Download or read book Answering the Contemplative Call written by Carl McColman and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mystical path is not some sort of static experience for the select few, says Carl McColman, rather, it is a living tradition, a rich and many-layered dimension of spirituality that is in large measure a quest to find the mysteries at the heart of the universe, paradoxically nestled within the heart of your own soul. McColman first introduced readers to Christianity's lost mystical roots in his popular book, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. Now McColman is back with Answering the Contemplative Call, to show readers how to apply the riches of the mystical tradition to daily living. McColman quotes from the great mystics of the Christian tradition who have also traveled this path, including Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, Evelyn Underhill and more. In Answering the Contemplative Call, McColman offers a practice that will help readers come to a place meaning and purpose in their lives.

Download or read book The Signature of Jesus written by Brennan Manning and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2004-07-06 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Signature of Jesus challenges the gospel of "cheap grace" and calls the church to radical discipleship. With passion and boldness, author Brennan Manning invites readers to risk living life as Jesus lived—committed to simplicity, purity of heart, and obedience to the gospel. As a radical alternative this book is offered to Christians who want to live by faith and not by mere “religion,” for those who recognize that many of the burning theological issues in the church today are neither burning nor theological; who see Christianity neither as a moral code or a belief system but as a love affair; who have not forgotten that they are followers of a crucified Christ; who know that following him means living dangerously; who want to live the gospel without compromise; who have no greater desire than to have his signature written on the pages of their lives. “Behold,” Jesus proclaims, “I stand at the door and knock.” You may have already met him at the door…but do you truly know him? Have you been transformed by His furious, passionate, unexplainable love? Join Brennan Manning, the bestselling author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, on a personal journey to experience Christ’s love and live with His passion.

Download or read book Moving in the Spirit written by Richard J. Hauser and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1986 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical manual that is a guide to taking the Christian life into the world while keeping the contemplative spirit. +

Download or read book The Heart of Centering Prayer written by Cynthia Bourgeault and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2016-12-27 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best-selling author of The Wisdom Jesus and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene demystifies the popular Christian meditation method rooted in contemplative prayer 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.

Download or read book Pilgrimage of a Soul written by Phileena Heuertz and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-05-25 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You can only go so far for so long before you find the limits of yourself. For Phileena Heuertz that moment arrived, mercifully, around the same time as a sabbatical to mark her twelfth year of service with Word Made Flesh, a ministry to some of the poorest people in the world. With six months' respite from the daily task of serving those who have nothing, Phileena rediscovered the genius of contemplative spirituality. Activists often see contemplation as a luxury, the sort of thing that must necessarily be laid aside in the quest to see the world set aright. But in Pilgrimage of a Soul we see that contemplation is essential--not only to a life of sustained commitment to the justice and righteousness of God, but to the growth in faith and discipleship that the Holy Spirit beckons each of us to. Tracing seven movements from a kind of sleepfulness to a kind of wakefulness, Heuertz shows us that life is a journey that repeats itself as we are led by Christ deeper and deeper into our true selves and a truer knowledge of God.

Download or read book Will and Spirit written by Gerald G. May and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A rich book covering many areas of human experience. . . . For the person looking for an intelligent and clear presentation of the relationship between psychological and spiritual growth, this is the book to read.'--America

Download or read book We Make the Road by Walking written by Brian D. McLaren and published by Jericho Books. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From critically acclaimed author Brian McLaren comes a brilliant retelling of the biblical story and a thrilling reintroduction to Christian faith. This book offers everything you need to explore what a difference an honest, living, growing faith can make in our world today. It also puts tools in your hands to create a life-changing learning community in any home, restaurant, or other welcoming space. The fifty-two (plus a few) weekly readings can each be read aloud in 10 to 12 minutes and offer a simple curriculum of insightful reflections and transformative practices. Organized around the traditional church year, these readings give an overview of the whole Bible and guide an individual or a group of friends through a year of rich study, interactive learning, and personal growth. Perfect for home churches, congregations, classes, or individual study, each reading invites you to Cultivate an honest, intelligent understanding of the Bible and of Christian faith in 21st century Engage with discussion questions designed to challenge, stimulate, and encourage Reimagine what it means to live joyfully and responsibly in today's world as agents of God's justice, creativity, and peace If you're seeking a fresh way to experience and practice your faith, if you're a long-term Christian seeking new vitality, or if you feel out of place in traditional church circles, this book will inspire and activate you in your spiritual journey.

Download or read book Embracing Contemplation written by John H. Coe and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a Christian life lived "by the Spirit" look like? Bringing together Protestant scholars and practitioners of spiritual formation, this volume offers a distinctly evangelical consideration of the benefits of contemplation. Drawing on historical examples from the church—including John Calvin, Richard Baxter, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley—this book considers how contemplative prayer can shape Christian living today.

Download or read book Philo of Alexandria written by Philo (of Alexandria.) and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology contains the basic vision of Philo (c. 20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), the greatest Jewish mystic, philosopher and theologian of the Graeco-Roman era.

Download or read book The Dangers of Contemplative Prayer written by Howard Peth and published by . This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book How to Pray written by Pete Greig and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pete Greig is a worldwide authority and the face of a generation when it comes to prayer. One of the founders of the 24-7 prayer movement, he has seen, experienced, and chronicled amazing works of God in the world. While you might imagine him to be puffed up, Pete Greig is entirely the opposite. He is enchanting, down-to-earth, friendly, and most of all, very normal–and yet he tells preposterous tales about prayer (and they’re true). He is basically a regular dude who loves to talk with God. How to Pray is written to evoke a passion for prayer in everyone—the committed follower of Jesus as well as the skeptic and the scared. The enormous blessing of How to Pray is that it is accessible, full of surprising stories of answered prayer, and tremendously engaging. The basic idea is that prayer is a conversation between you and God. Pete Greig demystifies and reenchants prayer, helping you to find prayer achievable and enjoyable, and ultimately life-giving and life-changing. How to Pray is designed to be used together with The Prayer Course (a free video curriculum associated with the Alpha course), making it useful for personal and group or church-wide reading.

Download or read book New Seeds of Contemplation written by Thomas Merton and published by New Directions Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The much-beloved and most widely read of Mertons works, "New Seeds of Contemplation" covers a diverse range of subjects including faith, spiritual wonder, "the night of the senses," and renunciation.

Download or read book Flee Be Silent Pray written by Ed Cyzewski and published by MennoMedia, Inc.. This book was released on 2019-02-12 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if prayer could be simple rather than strenuous? Anxious, results-driven Christians can never pray enough, serve enough, or study enough. But what if God is calling us not to frenzied activity but to a simple spiritual encounter? What if we must merely receive what God has already given us? In Flee, Be Silent, Pray, writer and contemplative retreat leader Ed Cyzewski guides readers out of the anxiety factory of contemporary Christianity and toward a God whose love astounds those quiet long enough to receive it. With helpful guidance into solitude, contemplative prayer, and practices such as lectio divina and the Examen, Cyzewski guides readers toward the Christ whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. Ready to shed the fear of the false self and the exhaustion of a duty-driven faith? Flee. Be silent. Pray.

Download or read book Contemplative Prayer written by Thomas Merton and published by Image. This book was released on 2009-11-17 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this classic text, Thomas Merton offers valuable guidance for prayer. He brings together a wealth of meditative and mystical influences–from John of the Cross to Eastern desert monasticism–to create a spiritual path for today. Most important, he shows how the peace contacted through meditation should not be sought in order to evade the problems of contemporary life, but can instead be directed back out into the world to affect positive change. Contemplative Prayer is one of the most well-known works of spirituality of the last one hundred years, and it is a must-read for all seeking to live a life of purpose in today’s world. In a moving and profound introduction, Thich Nhat Hanh offers his personal recollections of Merton and compares the contemplative traditions of East and West.

Download or read book What Is Contemplation written by Thomas Merton and published by Ravenio Books. This book was released on 1978 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are so many Christians who do not appreciate the magnificent dignity of their vocation to sanctity, to the knowledge, love and service of God. There are so many Christians who do not realize what possibilities God has placed in the life of Christian perfection — what possibilities for joy in the knowledge and love of Him. There are so many Christians who have practically no idea of the immense love of God for them, and of the power of that Love to do them good, to bring them happiness. Why do we think of the gift of contemplation, infused contemplation, mystical prayer, as something essentially strange and esoteric reserved for a small class of almost unnatural beings and prohibited to everyone else? It is perhaps because we have forgotten that contemplation is the work of the Holy Ghost acting on our souls through His gifts of Wisdom and Understanding with special intensity to increase and perfect our love for Him. These gifts are part of the normal equipment of Christian sanctity. They are given to all in Baptism, and if they are given it is presumably because God wants them to be developed. Their development will always remain the free gift of God and it is true that His wise Providence sees fit to develop them less in some saints than in others. But it is also true that God often measures His gifts by our desire to receive them, and by our cooperation with His grace, and the Holy Spirit will not waste any of His gifts on people who have little or no interest in them.

Download or read book The Meaning of Blue written by Luke Bell and published by Angelico Press/Second Spring. This book was released on 2014-10-15 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IN HIS FIRST APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION, Pope Francis wrote: "We need to recover a contemplative spirit." The Meaning of Blue is about just such a recovery. Blue is the color of heaven, of purity and truth. Its rarity in naturally occurring substances on earth and its abundance shining in the sky speak of the same thing: a celestial light to which our culture is increasingly blind. With examples drawn from both the inspired ambiguity of poetry and the depths of the Bible, Fr. Luke Bell shows the reader a way of knowing creation and language as manifesting divine truth, and then leads further-into the mystical tradition of direct contemplation of God. "To read Luke Bell's The Meaning of Blue is to see with new eyes, to love the world afresh. This very Benedictine book, written by a monk, with its roots sunk in prayer, liturgy, poetry, and the sacraments, aims at nothing less than transformation of the self, so that we encounter life as it really is, bright with the splendor of God. An invaluable guide to the spiritual life, by one who knows whereof he speaks."--Philip Zaleski, editor of The Best Spiritual Writing series and co-author of Prayer: A History

Download or read book The Contemplative Hunger written by Fr. Donald Haggerty and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A soul desiring to give itself in love to God faces great challenges that require understanding and some encouraging advice. Written in a style of short and effective meditations on prayer and contemplative spirituality, the concise reflections in this book address the heart of a soul's interior response to God. God's desire to draw souls to a deeper gift of themselves is inseparable from his desire to draw them into a deeper encounter with the sacred mystery of his presence. Offering an abundance of insights into the value of silence, deep faith, trust and interior surrender to God, Father Haggerty also illumines the link between contemplation and love for poverty and the poor, and makes a strong appeal to the importance of prayer as the primary answer to the crisis of faith that afflicts so many people today. The longing of souls for a deeper contemplative encounter with God is indeed a sign of the times. When it is nurtured properly and begins to burn as a passion of the soul, the love for prayer becomes a lifelong quest.