Inviting the Mystic, Supporting the Prophet is written to encourage lay people, sisters and priests to confidently use their gifts to become spiritual directors to others. This book offers encouragement to those already involved in the task, builds upon the natural gifts of those who feel called to begin and hopes to increase the number of hearts willing to hear others in this way.

Move closer to God one day at a time by reading the Psalms and practicing prayer in ways you may not have imagined before. This is a prayer book for every day of the year for people who don't usually think about using a prayer book. Drawing on a wide variety of resources—lives of saints and sages from every age, psalms, guides for personal reflection and suggestions for practice—Rev. Larry J. Peacock offers helpful guidance for anyone hungry for a richer prayer life. Each day's reading has four parts: Remember a notable person of faith or a significant event Read a psalm or another scripture passage Ponder that day's scripture or person of faith Practice a variety of ways to pray, including prayer through play, music and physical movement This new edition features the addition of ancient and modern sages from inside and outside the Christian tradition as well as updated resources for deepening your spiritual life throughout the year.

"What do you want from me, God?" If you have ever struggled with this question, but have not found a way to answer it, then this book is for you. Real-life stories from 75 men and women open up a world of spiritual discernment practices inviting you to find one that works for you. Easy to read, yet rich with information, this book draws on faith traditions as diverse as Baha'I, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Sikh, and Sufi Stories from every day people living everyday lives are interspersed with biographical accounts from C.S. Lewis, Albert Schweitzer, Shoghi Effendi, Mahatma Ghandi, Matsuo Basho, Thomas Merton, and Mother Teresa. Over 40 discernment concepts and methods are illustrated including prayer, worship, pilgrimage, labyrinth, Enneagram, I Ching, pendulum, angels, the medicine wheel, and the use of sacred texts. Suitable for individual use, this book lends itself to group settings such as workshops or retreats.

The revitalized ministry of spiritual direction is one of the surest signs of renewal in today's Church. In Spiritual Direction: Contemporary Readings, seventeen leading writers and spiritual directors discuss the history, meaning, demands, and practice of this ministry. Through timely articles by such recognized authors as William Barry, Sandra Schneiders, Louis Cameli, Kallistos Ware, and John Wright, one comes to see that spiritual direction belongs, not to a spiritual elite, but to the entire Church--men and women, clergy and laity, members of religious communities. Compiled especially for those entering spiritual direction, either as directors or directees, this book is an excellent introduction to an exciting ministry in today's Church. A valuable feature of this book is a concluding section with recommendations for further readings. Listing important articles and books on spiritual direction published in recent years, this section helps readers to continue exploring this vital area of contemporary spirituality.

Dissident Women, Beguines, and the Quest for Spiritual Authority focuses on the responses of a group of twenty-first-century women to the lives and writings of thirteenth-century beguine mystics, and reveals how the struggle to discover their own inner spiritual authority connects two groups of women across centuries. For contemporary women who are disenchanted with the institutional church and who seek spiritual direction, models deeply rooted within the tradition may not be the most helpful. The author explores the value of exemplars from the fringes, ushering Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete into the spotlight. The contemporary women studied developed a relationship with the beguines that transformed and influenced their own journeys. Their encounters underline the importance of re-membering the beguine mystics, the value of contemplative engagement with historical mystics, and the need for explicit validation of the richness of the edges of tradition within spiritual direction. Dissident Women, Beguines, and the Quest for Spiritual Authority will be of particular interest to scholars of mysticism and spirituality as well as practical, pastoral, and feminist theology.

This book is born out of a wide range of practical experience of more than 20 years in working with people training for the ministry of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction recognizes that there is an energy in life that moves a person outwards and influences the direction taken. The focus of the ministry is to help the person notice those movements and make good choices that enhance the Christ-like quality of life. It acknowledges that the Holy Spirit is the primary director. See God act. The book seeks to provide a broader vision of the ministry drawing on insights from spirituality, scripture and psychology. These bring a fuller understanding of the person created by God, capable of knowing and responding to God. It acknowledges that many of the difficulties that arise in the direction of life are at the human, not the faith, level. Patterns are laid down in early life and can continue into adulthood. This can be so without much awareness of their source, though their influence may be evident. Even in a prayerful reflective life, further help may be needed to bring greater freedom from unconscious influences. Moreover, freedom is a key mediator to facilitate moving on to accept the gifts God offers. Life is dynamic, not static, involving an inner and an outer journey. We live in relationships with God, self, others and all creation. Jesus is active in life and meets people where they are but does not leave them there. The invitation is onwards. Attention is drawn to, and there is an exploration of the dynamics involved in the different relationships to bring greater clarity to them. The experience of working with people has highlighted the need of this development. Prayer that comes out of life and flows back into life is key to this. May the book inspire you to navigate your ongoing journey in the Lord in an integrated way.

The Journey into God challenges the adequacy of the biomedical model alone in addressing the symptoms and causes of physical and mental illness. While allowing that the biomedical has its place in the treatment of disease, Dr. Kenneth Bakken argues persuasively that there are untapped resources for health and wholeness in Christian faith and practice. He invites the reader into the way of theosis, the transformation of the person in union with the divine. Opening the mystic heart of Christianity, The Journey into God gives individual Christians and the Christian communities of faith a trusty map for traversing the shifting spiritual terrain of health and wholeness issues in the twenty-first century.

In recent years, many Christian clergy, laity and mental health professionals have rediscovered the ancient practices of spiritual direction. Seen as a refreshing alternative to the techniques and limitations of modern psychology, such practices offer new insights for pastoral care. But many remain unclear on what spiritual direction is and whether its methods are applicable to their own clients and parishioners. Spiritual direction is a practice of Christian soul care that is found most notably in the Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopal traditions but is also present in Wesleyan/Holiness, Pentecostal/charismatic, social justice and Reformed communities. Predating modern counseling and psychotherapy movements but sharing key principles and insights for spiritual formation, spiritual direction offers significant resources for today s pastors, counselors, therapists, chaplains and other caregivers attuned to the work of God in people s lives. In this landmark volume, editors Gary W. Moon and David G. Benner, along with a team of expert contributors, provide a comprehensive survey of spiritual direction in its myriad Christian forms. Specific chapters offer careful historical perspective and contemporary analysis of how Christians from various backgrounds have practiced spiritual direction, with particular attention to each tradition s definition of spiritual direction, the process of authentic transformation, the role of the spiritual director, indicators of mature spirituality and other aspects of the spiritual direction process. Chapters also provide psychological and clinical insight into how spiritual direction is similar to, different from and can be integrated with psychotherapy and pastoral counseling to help others experience spiritual transformation and union with God.