How do we hope in the face of modernity's failure and postmodernity's absence of foundations? How do we hope when the future seems fearful and no clear way forward appears? How do we hope when despair, indifference, and cynicism dominate the psychic landscape of English-speaking North America? In dialogue with theologians of the cross George Grant and Douglas John Hall, this book unmasks the failure of hope in our time and the vacuum of meaning that remains. As an exercise in the theology of the cross, Waiting at the Foot of the Cross explores the North American context as one in which true hope is discovered only when life's negations are engaged from a posture of waiting trust. Such hope is not passive or blind. Rather, it is attentive, active, open, and spiritually grounded in the One who meets us when all hope is spent. The final chapter proposes a way toward hope for today that inspires subversive resilience in the face of the ambiguities and vicissitudes of life. Readers interested in the theology of the cross, in thinking theologically in our time and place, and those interested in the character of Christian hope will find this book compelling.

Nothing tells us more about life than this death. No event shows us more the character of God. No speech ever spoke so clearly about the values we all need. What happened when Jesus of Nazareth went to that hill outside the city gates will never in this world be fully understood. No scholar, preacher or poet can really take us to its depths. No one can fully fathom the mysteries that are here, but the closer we can get to it all, the better we will be. What we propose to do here is to spend thirty days thinking about the event that was like no other. I understand our unworthiness to come here, but I also know that the very nature of the cross allows us to do so. If, with the help of God, we do it well, these thirty days will lead to a lifetime of living with a new perspective and a greater appreciation for the power of God.

Kelly Flanagan is a psychologist, father, and blogger who is best known for the letters he has written to his children on his blog, one of which landed him on The Today Show with his four-year-old daughter. In Loveable, Flanagan answers three fundamental human questions: Am I enough? How do I become unlonely? Do I matter? He shows us how to rediscover our worthiness and remember that we are good enough. He encourages us to shed the false self that keeps us lonely and to find people who accept us as we are. And he inspires us to fully embrace our passions, regardless of how ordinary those passions may be. Reading like an extended love letter to readers, Loveable uncovers three essential truths: you are enough, you are not alone, and you matter. Flanagan invites us to disconnect from the distractions and demands of daily life and to listen more intently for the voice of grace within each of us, so we might fully awaken to the redemptive story we are here to live.

Women have a prayer list a mile long: Husbands. Children. Friends. Church leaders. Neighborhood situations. The military. World events. The sick and the shut-in and the chronically struggling. With so much on their minds, it’s no wonder that women sometimes forget to pray for themselves, neglecting their own needs and spiritual growth. For every woman who specializes in “front-burner prayer,” praying for whatever is boiling over at the moment (and there’s always something boiling over!) comes Prayers for a Woman’s Soul. This inspiring book will teach wives, mothers, friends, sisters, and daughters how to cover themselves with prayer on a regular basis. Each devotion includes powerful spiritual insight, personalized Scripture, and a prayer to help begin the conversation with God. This soul-pampering journey will rejuvenate, refresh, and revive a woman’s soul!

The wisdom of Wright's biblical reflections applies to anyone who is suffering and offers a passage to hope through Christ and his victory over death.

The Baroque period was in some senses the beginning of modern Western scientific and intellectual culture-the early budding of the Enlightenment. In the light of a new scientific and historical consciousness, it saw the rise of deism and the critique of traditional forms of Christianity. Secular values and institutions were openly or surreptitiously replacing the structures of traditional Christian society. At the same time, there was also a trend of religious renewal and the reaffirmation of tradition. In Roman Catholicism, the Patristic, medieval, and Tridentine paradigms were subsumed into a powerful Counter-Reformation spirituality, propagated not only in books, treatises, and sermons, but also in music and in the works of what was arguably the last period of great sacred art. It inspired masters like Bernini, Reni, Rubens, Velázquez, Zurbarán, and Van Dyck. In the Protestant traditions, the Reformation movement found affective expression in new forms of music produced by Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Handel, Telemann, and Bach. The title, The Pathos of the Cross, points to a major aspect of the spirituality of this period: a dramatic portrayal of the events of Christ's passion meant to provoke an emotional response from the viewer and listener. Many works of the period retain their emotional pull centuries later, even though the theology they represent has been challenged and frequently rejected. This volume traces the ways in which Roman Catholic and Protestant theologies of the period proclaimed the centrality of the cross of Christ to human salvation. In a parallel movement, it illustrates how musical and artistic works of the period were both inspired and informed by these theologies, and how they moved beyond them in an aesthetic mediation of faith.

'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.' This quotation may be all that many people know of Julian of Norwich, an anchoress from the fourteenth century. This book seeks to bring to a popular readership a devotional engagement with Julian's work. The introduction gives a general background to Julian, the nature of visions in the 14th century and the type of text Julian gives us, namely a meditative text which intends to lead the reader to 'beholding'. Each chapter centres on one aspect or image from Julian's Revelation, which seeks to make the events of the Passion present to the reader's imagination. The commentary incorporates reflection, the biblical narrative and Julian's subsequent teachings to create a meditation that enables the reader to linger on the wonder of the cross, ending with a prayer that leads to silence and a thought or verse to carry into daily life.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With the history of the devotion to her. From the French of the Abbe Orsini. To which is added meditations on the Litany of the virgin. From the French of the Abbe Edouard Barthe. Also poems on the Litany of Loretto. From the German of the Countess Hahn-Hahn.