your Own Terms DIANA RAAB, PhD, is an award-winning memoirist, poet, blogger, workshop facilitator, thought provoker, and survivor. She?s the author of eight books and over one thousand articles and poems. She lives in Southern California. Learn more at www.DianaRaab.com

Download or read book Reading Your Life s Story written by Keith R. Anderson and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual mentoring is a particular kind of friendship in which, according to Keith R. Anderson, "two or more people walk together in heightened awareness of the presence of yet Another"—the Holy Spirit. "Spiritual mentoring is not a complicated process that requires technical training and complex protocol," Anderson continues. "It is essential, authentic, and maybe even natural human speech that is focused, disciplined and nurtured by training for one of the hardest natural things we do: listening reflectively to another. It is sacred companionship as life is lived and story told. Available to almost all, it requires deliberate recruitment, preparation and practice." These pages unfold a vision for mentoring that invites us to read our own lives as narrative and to learn how to enter the narrative of another life. The book covers the scope of the mentoring relationship through various seasons, offering helpful and inspiring metaphors for mentoring. All are invited to enter the mentoring story.

Download or read book Not All Who Wander Spiritually Are Lost written by Traci Rhoades and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-05-15 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A delightfully-written exploration of faith for those who are searching and for those who are settled What if we stopped trying to find the perfect church in the right Christian tradition and intentionally explored our faith with all our Christian brothers and sisters? Can Christians embrace God fully by exploring other faith traditions? In Not All Who Wander, we discover that we do indeed find Jesus in a church, and traces of him in our everyday lives as well. Not All Who Wander walks readers through the author’s faith journey, and how her experience with churches in a number of traditions has left her longing for more of Jesus than any one church offers. It also presents stories from other believers to give readers a sense of how alike, and different, our spiritual experiences can be. Rhoades has developed a passion for discovering all the ways we worship Jesus and invites readers to join her. With utter delight, she’s discovered no matter which traditions she worships with, Jesus meets her there.

Download or read book What I Know For Sure written by Oprah Winfrey and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a creative force, student of the human heart and soul, and champion of living the life you want, Oprah Winfrey stands alone. Over the years, she has made history with a legendary talk show - the highest-rated program of its kind, launched her own television network, become the nation's only African-American billionaire, and been awarded both an honorary degree by Harvard University and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From all her experiences, she has gleaned life lessons—which, for fourteen years, she's shared in O, The Oprah Magazine's widely popular "What I Know For Sure" column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation. Now, for the first time, these thoughtful gems have been revised, updated, and collected in What I Know For Sure, a beautiful cloth bound book with a ribbon marker, packed with insight and revelation from Oprah Winfrey. Organized by theme—joy, resilience, connection, gratitude, possibility, awe, clarity, and power—these essays offer a rare, powerful and intimate glimpse into the heart and mind of one of the world's most extraordinary women—while providing readers a guide to becoming their best selves. Candid, moving, exhilarating, uplifting, and frequently humorous, the words Oprah shares in What I Know For Sure shimmer with the sort of truth that readers will turn to again and again.

Download or read book The Story of Your Life written by Dan Wakefield and published by Beacon Press (MA). This book was released on 1990 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dan Wakefield, author of the acclaimed autobiography Returning, has encouraged people across the country to tell their stories. The Story of Your Life presents a step-by-step approach to tellin that tale, a process to help readers explore their past and understand their present.

Download or read book Writing to Awaken written by Mark Matousek and published by New Harbinger Publications. This book was released on 2017-07-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writing to Awaken is an inspirational investigation of the self through expressive writing, guiding you along the path of awakening through radical truth-telling and self-inquiry. With targeted and revelatory questions, you’ll be prompted to explore your own personal narrative—to write honestly about your deepest wounds, greatest challenges, hidden gifts, yearnings, and opportunities for growth—in order to discover a deeply authentic understanding of yourself and move toward a more liberated, truthful life. We each have our own story, a personal myth constructed from the content life presents us: we connect dots to shape the narrative, devise plotlines from circumstance, change characters, fashion conflicts, and adjust structure, settings, and themes as our lives unfold. But so often, over time, we come to believe that we are our story, identifying so strongly with the tales we’ve told ourselves and others that we cling to them for our very existence—even when they don’t quite fit. The realization that there’s a discrepancy between the narrative you’ve crafted and your authentic self can be disconcerting at first, but the exploration of that gap is a doorway to personal freedom, and this book will lead you through it. The writing exercises in this guide, one for nearly every week of the year, ask you to tell the whole truth about your experience. In doing so, you’ll come to realize that once you engage in this radical truth-telling, expressing yourself with complete honesty, your story changes; and when your story changes, your life is transformed. Rather than sticking with your illusive and tricky “Story of Me,” you’ll be prompted to go even deeper, piercing your personal myth and illuminating aspects of psyche and spirit that give way to profound moments of understanding and personal healing. This is not a how-to book for writers; it’s an invitation on a journey of self-discovery—a guide to facing yourself without flinching, accepting yourself as you are, surrendering to what is, and daring to question and transform what isn’t true. With Writing to Awaken, you’ll learn how to break free from the trance of mistaken identity and discover your essential, authentic self.

Download or read book Spirituality and Your Life Story written by Bradley Hanson and published by Archway Publishing. This book was released on 2014-04 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each of us has come to our current life stance through a journey of unique experiences—being born at this time, growing up in this particular social setting and culture, experiencing these specific successes and losses, and having these significant relationships. Whether we are in the early, middle, or latter part of our personal faith story, the ending is still ahead of us—and reviewing our own faith story helps us chart our course into the future. Using psychologist Dan McAdams’s idea that we make sense of life by composing our own life story, author Bradley Hanson explores how our personal identity and spirituality are influenced by the meaning and values embedded in our childhood family life and major story lines promoted by our culture. In our most basic quest to make sense of life, he considers sharply contrasting answers to five fundamental questions. With reflection and suggested group discussion questions at the end of each chapter, this study explores the idea that spirituality and one’s life story are intimately connected. Praise for Spirituality and Your Life Story “Real people tell their stories of success, love, friendship, forgiveness, and loss. Brad Hanson helps us ponder our own deepest commitments and the paths we follow to realize them. A fine book for individual reflection or group discussion.” —H. George Anderson, former presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Download or read book Creating a Spiritual Legacy written by Daniel Taylor and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2011-10 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beloved author and storyteller shows how ordinary people can preserve and pass on their wisdom, values, and spiritual legacy to loved ones.

Download or read book Writing The Sacred Journey written by Elizabeth Andrew and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on 2005 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sacred Rhythms written by Ruth Haley Barton and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-12-14 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Logos Book Award Do 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.

Download or read book The Last Barrier written by Reshad Field and published by . This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 25th anniversary edition features a new foreword by Coleman Barks, the foremost modern interpreter of the Sufi poet Rumi, as well as a new preface by the author. Reshad Feild left the aristocratic roots of his native England at an early age to begin

Download or read book Oranges for Eve My Brave Beautiful Badass Journey to the Feminine Divine written by Rabbi Tamara Kolton Ph. D. and published by . This book was released on 2019-12 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oranges for Eve: My Brave, Beautiful, Badass Journey to the Feminine Divine is a manifesto of feminine light, truth & POWER. Because... the time has come for women to stop eating the poisonous bitter apples of old patriarchal lies! Rabbi Tamara Kolton was the senior rabbi at an unusual atheistic temple. But there came a time when she was keeping a secret. This is a story of self-discovery and the deep healing that every woman needs in her life. It is also the story of the most misunderstood woman in history: Eve. Yes, Eve of the garden, the snake and the damn apple. We are taught that Eve was a sinner. But that is not true. Eve is the Mother of Spiritual Bravery. For thousands of years, women have been shamed and silenced. But we are waking up as a collective and refusing to be silent anymore. What do you truly yearn for deep down in your gut? What would you do if you had the audacity to act on your own behalf? Your yearnings, your urges to transform your life and take those big, even terrifying leaps, actually are a call to bravery and spiritual fulfillment from your true spiritual mother, the radical, beautiful, Eve. We are going to answer the call. In this book, Rabbi Tamara Kolton will guide you on a healing journey in which you will tenderly be asked to love your shame and fear away and step onto a path of spiritual healing and bravery. Through magnificent exercises and gorgeous memoir, you will: Journey deep inside the myth of the Garden of Eden and experience Eve for who she REALLY is. Discover God in the feminine and how this fierce, feminine and nourishing energy can truly transform your life and heal our world. Connect with feminine LIGHT, TRUTH & POWER! Because Eve was no sinner. Eve was a spiritual badass. You can be too. This book will show you how.

Download or read book Re Creating a Life written by Diane Millis and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-20 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Remembering Your Story written by Richard Lyon Morgan and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remembering Your Story is a life review workbook with flair! Best-selling author, workshop and retreat leader Richard L. Morgan offers readers the rationale and the process to develop and discover their own spiritual autobiographies. Individually or in groups, this resource leads you through a ten-week study, inviting you to consider your