Engaged Spirituality

We face a potent intersection of crises: ecological destruction, rising inequality, racial injustice, and the lasting impacts of a devastating pandemic. The situation is beyond urgent. To face these challenges, we need to find ways to strengthen our clarity, compassion, and courage to act. Beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is blazingly clear: There’s one thing we all have the power to change, which can make all the difference, and that is our mind.

Getting to know that special someone naturally involves learning about family and friends, education and athletics, favorite pastimes, and your hopes and dreams. Ideally, you'll talk about life's best moments and worst, the brightest places in your background and the darkest. But what about God? What is his role in your relationship? What do each of you believe about him, and how do you understand his dream for marriage-for your marriage?

Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner guides the listener through a sequence of meditation techniques that can safely lead even a complete novice through to advanced levels. Based on his own long experience of the Rinzai Zen tradition, as taught by the great 17th-century masters Hakuin and Bankei, Daizan highlights the key points for success and addresses the pitfalls. Structured around a traditional teaching framework called 'the two wings of a bird', Daizan clearly lays-out how these methods build and combine to create a transformative and sustaining practice.

In a society where everyone is supposedly more connected, why do more people than ever feel so lonely? Even as marriage rates decline, studies show that most single adults still hope to get married. But how can we navigate life and love in this disconnected culture? Has social media eroded the institutions that brought us together—and the deeper emotional intimacy they provided?

The wedding is planned, but are you spiritually prepared for your wedding day? Trusted relationship author Gary Thomas coaches engaged couples on how to grow closer to the Lord in the days leading up to the wedding as a means of preparing them for all the days after the wedding. Providing encouraging entries that will help you deal with common issues such as what real intimacy means, how to celebrate your differences, and remembering to laugh together, Preparing Your Heart for Marriage will help you grow in your relationship as a couple as you become closer to God.

Home is Here builds on foundational Buddhist teachings—the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path—offering an intersectional frame to help you embody antiracist practices and tend to your own healing under racism and oppression.

With reassuring enthusiasm and straightforward advice, the Penners show you how to clarify your expectations and pursue the joyous marital passion described in Scripture.

Rooted in the science of the brain, and integrating cognitive neuroscience and child development, Mindful Parenting is a unique program that speaks directly to today's busy families who make up what Dr. Race calls "Generation Stress." Research has shown that mindfulness practices stimulate the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Regular stimulation of this part of the brain helps us feel happier, healthier, calmer, less anxious, less stressed, and makes it easier for us to concentrate and think clearly - the very behavior we are hoping our children will display.

Time to Stand Up retells the story of the historical Buddha, one of the greatest sacred activists of all time, as a practical human being whose teachings of freedom from suffering are more relevant than ever in this time of global peril. Evolving onward from the patriarchal template of spiritual warriors and their quests, former nun Thanissara explores awakening from within a feminine view where the archetypes of lover and nurturer are placed as central and essential for a sustainable world.

This seven-day devotional from the author of OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation provides a gentle introduction to concepts around gender identity for transgender, intersex, and OtherWise-gender Christians as well as those who love us. The book draws from Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, John, Acts, and Galatians, including well-known stories such as Moses at the burning bush, Joseph and the "coat of many colors", and Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch traveler.

In this compelling and insightful book, Al Winseman - who has led thriving churches, including one he built from the ground up - explores how churches and parishes can dramatically increase members' participation, service to the community, giving, and even life satisfaction. But the solutions Winseman offers are not the "magic pill" many leaders have come to expect. Rather, he shows leaders how to reach and inspire the hearts, minds, and imaginations of their people.

The scriptures tell us that we must labor while it is still called today, because the night of darkness is coming in which no labor can be performed.

This audiobook gives advice to those who are interested in getting married or who are currently engaged. It offers advice about some of the questions you need to know the answers to before you decide to make that major life-altering commitment called marriage. It gives insight into some of the things you should be aware of before marriage is even considered. This audiobook provides guidance to help you decide if you are prepared for what lies ahead. Marriage can be a beautiful thing, and this audiobook can help you prepare for it.