Julie K. Aageson
Список книг автора Julie K. AagesonBenedictions
Benedictions is about the presence of the sacred in ordinary things: the ground beneath our feet, the ways we bless each other, loss and grief, the making of our homes, even doubt and darkness. In the everyday experiences described here, God's presence is palpable and real. «Cleave the wood and I am there,» says Isaiah in the apocryphal gospel of Thomas. «Lift up the stone and you will find me there.» These benedictions–literally good words, blessings, tastes of God–remind readers to live life with feeling and passion and art, to pay attention to the holiness of the commonplace. Each reflection opens a door inviting the reader into an experience they might understand as an encounter with God, and an exploration of the many meanings of the sacred. Benedictions is also a personal collection about places and people, seasons of life, and seasons of experience that convey much more than the ordinary. A statement and questions for further conversation and discussion follow each reflection. Hopefully, readers will discover their own benedictions here in the wonder, grace, and mystery of God's presence in daily life.
Holy Ground
Too often we turn prayer into well-intentioned patterns of our own making. Too often we assume prayer is primarily about words. Sometimes there's an almost magical understanding that if we get the words right, if we trust enough or believe enough, God will «answer.» But most of us know that God is not a divine magician or our own personal valet and that prayer is much more than our feeble attempts to make God pay attention to what God already knows. Using the alphabet as a template of descriptive words and actions, Holy Ground: An Alphabet of Prayer invites reflection about prayer as paying Attention, looking for Beauty, showing Compassion, practicing Devotion, celebrating Enthusiasm–all the way to the end of the alphabet and discovering Wonder, X as mystery, and Z as Zeal. These reflections will help readers experience prayer as a place, an action, or attitude, a stance for recognizing and acknowledging God's presence in the midst of ordinary life–something like the sigh of the shoemaker, too busy to drop his worn shoes and kneel in disciplined prayer, but not too busy to sigh his prayer of gratitude. Prayer is so much more than words.