Urgings Of The Heart

Using stories and images, the authors blend the best of spirituality and psychology to help the reader live in peace with self, others, and God. +

This anthology is about caring for all persons as a part of the revolutionary struggle against colonialism in its many forms. In recognition of the varied ways in which different forms of oppression, injustice, and violence in the world today are traceable to the legacy and continuing effects of colonialism, various authors have contributed to the volume from diverse backgrounds including differing ethnic identities, religious and cultural traditions, gender and sexual orientations, as well as communal and personal realities. As a postcolonial critique of spiritual care, it highlights the plurality of voices and concerns that have been overlooked or obscured because of the politics of race, religion, sexuality, nationalism, and other structures of power that have shaped what discursive spiritual care entails today. Postcolonial Images of Spiritual Care presents voices of practical and pastoral theologians, academics, spiritual care providers, religious leaders, students, and activists working to provide greater intercultural spiritual care and awareness in the areas of healthcare, community work, and education. The volume, as such, expands the discourse of spiritual care and participates in the ongoing paradigm shifts in the field of pastoral and practical theology.

Each family has its secrets, ones that shape family communication and relationships in a way generally unknown to the outsider and often the family itself. Autoethnographers, students of these relationships, confront many silences in their attempts to understand these social worlds. Now issued as a Routledge Education Classic Edition, Accidental Ethnography delves into this shadowy world of pain and loss in the hopes of finding productive, ethical avenues for transforming the secret lives of families into powerful narratives of hope. It merges autoethnographic method with the therapeutic power of storytelling to heal family wounds. A new preface text by the author reflects on the changes in the field of qualitative research and on his own research journey since the publication of the original edition.

This book traces the journeys of seven victims of childhood sexual abuse who have experienced recovery through the activity of the Holy Spirit within the context of the local church. These recovered victims have been enabled to move beyond the devastation of abuse by others whom they trusted to a place of emotional and psychological stability, appropriate sexual intimacy with their spouses, and a growing level of spiritual maturity. While the Christian community has been slow to grasp the severity and extent of the problem or to provide the healing resources of the gospel, some victims have found recovery in local churches. The author has undertaken in-depth interviews to elicit and explore the narratives of their journeys from woundedness to well-being. These narratives are an important source of information on the activity of the Holy Spirit in healing. While the Spirit is an entity hidden to us, the author has explored the experiences of seven recovered victims to disclose meaning for the work of the Spirit in all areas of Christian ministry.

A New Awareness is an endeavor of affection and generosity toward Sebastian Moore. The book examines his key theological insights and themes over seventy years and proposes that they are still relevant today for the Christian Community. He was a theologian and poet. He wrote about many theological topics: the significance of Jesus, the experiences of the disciples and their meaning for us, redemption, the Trinity, sexuality and ecclesiology, and original sin. But he is mainly known for being the theologian of desire: self-love to self-gift, desire is love trying to happen, to be myself for another, and the insight that there is no more wonderful reality than to be desired by the one you desire.

A cougar shape-shifter stalks the high mountain desert alone, guarding his land from an ancient ill. But it's the beautiful ocelot shifter who tracks him that might be the one to tame his wild ways…. Joe Ryan's lion heart is as rocky and impenetrable as the Arizona mountains he protects. Although no one could ever prove that the muscular Sentinel agent was involved in his former partner's death, Ryan's dark reputation—and ferocious cougar form—spells danger to the unwary. Lyn Maines is a woman on a mission. The dark-eyed shape-shifter has come to root out corruption, but she quickly discovers she's vulnerable to Ryan's leonine power. As they hunt the rocky peaks, seeking proof of Joe's innocence—or guilt—can she trust her instincts about the proud, tawny loner? Especially when her judgment is overwhelmed by the wilder urgings of her heart… A mountain lion shifter romance. Previously published.

Integrating the wisdom of Christian tradition and psychological findings on effective decision-making, this book presents a view of Christian discernment that honors the body-spirit unity of the person and the broad and mysterious ways we can be led by the spirit of God in our life-choices. Going beyond discernment skills and concrete practices, this book presents a coherent theoretical understanding of discernment that grounds the many spiritual practices used by Christians today. By providing a broad and inclusive understanding of the multiple ways God can provide guidance to individuals, this book helps individuals to honor the unique and idiosyncratic way that they receive divine guidance, as well as provides guidelines that guard against possible self-deception and personal blind-spots. While including anecdotal accounts and practical elements of Christian discernment, this book provides a conceptual understanding of discernment that will be helpful for those training to be professional ministers, pastors, priests, religious counselors, and spiritual directors. It is unique in applying Christian tradition and contemporary psychological insights to the process of discernment. +