This unique book draws on “the secret wisdom of Israel” (Qabalistic Tree of Life) to describe the soul’s inner purification, healing and rebirth in Christ rooted deep in the mysterious process and inner silence of non-conceptual contemplative prayer. “Prayer in secret” (Matt. 6:6) is prayer in the unconscious. Using the Tree of Life as a map of universal creation and the individual soul (Macrocosm and microcosm), Centering Prayer and Rebirth in Christ offers a detailed and revealing look into the hidden workings of the Spirit in the soul’s inner depths. When read slowly and thoughtfully, this book elevates the mind, offering what is, for most of us, a new vision of our evolving life in Christ and Christ in us. The essence of Centering Prayer is consenting to God’s presence and action in us and in our life. The work of the Spirit in us aims to bring us from the limitations and disappointments of our false self (over-identifi cation with the separate-self sense of ego and its ill-conceived desires) into the fulfillment of our true self as a spiritual being. As the false self’s obstacles are removed by the divine action, which needs our willing consent and cooperation, our growing freedom to consent becomes cause for increasing peace and joy in the soul. This is a gift of divine love that brings us step by step into the fullness of our life in Christ—which is a continuing rebirth into the limitless light, life, and love of the divine consciousness. The intended purpose of Centering Prayer’s conceptual background is to support the actual practice of non-conceptual contemplative prayer and the wondrous process of inner spiritual unfolding that Centering Prayer facilitates.

This far-ranging book presents God, the Ultimate Mystery of non-created Reality, as Christ—the One Who loves us. Spirituality beyond language and in general; the inner mystical meaning of the Cross of Christ; differing Christian windows found in the stages of evolving consciousness identified by Integral Theory; and Centering Prayer’s close relationship to all of this are core themes in this work. An important insight of Integral Theory reveals that when people are unaware of the stages of evolving consciousness, they tend to believe that the perspectives of their own stage(s) are the only true or realistic views—which is actually untrue and leads to needless confusion, conflict and misunderstandings among individuals in different stages of evolving consciousness. Additionally: prayer; the allegorical sense of Scripture; Lectio Divina; grades of evolving love; duality?/?non-duality; and apophatic theology are also major topics discussed. The gift of non-conceptual contemplation, into which Centering Prayer leads us, is shown to be a key to Christian unity and harmony among all religious and spiritual traditions seeking to serve the One Who loves us. Non-conceptual Centering Prayer—as a movement into simplicity and silence—is readily available to people seeking a deeper spirituality in all denominations and in all stages of evolving consciousness.

Our Life is Love describes the transformational spiritual journey of the first Quakers, who turned to the Light of Christ within and allowed it to be their guide. Many Friends today use different language, but are still called to make the same journey. In our time people seeking deeper access to the profound teachings of Christianity want more than just beliefs, they want direct experience. Focusing on ten elements of the spiritual journey, this book is a guide to a Spirit-filled life that affects this world. Quakers in the seventeenth century and today provide examples of people and communities living in the midst of the world whose radical understanding of Christ's teachings led them to become powerful agents of social change. The book offers a simple, clear explanation of the spiritual journey that is suitable not only for Quakers, but for all Christians, and for seekers wanting to better understand our spiritual experience and the fullness of God's call to us. The book would make an excellent focus for study groups. Marcelle Martin has led workshops at retreat centers and Quaker meetings across the United States. She served for four years as the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and was a core teacher in the School of the Spirit program, The Way of Ministry. She is the author of the Pendle Hill pamphlets Invitation to a Deeper Communion and Holding One Another in the Light. In 2013 she was the Mullen Writing Fellow at Earlham School of Religion while working on this book.

Gordon W. Lathrop explores the place of the Bible as the subject of critical exegesis in contemporary liturgy. The text is grounded in the life of the assembly and the role of intertextuality in its creation. Lathrop finds patterns in biblical narratives that suggest revising our models of the "shape" of liturgy (Dix, Schmemann) and our understanding of baptism, preaching, Eucharist, and congregational prayer.Saving Images calls for a new, reconceived biblical-liturgical movement that takes seriously both biblical scholarship and the mystery at the heart of worship.

Insider twentysomething Christian journalist Brett McCracken has grown up in the evangelical Christian subculture and observed the recent shift away from the "stained glass and steeples" old guard of traditional Christianity to a more unorthodox, stylized 21st-century church. This change raises a big issue for the church in our postmodern world: the question of cool. The question is whether or not Christianity can be, should be, or is, in fact, cool. This probing book is about an emerging category of Christians McCracken calls "Christian hipsters"--the unlikely fusion of the American obsessions with worldly "cool" and otherworldly religion--an analysis of what they're about, why they exist, and what it all means for Christianity and the church's relevancy and hipness in today's youth-oriented culture.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was one of the most influential spiritual writers of modern times. A Trappist monk, peace and civil rights activist, and widely-praised literary figure, Merton was renowned for his pioneering work in contemplative spirituality, his quest to understand Eastern thought and integrate it with Western spirituality, and his firm belief in Christian activism. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is the defining spiritual memoir of its time, selling over one million copies and translating into over fifteen languages. Merton was also one of the most prolific and provocative letter writers of the twentieth century. His letters (those written both by him and to him), archived at the Thomas Merton Studies Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, number more than ten thousand. For Merton, letters were not just a vehicle for exchanging information, but his primary means for initiating, maintaining, and deepening relationships. Letter-writing was a personal act of self-revelation and communication. His letters offer a unique lens through which we relive the spiritual and social upheavals of the twentieth century, while offering wisdom that is still relevant for our world today.

God is a Brown Girl Too is a book of healing and self-empowerment for women of color. It is for women who want to understand better how to use spiritual principles to transform their lives. In God is a Brown Girl Too, Reverend Cecilia Loving helps readers move beyond the limitations of fear and doubt in order to engage in a unique dialogue with the divine within. Reverend Loving shares spiritual principles that help women transcend the ordinary and uplift the extraordinary, develop the courage to develop their own legends and be courageous enough to see God as themselves. God is a Brown Girl Too awakens the power of unconditional love, nurtures the joy of creating outside the box and bears witness to the wealth of ancient wisdom. Women of color, particularly black women, seldom recognize that years of oppression, denigration and marginalization often contribute to hatred and abuse of not only themselves but each other. God is a Brown Girl Too teaches women how to release the demons of jealousy and despair, how to tell a new story, and how to become victor rather than victim. Based on the God is a Brown Girl Too(r) retreat series owned by Reverend Loving, this book shows the importance of moving beyond religious tradition to understand the sacredness of Spirit within. By recognizing her own divinity, the "Brown Girl" no longer sins by missing the mark or fails to step into her greatness but contribute even more to salvation in healing and wholeness for the entire plane

This lovely little book, lavishly illustrated, is ideal for the Christmas and Advent season with its inspiring, profound, yet popular meditations on the blessings of the season by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Taken from his sermons as well as his writings, these beautiful meditations by the acclaimed spiritual teacher and writer give his usual fresh insights into the deeper meaning of this most wondrous event, and they show him to be a man who knows how to address both the mind and the heart.

Centering Prayer is a modern adaptation of the ancient practice of contemplative prayer, a process of inner purification and an opening of the mind and heart to God. In this remarkable book, Jens Soering, an inmate in a Virginia prison, tells how Centering Prayer and its corollary, Centering Practice--contemplative prayer in action--enable him to survive the daily pain of prison life. Through a moving true story of personal redemption that shocks and inspires, Soering shows how we can all transform our crosses, our prisons (literal or metaphorical), into the means of our salvation.

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.