If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault is a masterful guide to Jesus’s vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teaching for yourself.
Practitioners of Centering Prayer are known for the great enthusiasm they bring to the practice of this ancient discipline. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer. Cynthia Bourgeault goes further than offering an introduction, however. She examines how the practice is related to the classic tradition of Christian contemplation, looks at the distinct nuances of its method, and explores its revolutionary potential to transform Christian life. The book encourages dialogue between Centering Prayer enthusiasts and those classic institutions of Christian nurture―churches, seminaries, and schools of theology―that have yet to accept real ownership of the practice and its potential.
Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. Cynthia Bourgeault takes the reader on a journey through one of the practice sources, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing, revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness.
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.
Get both Mary Earle and Christine Valters Paintner’s poetry books here.
Did You Sing Your Song? by Mary Earle
A lifetime of poetry about the land, memories of West Texas, family, and sacredness of life.
When she was a little girl, Mary Earle’s maternal grandmother taught her to listen to the garden in her yard, the creek on the Texas hill country land, the wind in the trees and the stars. Her mother, Mary Colbert, started reading to her as soon as she could sit up, and her mother loved to read poetry out loud. The poems in this book are an offering that comes from years of listening to what the Irish call “the music of what happens.” Mary says, “My hope is that the poems will invite the reader to listen along with me to that music.”
Wisdom of Wild Grace by Christine Valters Paintner
At the core of this collection are 30 poems inspired by the stories of kinship between saints and animals. They come mostly from the early Christian desert and Celtic traditions, but also feature later medieval saints like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Julian of Norwich. These stories point to a reverence for a different way of knowing and being in the world, one our world is hungry for. Each poem in this collection is meant to be a doorway to intimacy with our inner wilderness, a call to sit and be present to what we discover beyond the borders of our neatly controlled worlds.
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global, ecumenical community integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. She is a Benedictine oblate living on the west coast of Ireland with her husband John. Together they lead pilgrimages and retreats in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Austria. Christine is the author of twelve books on spirituality, monastic wisdom, creativity, and the arts including The Artist’s Rule and The Soul’s Slow Ripening. Her poems have been published in journals in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the UK.
* This listing is to pre-order John Philip Newell’s upcoming book. Release date is July 2021
A leading spiritual teacher reveals how Celtic spirituality—listening to the sacred around us and inside of us—can help us heal the earth, overcome our conflicts, and reconnect with ourselves.
John Philip Newell shares the long, hidden tradition of Celtic Christianity, explaining how this earth-based spirituality can help us rediscover the natural rhythms of life and deepen our spiritual connection with God, with each other, and with the earth. Newell introduces some of Celtic Christianity’s leading practitioners, both saints and pioneers of faith, whose timeless wisdom is more necessary than ever, including:
Pelagius, who shows us how to look beyond sin to affirm our sacredness as part of all God’s creation, and courageously stand up for our principles in the face of oppression.
Brigid of Kildare, who illuminates the interrelationship of all things and reminds us of the power of the sacred feminine to overcome those seeking to control us.
John Muir, who encourages us to see the holiness and beauty of wilderness and what we must do to protect these gifts.
Teilhard de Chardin, who inspires us to see how science, faith, and our future tell one universal story that begins with sacredness.
By embracing the wisdom of Celtic Christianity, we can learn how to listen to the sacred and see the divine in all of creation and within each of us. Human beings are inherently spiritual creatures who intuitively see the sacred in nature and within one another, but our cultures—and at times even our faiths—have made us forget what each of us already know deep in our souls but have learned to suppress. Earth and Soul offers a new spiritual foundation for our lives, once centered on encouragement, guidance, and hope for creating a better world.
Release Date: July 6, 2021
As the descendant of slaves and the son of a civil rights activist, Bishop Michael Curry’s life illustrates massive changes in our times. Much of the world met Bishop Curry when he delivered his sermon on the redemptive power of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. Here, he expands on his message of hope in an inspirational road map for living the way of love, illuminated with moving lessons from his own life. Through the prism of his faith, ancestry, and personal journey, Love Is the Way shows us how America came this far and, more important, how to go a whole lot further.
The way of love is essential for addressing the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, selfishness, deep ideological divisions, competing claims to speak for God. This book will lead readers to discover the gifts they need in order to live the way of love: deep reservoirs of hope and resilience, simple wisdom, the discipline of nonviolence, and unshakable regard for human dignity.
The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry is the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Elected in 2015, he is the first African-American to lead the denomination. He was previously bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. A noted advocate for human rights and author of several books, Bishop Curry is recognized as one of the most popular preachers in the English language. He and his wife Sharon Curry have two daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth. They live in North Carolina.
Christine Valters Paintner, bestselling Catholic author and online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, uses reflections, stories, guided activities, prayer experiences, and a variety of creative arts to help you patiently and attentively listen to God’s invitation.
Everyone wants to understand God’s will for their lives. Christine Valters Paintner shares one of the most ancient paths to understanding from her study of monasticism and immersion into Celtic spirituality while living in Ireland. The Celtic way, which Paintner distills into twelve practices, offers discernment that focuses on the environment rather than the intellectual focus present in other forms of discernment. It allows for what Paintner calls the “soul’s slow ripening,” coming into the fullness of our own sweetness before we pluck the fruit.
Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery offering classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She earned a doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and achieved professional status as a registered expressive arts consultant and educator from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association.
Paintner is the author of thirteen books on monasticism and creativity, including The Soul’s Slow Ripening; Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire; The Artist’s Rule; The Soul of a Pilgrim; Illuminating the Way; The Wisdom of the Body; and a collection of poems called Dreaming of Stones. She leads writing retreats and pilgrimages in Ireland, Scotland, Austria, and Germany and online retreats at her website AbbeyoftheArts.com, living out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John.
Each chapter begins with a story of a particular Irish saint—some well-known like Patrick or Brigid, others less so, such as Ita and Ciaran—and then introduces a helpful practice for discernment that the saint’s life illustrates. Paintner explores the call of dreams, the importance of thresholds, the practice of peregrination (wandering for the love of God), walking the rounds, learning by heart, soul friends, blessing each moment, and the wisdom of the landscape and the seasons. Readers are invited to explore these concepts through photography and writing. She invites us to contemplative walks with specific themes along with poetic writing prompts for expression.
As you explore an alternate way of discerning a spiritual path—one which honors the moment-by-moment invitations and the soul’s seasonal rhythms—you will discover that this book will help you become more aligned with creativity and wholeness.
Christine Valters Paintner, author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire, invites readers to discover and develop their creative gifts in a spirit of prayer and reflection. This twelve-week course draws on the insights and practices of Benedictine spirituality to explore the interplay between contemplation and creativity.
Summarized in the phrase “pray and work,” The Rule of St. Benedict provides the inspiration for Christine Valters Paintner’s newest exploration of the mutually nourishing relationship between contemplative practices and creative expression. Artists of all stripes and stations in life–poets or painters, potters or photographers–will discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work.
Through this twelve-week course, themes like “Sacred Tools and Sacred Space,” “Creative Solitude and Community,” and “Nature as a Source of Revelation and Inspiration” are enriched by Paintner’s perceptive discussion and enhanced by insightful quotations from well-known artists and writers. Each week offers suggestions for grounding both the creative and the spiritual life through three basic practices: walking, lectio divina, and journaling. In sync with Paintner’s vibrant Internet presence, The Artist’s Rule is supplemented with online resources, including guided meditation podcasts, video lessons, and discussions.
Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery without walls offering resources, classes, and books on contemplative practice and creative expression. She is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, teacher and the author of several books including Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press 2010). Christine earned her doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional status as registered expressive arts consultant and educator from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She also serves as an adjunct faculty at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry. Paintner is a Benedictine Oblate and lives out her lay monastic commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in the heart of Seattle with her husband.
How can we meet God in our everyday lives? In Earth, Our Original Monastery, Christine Valters Paintner, bestselling author and online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, shares how living contemplatively with an appreciation for the natural world can make you more aware of the presence of God in every aspect of your life. She explores monks, mystics, and saints who have experienced the goodness of the Divine in nature and invites you to find solace and spiritual revelation in the wonder of God’s creation.
The purpose of contemplative living, Christine Valters Paintner suggests, is to allow you to integrate the pieces of your life within yourself, in your community, and in the world around you. When you pay attention to each moment, you nurture your ability to see God’s actions in those moments. In Earth, Our Original Monastery, Paintner invites you to begin the journey of contemplative living by focusing on the image of the earth as your original monastery—the place where you learn your most fundamental prayers, participate in each day’s liturgy of praise, and experience the wisdom of the seasons.
Paintner provides seven ways of seeing the earth in light of faith and pairs each one with a practical invitation to a practice. These include:
As you explore what these connections between the earth and faith mean for how to see God in the world around you, you can also look at saints and mystics who experienced nature and the flow of the divine in similar ways.
Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery offering classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She earned a doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and achieved professional status as a registered expressive arts consultant and educator from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association.
Paintner is the author of thirteen books on monasticism and creativity, including The Soul’s Slow Ripening; Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire; The Artist’s Rule; The Soul of a Pilgrim; Illuminating the Way; The Wisdom of the Body; and a collection of poems called Dreaming of Stones. She leads writing retreats and pilgrimages in Ireland, Scotland, Austria, and Germany and online retreats at her website AbbeyoftheArts.com, living out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John.
The poems in Dreaming of Stones are about what endures: hope and desire, changing seasons, wild places, love, and the wisdom of mystics. Inspired by the poet’s time living in Ireland these readings invite you into deeper ways of seeing the world. They have an incantational quality. Drawing on her commitment as a Benedictine oblate, the poems arise out of a practice of sitting in silence and lectio divina, in which life becomes the holy text.
No stranger to poetry, Paintner’s bestselling spirituality titles have often included poems. In this first exclusively poetic collection, she writes with a contemplative heart about kinship with nature, ancestral connections, intimacy, the landscape, the unfolding nature of time, and Christian mystics. It can be read for reflection to spark the heart and to offer solace and inspiration in difficult times.
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global, ecumenical community integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. She is a Benedictine oblate living on the west coast of Ireland with her husband John. Together they lead pilgrimages and retreats in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Austria. Christine is the author of twelve books on spirituality, monastic wisdom, creativity, and the arts including The Artist’s Rule and The Soul’s Slow Ripening. Her poems have been published in journals in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the UK.
At the core of this collection are 30 poems inspired by the stories of kinship between saints and animals. They come mostly from the early Christian desert and Celtic traditions, but also feature later medieval saints like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Julian of Norwich. These stories point to a reverence for a different way of knowing and being in the world, one our world is hungry for. Each poem in this collection is meant to be a doorway to intimacy with our inner wilderness, a call to sit and be present to what we discover beyond the borders of our neatly controlled worlds.
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global, ecumenical community integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. She is a Benedictine oblate living on the west coast of Ireland with her husband John. Together they lead pilgrimages and retreats in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Austria. Christine is the author of twelve books on spirituality, monastic wisdom, creativity, and the arts including The Artist’s Rule and The Soul’s Slow Ripening. Her poems have been published in journals in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the UK.
In today’s world, with its relentless emphasis on success and productivity, we have lost the necessary rhythm of life, the balance between work and rest. Constantly striving, we feel exhausted and deprived in the midst of great abundance. We long for time with friends and family, we long for a moment to ourselves.
Millennia ago, the tradition of Sabbath created an oasis of sacred time within a life of unceasing labor. Now, in a book that can heal our harried lives, Wayne Muller, author of the spiritual classic How, Then, Shall We Live?, shows us how to create a special time of rest, delight, and renewal–a refuge for our souls.
We need not even schedule an entire day each week. Sabbath time can be a Sabbath afternoon, a Sabbath hour, a Sabbath walk. With wonderful stories, poems, and suggestions for practice, Muller teaches us how we can use this time of sacred rest to refresh our bodies and minds, restore our creativity, and regain our birthright of inner happiness.
Praise for Sabbath
“Muller’s insights are applicable within a broad spectrum of faiths and will appeal to a wide range of readers.”—Publishers Weekly
“One of the best spiritual books of the year.”—Spirituality and Health
“Wayne Muller’s call to remember the Sabbath is not only rich, wise and poetic, it may well be the only salvation for body and soul in a world gone crazy with busyness and stress.”—Joan Borysenko, author ofMinding the Body, Mending the Mind and A Woman’s Book of Life
“This is a book that may save your life. Sabbath offers a surprising direction for healing to anyone who has ever glimpsed emptiness at the heart of a busy and productive life.”—Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author of Kitchen Table Wisdom
From the author of the bestselling Anam Cara comes a beautiful collection of blessings to help readers through both the everyday and the extraordinary events of their lives.
John O’Donohue, Irish teacher and poet, has been widely praised for his gift of drawing on Celtic spiritual traditions to create words of inspiration and wisdom for today. In To Bless the Space Between Us, his compelling blend of elegant, poetic language and spiritual insight offers readers comfort and encouragement on their journeys through life. O’Donohue looks at life’s thresholds—getting married, having children, starting a new job—and offers invaluable guidelines for making the transition from a known, familiar world into a new, unmapped territory. Most profoundly, however, O’Donohue explains “blessing” as a way of life, as a lens through which the whole world is transformed.
O’Donohue awakens readers to timeless truths and shows the power they have to answer contemporary dilemmas and ease us through periods of change.
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Poetry and prayer are closely related. We often look to poets to give language to our deepest hopes, fears, losses—and prayers. Poets slow us down. They teach us to stop and go in before we go on. They play at the edges of mystery, holding a tension between line and sentence, between sense and reason, between the transcendent and the deeply, comfortingly familiar.
When Poets Pray contains thoughtful meditations by Marilyn McEntyre on choice poems/prayers and poems about prayer. Her beautifully written reflections are contemplative exercises, not scholarly analyses, meant more as invitation than instruc¬tion. Here McEntyre shares gifts that she herself has received from poets who pray, or who reflect on prayer, believing that they have other gifts to offer readers seeking spiritual companionship along our pilgrim way.
POETS DISCUSSED IN THIS BOOK
Hildegard of Bingen
Lucille Clifton
Walter Chalmers Smith
Robert Frost
Wendell Berry
Joy Harjo
John Donne
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Said
Marilyn McEntyre
George Herbert
Thomas Merton
Denise Levertov
Scott Cairns
Mary Oliver
Marin Sorescu
T. S. Eliot
Richard Wilbur
Francisco X. Alarcon
Anna Kamienska
Michael Chitwood
Psalm 139:1-12
Marilyn McEntyre is professor of English at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California. She has written dozens of articles and reviews in such journals as The Washington Post, Theology Today, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Christianity Today. She is also the author of Dwelling in the Text and A Healing Art: Regeneration through Autobiography.
Author of The Men’s Workshop, James Enoch Banks is a remarkable person. He grew up in a depressed neighborhood in Gary, Indiana. Despite the fact that he had a loving family, he ended up in prison like so many other young black males. African American males are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white males. James has served eighteen years of a 28-year prison sentence for Aggravated Robbery. He is scheduled to be released in June 2021.
Challenged by his nine-year old son, he asked himself how he ended up in prison. Over several years, he taught what he learned to other inmates. He finalized the teaching into a student handbook named The Men’s Workshop. The course is a how to to redemption and restoration.
The course was taught for the first time using The Men’s Workshop material in the common rooms of eight different dorms in Torres Prison January through March 2020. The results are extraordinary.
Men told their personal stories for the first time. Men who had walked down the same paths listened. They shared stories about who they had injured and how their families had suffered in their absences. They shared their pain. They began to forgive themselves and to experience healing.
A generous couple donated the money to have The Men’s Workshop published. Our plans are to work with prison authorities so that the course can be offered in prisons throughout America. It is a big dream. Someday the wisdom in this book will empower former inmates to be restored to good and full lives, empowered to help vulnerable youth avoid the destructive paths the former inmates took.
A paperback picture book based on the true story of Wangari Maathai, an environmental and political activist in Kenya and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans . . .
This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.
Includes an author’s note.
*This listing is for a bundle of both the book and study guide. Please contact info@materialmedia.com to inquire about wholesale pricing for your Bible Study group.
Susan Kerr’s book Intersections of Grace was based on talks given to a Bible study group, the chapters and ideas nurtured and inspired by Scripture and personal experiences. This study guide has been designed to encourage a personal relationship to those insights and observations. Whether in a small group or on one’s own, the lessons aid in evaluating one’s faithfulness to the disciplines of prayer, service, and the study of God’s word. Spiral bound to be able to easily jot notes or observations, each section has Bible passages to take the material more to heart. Comes with the 2nd edition printing of the book, Intersections of Grace: Reflections on a Life of Faith.
Susan Kerr’s book Intersections of Grace was based on talks given to a Bible study group, the chapters and ideas nurtured and inspired by Scripture and personal experiences. This study guide has been designed to encourage a personal relationship to those insights and observations. Whether in a small group or on one’s own, the lessons aid in evaluating one’s faithfulness to the disciplines of prayer, service, and the study of God’s word. Spiral bound to be able to easily jot notes or observations, each section has Bible passages to take the material more to heart.
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Inconspicuously tucked away north of Loop 410 and in the shadow of Wurzbach Parkway in San Antonio, the Coker Cemetery contains the graves of more than 600 people. Several Texas Ranger and Texas Historical Markers serve as obvious signs this turf is fertile with stories. Beginning with the arrival of Americans on the eve of the Texas Revolution, Haunting the Graveyard: Unearthing the Story of the Coker Settlement offers a regional perspective of a century of Texas history.
While a schoolhouse and Methodist church served as anchors for the Coker Settlement, men who went off to fight in bloody battles of the Civil War, spent months pursuing Indians and herded cattle and horses northward, found settling back into everyday farm chores difficult. Struggling to survive, families battled rattlesnakes, endured extended droughts and suffered through the Great Depression.
Many overcame these obstacles, only to find their rural lifestyle vanquished by San Antonio itself. As the city grew, increased demands for housing convinced some to sell. Roads to reach new homes chopped up dairy farms with wider and wider ribbons of asphalt, and airport runways buried fields.
The headstones in Coker Cemetery are almost the only evidence of the former farming community, but the tales of its residents are rich. Expect to encounter some heart-breaking tragedies, a bit of mayhem and even an unsolved murder as their lives unfold on these pages.
A lifetime of poetry about the land, memories of West Texas, family, and sacredness of life.
When she was a little girl, Mary Earle’s maternal grandmother taught her to listen to the garden in her yard, the creek on the Texas hill country land, the wind in the trees and the stars. Her mother, Mary Colbert, started reading to her as soon as she could sit up, and her mother loved to read poetry out loud. The poems in this book are an offering that comes from years of listening to what the Irish call “the music of what happens.” Mary says, “My hope is that the poems will invite the reader to listen along with me to that music.”
If you would like your copy to be signed and/or personalized, please write in the “note” field when checking out how you would like your book signed.
Advance praise for Did You Sing Your Song? by Mary Earle
“With bold serenity and unapologetic sass, Mary C. Earle blesses us with the music of her word-gifts. She simply takes us by the hand and leads us from ordinary to extraordinary, offering new sight, new light, new understanding.”
Olga Samples-Davis, poet and author of Things My Mama Told Me: The Wisdom That Shapes Our Lives
“Mary’s poems are full of images of inhabiting spaces, of allowing the land to hold her and reclaim her, bone meeting bone, and inviting the reader to do the same. There are songs here too, the music of language relishing the world’s gifts. These are the poems of someone who is asking important questions about what it means to know how precious our limited days here are and offering the wisdom she discovers so generously to others.”
Christine Valters-Paintner, PhD, author of Dreaming of Stones: Poems
Adam Names the Animals
The beautiful new children’s book by Beth Wyndham and illustrated by her sister Mary Kelly is available to ship today.
A children’s book about Adam’s romp with his new friends in paradise, as he goes about following God’s instructions to name the animals.
Delightful illustrations will capture children’s imaginations.
What’s one of the first things you do when you meet a new friend? Ask their name, of course! God gave Adam animal friends but Adam didn’t know what to call them because they didn’t yet have names. Adam was so lucky he got to be the first one to name all the animals – wouldn’t that be a great job! We don’t know exactly how Adam named them but it is fun to wonder. An I bet he played with them too, don’t you? What features in God’s creatures gave him clues for their names? What would you name them if God asked you?
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Beth Wyndham is an Episcopal priest in San Antonio, Texas. She has spent most of her life working with children and their families. Before turning to ministry, Beth coached figure skating in Dallas, Texas. From there she became a youth minister before being ordained. She served as a school chaplain in Dallas and Associate Rector at St. Anne’s Episcopal in Desoto, Texas.
Beth served for six years at St. Tomas Episcopal Church and School in San Antonio. She is now a church planter for the Diocese of West Texas where she enjoys time with her husband, two sons, two dogs and two cats. This is her first children’s book. She is so thankful for all the curious kids she has encountered that love asking questions about God!
Mary Kelly lived in at least six states and three foreign countries growing up as a result of her father’s career in the Air Force. Mary earned her BA in Fine Arts at Brooklyn College, City University of NY. She lived in Brooklyn and Queens for almost 28 years before moving to Santa Barbara where her husband, Sean, grew up and where they still reside. She has two sons. Mary is a member of the Santa Barbara and Goleta Valley Art Associations.
** A New Ancient Harmony was previously published as A New Harmony.
John Philip Newell includes a new preface introducing the reprinting of A New Harmony, retitled as A New Ancient Harmony to better reflect the nature of the book.
In a world that seems increasingly fragmented, John Philip Newell calls us to a vision of life’s essential oneness. He invites us to be part of a new harmony. In his previous book, Christ of the Celts, Newell freshly expressed the ancient Celtic vision of creation’s sacredness and unity. In that poetic treatment of the wisdom of Celtic spirituality, he pointed the way to a Christianity more integrated with the earth and with the rest of humanity. A New Ancient Harmony takes the next step forward by articulating a vision and a pathway toward transformation in our lives and world. A New Ancient Harmony communicates across the boundaries of religion and race that have separated us and honors our distinct inheritances by serving what is deeper still—the oneness of our origins and the oneness of earth’s destiny.
Newell explores the ancient harmony that is deep in the matter of the universe, the essential interconnectedness of all things. Everything, whether the expanding light of distant galaxies or humanity’s inner light of mind and consciousness, carries within itself the life of the universe’s shared beginning. With keen insight and sensitivity, he confronts the brokenness of our harmony, as individuals and families and as nations and species. Only by knowing and naming the extent and depth of our disharmony will we find the way forward. Confronting our brokenness, individually and together, is integral to the hope for healing.
Throughout the book, Newell leads us on a pathway of discovery toward transforming the way we understand ourselves. He challenges us to consider the possibilities of a new, yet ancient, harmony in our lives—as individuals, as communities, and as nations—by asking “What is the cost, both personal and collective, of releasing life’s essential oneness in radically new and transformative ways?”
In 2016, Gary Sweeney created a site-specific installation, A Manhattan Beach Memoir: 1945-2015. This book documents the installation at 320 35th Street, made as a tribute to his family, the Manhattan Beach of his youth, and the Southern California house that his family owned for over 70 years. A house is like a pictorial frame delimiting the lives lived within it; Sweeney’s memoir is an homage to this frame, this sheltered space, made resonant by the role it played in his family’s life.
Sweeney’s art is a celebration not just of a bygone era and a particular family’s life, but of a specific landscape and a use of photography that is also disappearing into the past. As his humble beach cottage gets replaced by townhouse, and the city succumbs to an ever-growing homogenous suburbia, Sweeney’s art is both an endearing tribute and a wry social commentary.
Writers Wendy Weil Atwell and Neil Fauerso discuss the social and economic factor that shaped Sweeney’s childhood, the astronomical increase in real estate values, the meaning of home, photography’s role in society, and the Southern California art movements that inspired and influenced Sweeney’s art.
Gary Sweeney is a contemporary artist who lives with his wife, Janet, in San Antonio, Texas. Born in 1952, Sweeney was raised in Southern California during the euphoric post-World War II atmosphere. His house in Manhattan Beach was just a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean, where Sweeney surfed and soaked in the California sun before graduating in 1975 with a Degree in Fine Arts from UC Irvine. Influenced by both Pop art and California artists such as John Baldessari, Sweeney’s art ranges from neon signs, billboards, and murals to rug making, book art, and video. To support his artistic career, Sweeney worked as an airline baggage handler for 35 years.
Greek and Russian/Eastern Orthodox and other Christian groups use prayer counters, usually a knotted rope but sometimes strings of beads. Prayer ropes can consist of 33, 50, 100 or even 300 knots or beads.
These prayer beads are a circle of 33 prayer beads, to commemorate the number of years Jesus was on the earth; they are not divided into decades. On each bead, the Jesus Prayer can be prayed: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
A simple and powerful form of meditating, a daily practice can bring deep peace and faith.
The beads are natural, authentic tigers eye, sturdily strung and a brown tassel. Listing includes a handwoven from Mexico zipper bag (colors will vary).
Paired with the book by Rev. Robert Hibbs, An Altar in Your Heart: Meditations on the Jesus Prayer, this set makes a great gift for yourself or others. Using straightforward and direct language, Rev. Hibbs explains how and what a daily Jesus Prayer practice is like, and the deep and abiding peace and faith it can bring. A beautifully done hardcover book, it includes a CD of excerpts of Rev. Hibbs’ Jesus Prayer retreat.
The Jesus Prayer: A Simple Yet Powerful Tool in Today's Chaotic World
An Altar In Your Heart is a beautiful introduction to a prayer method that spans centuries from the 6th century to today's high-tech world. The Jesus Prayer is prayed by people from all walks of life. Read and learn about the ancient prayer that is “rooted and grounded in the Incarnation”.
This series of meditations by Bishop Robert B. Hibbs arises from a lifetime of study and daily use. He has the distinction of expressing profound insights in an everyday way. Bob Hibbs' book will build understanding as to why a prayer so simple, The Jesus Prayer, is used daily by millions of people all around the world.
Perfect for congregations, this prayer card is double-sided with John Philip Newell’s prayers “The Blessings of Jesus”, and “The Song of Mary”.
Price is for a pack of 25 cards.
For larger quantities, please email us directly at jen@materialmedia.com.
For many years now the Celtic poet, peacemaker and scholar John Philip Newell has been writing about the sacredness of being, the of-Godness that is at the heart of our lives and all life. In this new work he asks what the world in general—and Christianity in particular—would look like if the true depths of our sacredness were to come forth in radically new ways.
Drawing on modern prophets from East and West, and using the holy island of Iona as an icon of new beginnings, this book speaks directly to the heart of Christians—those within the well-defined bounds of Christian practice and those on the disenchanted edges—as well as to the faithful and seekers of other traditions. It offers the hope of a fresh stirring of the Spirit among us and the invitation to be part of laboring in a new holy birth of sacred living, a true rebirthing of God.
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Written as a series of connected stories, Foy: A Novel by Gordon Atkinson is where we meet Baptist minister Foy Davis. From boyhood adventures in Fort Davis and Houston, Texas, to his unorthodox ministry in San Antonio, to his subsequent bolt from church life to New Orleans, we follow the thread of one man’s struggle with the place of religion in his life.
With clarity and spare dialogue, Gordon Atkinson portrays a good, caring man who is escaping his history to step into a more authentic life, even if it is a strange and frightening thing. As Foy attempts to salvage what he can of the religion he once knew, the reader is invited to walk along with him on this journey.
“I’m known as an essayist, but writing fiction, and in particular dialog, have always been my first love. I’m a passionate reader of fiction and consider the writing of it to be a sacred calling.” – Gordon Atkinson
Gordon Atkinson, BA, Mdiv, is the author of blog RealLivePreacher.Com (Offline with selected archives here) and Tertium Squid, where he writes about current events and comments on important things like biking, whiskey, heavenly bodies, stars, depression, tea, theology and people he finds amusing. He is the author of the books, RealLivePreacher.Com, Turtles all the Way Down and The Christmas Story You Have Never Heard. He is a contributor to the magazine Christian Century and was the founding editor for the High Calling website, which brought together hundreds of independent writers and featured their work. His writing was chosen to be included in The Best Christian Writing 2004 and his book RealLivePreacher.com (Wm. B. Eerdmans) won the Independent Publisher award for best creative, non-fiction when it was published. This is his first novel.
Imagine the hushed excitement and the vivid anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve. How much more intense that anticipation must have been for those who waited for the wonder of the very first Christmas. From the ancient prophets to the three kings, from the angel Gabriel to the stalwart Joseph, Katarina Katsarka Whitley imagines their astonishment and joy at the events unfolding around them.
In her inimitable style, Whitley places herself in the hearts and minds of the biblical characters–both real and imagined–who played a part in the Christmas narrative. She weaves stories, solidly based in Scripture, at once compelling and thought-provoking. The voices of her characters lead us closer to the Christ Child and deepen the meaning of the season of Advent for twenty-first century readers.
When a Texas debutante bows her forehead to the floor in the famous “Texas dip,” society columnists all across the country speculate interminably over what it is that sets Texas women apart. But really, how could they know? Even women born and bred in Texas can’t always answer that question.
Prudence Mackintosh comes very close to an answer, though, in this endlessly entertaining book. Writing with both a wry sense of humor and an insider’s compassion, she offers us a fascinating look into the world of privileged, educated, well-married, well-connected, and mostly wealthy white Texas women.
What really sets these women apart, Ms. Mackintosh tells us, is the comfortable yet demanding path they follow from their idyllic girlhoods to prominent positions in society. In thirteen essays, some of which originally appeared in Texas Monthly magazine, she charts the way stations that mark this path: summer camps in the Texas Hill Country, exclusive private schools like Dallas’ Hockaday, sorority membership, and acceptance into the Junior League.
Prudence Mackintosh has been both an outsider and an insider in this privileged world, and her observations are shot through with wit and real insight. Just As We Were may not be the final word on elite Texas women, but no other book has described their world with greater irony or accuracy.
From the endless battles of sibling rivalry to the endless worries about getting indifferent students into and then graduated from college, raising boys is the adventure of a lifetime for any mother. Prudence Mackintosh has not only survived the adventure but has also written about it with her signature wit and style. Her essays about life with sons Jack, Drew, and William have entertained the readers of Texas Monthly and other prominent magazines for nearly three decades, offering solace to similarly beleaguered parents and a knowing chuckle to everyone who enjoys watching the real-life sitcom of a fundamentally happy, intact family. Sneaking Out completes the story that Mackintosh began in her earlier books Thundering Sneakers and Retreads. In this collection of new and previously published essays, she recounts life with her adolescent sons as they race headlong to first jobs, first driver’s licenses, first girlfriends, and first flights away from the family nest. She also follows them into the college years, when both parents and sons have to find a new balance in holding on and letting go. Along the way, she offers wise and witty reflections on being a woman at midlife, supporting her sons through the beginning of their adult lives and her parents through the end of theirs.
A contributing editor of Texas Monthly magazine, Prudence Mackintosh is a popular author and public speaker, whose commentary on family life, schooling, Texas women, and Dallas architecture has also appeared in such magazines and newspapers as McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, D Magazine, Parenting, and the Dallas Morning News. She lives in Dallas with her husband, John A. Mackintosh, Jr., with whom she looks forward to completing the conversations interrupted by their sons thirty years ago.
Retreads tells the middle of the story begun in Thundering Sneakers and concluded in Sneaking Out. In this collection of essays, Prudence Mackintosh follows her sons through the “tween” years between little boyhood and adolescence. Vividly portraying the chaos that descends on a house full of active children, she also records the many first times and last times that give poignancy to the middle years of motherhood.
A contributing editor of Texas Monthly magazine, Prudence Mackintosh is a popular author and public speaker, whose commentary on family life, schooling, Texas women, and Dallas architecture has also appeared in such magazines and newspapers as McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, D Magazine, Parenting, and the Dallas Morning News. She lives in Dallas with her husband, John A. Mackintosh, Jr., with whom she looks forward to completing the conversations interrupted by their sons thirty years ago.
Thundering Sneakers begins the story of the Mackintosh boys. In these essays, Prudence Mackintosh describes the delights and terrors of living with little boys who are determined to be boys, despite the carefully nonsexist childrearing practices of the 1970s. With telling vignettes of boyish disasters that drive her to despair, as well as the rare quiet moments of hugs and confidences that make it all worthwhile, she perfectly captures the early years when a young mother still looks for “the real mother” to come and bail her out.
A contributing editor of Texas Monthly magazine, Prudence Mackintosh is a popular author and public speaker, whose commentary on family life, schooling, Texas women, and Dallas architecture has also appeared in such magazines and newspapers as McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, D Magazine, Parenting, and the Dallas Morning News. She lives in Dallas with her husband, John A. Mackintosh, Jr., with whom she looks forward to completing the conversations interrupted by their sons thirty years ago.
What was it like meeting St. Paul in Corinth — seeing him work with his hands and hearing his passionate words that revealed his profound and unbreakable connection to the living Christ? And what was it like to be a girl, highly educated and gifted and in love in mid-first century, in the Greco-Roman world? You will find the answers to these questions hidden among the layers of eros and agape in A New Love.
“A New Love is a gift shaped by solid scholarship and beautiful storytelling.” — Greg Garrett, author of The Prodigal and Entertaining Judgement
“Katerina Whitley has succeeded in crafting a novel which deftly portrays the earliest years of the Christian faith. The plot, while following scripture, offers a sense of real people who suffer real tragedies, whose lives are made new by the gospel. She captures a moment in history before the Bible was written, before the creeds were crafted. While reading this novel, I found myself engaged, and discovered that my own faith was quickened.” — Mary C. Earle, author of The Desert Mothers, Days of Grace, and Beginning Again
Kefi, loosely translated, is the Greek sense of joy and is often found around the dinner table during large and boisterous family meals of spanakopita, keftedes (Greek meatballs), and much, much more.
Around a Greek Table explores the intricacies of Greek cooking and makes these once-mysterious recipes both understandable and possible. It also delves deep into stories of Greek life and kefi around the dinner table. The 100 recipes — from Oven-baked Lamb with Potatoes to Zucchini Fritters to Triple Moussaka and more — are organized around the Eastern Church’s yearly seasons, each interpreted in one of eight chapters, with historical and personal essays exploring the ancient stories that are told around Greek tables in the honored tradition of combining myths with food.
“Katerina’s love for cooking demonstrates her passion for life. Her recipes exemplify the warmth, tradition, and generosity of spirit found in Greek culture. This is truly a mouth-watering journey!” — Missy Watson, The Best Cellar Restaurant
Katerina is a native Greek who never lost her connections to Greece. Her freelance writing on Greek culture, took, and travel has appeared in the News and Observer, the Catholic Middle East and other religious journals.
Each year on Good Friday, Christian congregations all over the world walk the Stations of the Cross, a commemoration of Jesus’ walk to Calvary.
In Walking the Way of Sorrows, writer/journalist Katerina Katsarka Whitley and artist Noyes Capehart provide a fresh resource for congregations and individuals who want to explore the meaning of these Stations more deeply.
Capehart’s stark and powerful blockcuts of the fourteen Stations are accompanied by monologues from the point of view of someone at each Station. Biblical references and a brief liturgy make this an excellent resource for individual or group devotions.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Katerina Katsarka came to the U. S. at 16 years of age to enter college. Her education focused on music and English literature and later on theology. She married Rudy Whitley and together they were confirmed in the Episcopal Church. In the four decades of her involvement with the church, Katerina has worked as diocesan and national church journalist as writer, photographer, and editor. She is the author of five books of biblical monologues and one Greek cookbook. She has taught children and adults of all ages and continues her ministry in leading retreats and in speaking to churches. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. She lives in Louisville, KY.
Katerina Whitley’s first book of biblical monologues, Speaking for Ourselves, has been received with enthusiastic praise. Now, in Seeing for Ourselves, Whitley gives powerful voice to the New Testament women who met Jesus both before and after the resurrection.
Included in this collection are: the woman at the well; the adulterous woman who was nearly stoned to death; Cleopas’s wife, whom Jesus may have met on the road to Emmaus; the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak in order to be healed; Mary and Martha; Phoebe; Prisca; Pilate’s wife; the bride at the wedding of Cana, and others.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Katerina Katsarka came to the U. S. at 16 years of age to enter college. Her education focused on music and English literature and later on theology. She married Rudy Whitley and together they were confirmed in the Episcopal Church. In the four decades of her involvement with the church, Katerina has worked as diocesan and national church journalist as writer, photographer, and editor. She is the author of five books of biblical monologues and one Greek cookbook. She has taught children and adults of all ages and continues her ministry in leading retreats and in speaking to churches. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. She lives in Louisville, KY.
There are many powerful women in the Bible, but their descriptions are almost always tantalizingly brief.
If they had had the chance to tell their own stories in their own voices, what would they have said?
Basing her interpretation of these women on extensive research, Katerina Whitley puts herself in their shoes, giving today’s listeners a fuller understanding of each of their stories.
The women explored, some well known and others less familiar, include the Virgin Mary, Miriam, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, the Syrophoenician or Canaanite woman, Lydia, Ruth, Gomer, Michal, Tamar, and Peter’s wife. Each woman speaks for herself in these monologues in a way that brings the biblical issues and questions into contemporary focus. Study questions follow each woman’s story.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Katerina Katsarka came to the U. S. at 16 years of age to enter college. Her education focused on music and English literature and later on theology. She married Rudy Whitley and together they were confirmed in the Episcopal Church. In the four decades of her involvement with the church, Katerina has worked as diocesan and national church journalist as writer, photographer, and editor. She is the author of five books of biblical monologues and one Greek cookbook. “I long for what is good and whole in humanity, even though I am quite aware of the darkness. Jesus expects us to be the light of the world and I try to remember this always. Writing, for me, is a response to the Light.” The same is true with teaching, Katerina says. She has taught children and adults of all ages and continues her ministry in leading retreats and in speaking to churches. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. She lives in Louisville, KY.
These are stories of human beings who lived in “the temporal element,” but who understood something of the divine drama, of the eternal — people like Abraham and Isaiah, like Elizabeth and Mary of Nazareth, who were all convinced that God was a personal God. These are stories that matter to people like us… This is another way to look at the same stories and hear anew the carols that serve as the eternal Yes to the truth that the stories reveal to us. – From Light to the Darkness
Of all the ancient traditions that surround Advent — as Christians joyfully wait for the birth of Christ — perhaps none is so well loved as the service of Lessons and Carols. In scripture and song, believers gather together to tell the story of who they are and what their faith calls them to be.
In this fresh new interpretation of lessons and carols, Katerina Whitley retells the stories in the form of dramatic monologue and dialogue, helping listeners to hear them as if for the very first time. With music suggestions that range from the traditional to the unexpected, Light to the Darkness is a resource for churches planning meaningful Advent services — and for individuals seeking a new way to mark the days of this holy season.
Katerina Katsarka was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. “I long for what is good and whole in humanity, even though I am quite aware of the darkness. Jesus expects us to be the light of the world and I try to remember this always. Writing, for me, is a response to the Light.”
The same is true with teaching, Katerina says. She has taught children and adults of all ages, but her favorite groups are the college students she has been teaching at Appalachian State University as a communication adjunct since 2001.
She is the author of several books, including Speaking for Ourselves: Voices of Biblical Women and Walking the Way of Sorrows: Stations of the Cross.
Many people are familiar with the phrase “All shall be well” but do not know much, if anything, about Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth-century English mystic who wrote those words. Thomas Merton declared her to be “without a doubt one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices,” and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says that her writings “may well be the most important work of Christian reflection in the English language.”
This accessible introduction to Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love, an extended reflection on a series of her mystical visions, includes an informative introduction that addresses the historical, cultural and sociological context of Julian’s life and writings. Mary Earle’s facing-page commentary focuses on Julian’s profoundly hopeful vision of humanity and God, her creative imagery and her rigorous honesty about the spiritual life. Drawing directly from Julian’s text, Earle addresses a variety of topics essential to understanding Julian’s mysticism, including the infinite nature of God, the life of prayer, God’s suffering with us, the eternal and undying life of the should, the motherhood of Jesus and the motherhood of God, “all shall be well” and more.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
“The Celtic saints lived in times that were uncertain,” Mary Earle and Sylvia Maddox write. Those same saints “offer us a glimpse of lives characterized by a gracious confidence in the living God and a down-to-earth awareness of human need.” So it is no wonder that voices that are centuries old speak to us so freshly today.
Journey along with eighteen Celtic saints in Holy Companions, and explore how the lives they lived long ago can shed light on twenty-first-century living. Discover how their spiritual practices, or practices inspired by their writings and teachings, help us become aware of human needs and God’s gracious presence in the face of those needs. These saints of long ago offer us much that is healing and strengthening as we walk with Christ into an unknown future.
“Holy Companions stands out as an exceptionally well-written and balanced introduction to the saints of this richly personal and deeply corporate tradition. The book successfully guides us into a way of reflecting and praying with these saints as it introduces the stories and legends associated with them.” – John Philip Newell, author and speaker.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
The Celtic Christians beheld the world around them and perceived the divine life of God as upholding every aspect of the material universe. Their prayers and poems, their liturgies and theological interpretations give Christians a sense of faith that is confident in a merciful and infinitely creative, healing God.
In this introduction to Celtic Christian spirituality, Mary Earle presents primary texts from the Celtic Christian tradition — selections from the works of Pelagius, Eriugena and St. Patrick, as well as prayers and poems from Wales, the Outer Hebrides and Ireland. These essential writings direct humanity to read the “book of creation” as well as the Bible, and call us to remember that “matter matters.” Earle’s engaging facing-page commentary explores how faithful Christians and spiritual seekers can take inspiration from this lively tradition’s ways of embodying and living the gospel. Topics include:
“With uncanny grace and deftness… [weaves] the soul-wrenching beauty of Celtic spirituality and the joy of contextual understanding into a seamless and deeply satisfying whole. The result, like the biblical Psalter itself, is a loving companion for all the times and seasons of our lives.” – Phyllis Tickle, compiler, The Divine Hours
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
Each chapter in Marvelously Made focuses on a vital part of the body, the heart, the lungs, the brain, the joints. For each section, Mary provides reader-friendly information about the wonders of the organ or body part, and offers a prayer and a set of gratitude practices in the form of a physical and spiritual meditation exercise to deepen your appreciation of the body.
“A beautiful resource for those of us who want to enter more deeply into a prayerful experience of the body. Through a series of thoughtful contemplative practices that bring us to a deepened sense of our own grace, Earle leads the reader gently to a renewed sense of wonder, amazement, and profound gratitude for the gift of being in a body. Highly recommended.” – Christine Valters Paintner, author of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
“Mary Earle helps us see that our bodies are marvelously made, a ‘sacred space,’ where God’s wondrous and mysterious ways can be appreciated contemplatively, with gratitude. But she also takes gratitude to its next step, in suggesting ways of serving others’ bodily needs with compassion and conviction.” – Brian C. Taylor, author of Becoming Christ: Transformation Through Contemplation
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
For centuries, Christians have turned to the Benedictine practice of lectio divina, or sacred reading, to pray the Scripture and deepen their experience of God’s presence in their lives.
In this gentle book, Mary Earle, who has suffered with serious illness of her own, explores how this ancient practice can be used to “read the text of our illnesses,” and, in doing so, discover God’s presence and guidance even in the midst of pain and suffering.
“Writing with authenticity of one who has “been there,” Mary Earle offers compassionate and practical guidance to those suffering from serious, chronic, and terminal illness. Her adaptation of the ancient Benedictine practice of lectio divina is creative and inviting: Through carefully structured exercises the sufferer is let to “read” not only Scripture but the body and the illness prayerfully. The tone of the book is warm and supportive, always aware of the physical and emotional limitations of the reader. Although it is intended primarily for the person living with illness, Broken Body, Healing Spirit is also a valuable resource for anyone ministering to the sick.” – Margaret Guenther, author, Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
For a limited time, we are offering the paperback book and Audio book together for a sale price of $25.
In 1995 Mary C. Earle was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis.
Like others who suffer from serious or chronic conditions, she found that living with illness requires major adjustments in life.
Using St. Benedict’s ancient Rule – his way of ordering the life and days of religious communities – Earle explores how the concepts of stability, obedience, and conversion can help anyone live with illness.
“In this extraordinarily comforting and challenging book, Mary Earle takes the setbacks of chronic illness or disability and reframes them as powerful tools for keeping a rule of life. The ancient Benedictine ways of humility, prayer, and self-knowledge counter the urge to rush, multitask, push and shove one’s way into the superficial busyness that so often passes for excellence in the world.”
Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, author of Some Things You Just Have to Live With
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
In 1995 Mary C. Earle was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis.
Like others who suffer from serious or chronic conditions, she found that living with illness requires major adjustments in life.
Using St. Benedict’s ancient Rule – his way of ordering the life and days of religious communities – Earle explores how the concepts of stability, obedience, and conversion can help anyone live with illness.
“In this extraordinarily comforting and challenging book, Mary Earle takes the setbacks of chronic illness or disability and reframes them as powerful tools for keeping a rule of life. The ancient Benedictine ways of humility, prayer, and self-knowledge counter the urge to rush, multitask, push and shove one’s way into the superficial busyness that so often passes for excellence in the world.”
Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, author of Some Things You Just Have to Live With
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
At the dawn of Christianity, holy women went into the wilderness of the deserts of northern Egypt to give themselves totally to lives of prayer. Explore the unique spirituality of the desert mothers, and learn ways to apply their wisdom today.
“Mary Earle is a modern-day Desert Mother, and we are fortunate, indeed, for her introduction to the Desert Amma’s ancient wisdom, and for her gentle guidance on ways to incorporate that wisdom into contemporary spiritual practices.”
–Debra K. Farrington, author of Hearing with the Heart: A gentle Guide to Descerning God’s Will for Your Life.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
In this two item set of the book and audio book of “Days of Grace”, embark with author Mary Earle on a pilgrimage through the psalms, where God invites you to grow into a deeper understanding, compassion and generosity when it comes to living with illness.
“If you’re living with illness,” writes author Mary Earle, “you’re entering a school of experience for which our culture offers little wisdom, seeking a way to live with the discomforts and within new limitations that bring you face to face with the fact of your own mortality and prompt you to ask deeper questions about meaning and life, about death and eternity.”
With thirty brief meditations — each offering a line from a psalm, a reflection, a short prayer, and a suggested spiritual practice — this book will offer comfort and grace, and the beginning steps into a new way of life.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
In Days of Grace, embark with author Mary Earle on a pilgrimage through the psalms, where God invites you to grow into a deeper understanding, compassion and generosity when it comes to living with illness.
“If you’re living with illness,” writes author Mary Earle, “you’re entering a school of experience for which our culture offers little wisdom, seeking a way to live with the discomforts and within new limitations that bring you face to face with the fact of your own mortality and prompt you to ask deeper questions about meaning and life, about death and eternity.”
With thirty brief meditations — each offering a line from a psalm, a reflection, a short prayer, and a suggested spiritual practice — this book will offer comfort and grace, and the beginning steps into a new way of life.
Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author, spiritual director and retreat leader. Until her retirement, she taught classes in spirituality for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Mary has authored nine books; the subjects include the spirituality of living with illness, rule of life, Celtic Christian spirituality, the Desert Mothers, and Julian of Norwich. Mary has offered presentations and retreats in a variety of ecumenical settings, including conferences of the Academy for Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Directors International, the International Thomas Merton Society and hospice organizations. She has written articles for a variety of journals, including Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International, Radical Grace, Reflections, and The Lutheran. She was included in the Living Spiritual Teachers project of Spirituality and Practice.
Sold as a package of 10 booklets
A celebration of communion and spirit, this congregational booklet and leader’s guide finds language for today that expresses the desire to move back into relationship with the earth. The leader’s book is suitable for the celebration of communion in large or small congregational settings, and contains three distinct versions of the Celtic Earth Mass, as well as musical resources to be used in accompaniment with the words. It is also ideal for personal prayer and devotion. John Philip Newell acknowledges the three influences behind his latest release: Teilhard’s daily practice of celebrating communion in the great cathedral of nature first inspired him to put pen to paper; the Celtic practice of praying in relation to earth, sea, and sky that offered him a new-ancient language of prayer; and his respect for the earth-honouring wisdom of Native American spirituality that inspired him to clothe this book in imagery that emulates that wisdom. This book is an offering to individuals and communities within the Christian household who are longing for a new language to celebrate their love of the earth. “These twin loves are primary features in the rebirthing of Christianity for today,” says John Philip Newell.
Harmoniously accompanying the prose of John Philip Newell is artwork by Brenda Kingery. Her paintings are illuminated by alchemies of her own: earthen colors brightened by bright yellows, tints of greens, touches of mica, rays of light. Her work vibrates with magic vitality, astonishes by its affinity with dance, music, and its spiritual intensity. As an artist, Brenda sees life as textural patterns that can be described as narrative symbolism. Having as many as 25 layers of paint, her goal is to create paintings full of life’s breath. Just as with her Chickasaw grandmother’s stories, every culture captured in her paintings gathers to sing and dance. Born in Oklahoma City, Brenda is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the founding member of the Threads of Blessing International and travels to Honduras, Mexico and Uganda to teach textile and design in workshops that encourage women in developing countries to use their indigenous artistic skills. In 2007, Kingery was appointed by the President of the United States to the Board of Trusteees of the Institute of American Indians and Native Alaskans in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is mostly inspired by her native culture, but also by Asia, where she lived for several years, as well as Africa, where she has travelled extensively. As Brenda rediscovered her Scottish roots, she felt a close connection to the work of Ali and John Philip Newell and was generous in her participation in donating her work to be part of this project.
Brenda Kingery’s beautiful painting used in this book, Waiting, is available as a signed, numbered, and limited edition print. Only 100 in total will be available; two thirds of the purchase price will go to the work of Heartbeat: A Journey Towards Earth’s Wellbeing, the 501(c)3 foundation that was formed to come alongside the ministry and vision of Ali and John Philip Newell. Each print on fine art paper is 17×16, unframed. To purchase, please email contactinfo@HeartbeatJourney.org.