For many people, faith is based on creeds, doctrine, and head knowledge. It's about mastering the "facts" and having the "right" answers. But best-selling author Margaret Silf believes that faith is not about mastery but about mystery, and that living in that mystery allows us to properly shift our focus from religion to relationship - a relationship with the Divine. In Simple Faith, Silf encourages us to rethink many of the teachings on faith that may be holding us back from the joy and freedom that can be found only in a meaningful experience of God. Through her thought-provoking, even surprising, answers to common questions about faith—Is it true that God is love? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why did Jesus have to die?&mash;she advocates radically simple yet profound beliefs that are based in a new, liberating understanding of faith itself. Ultimately, Simple Faith, moves us beyond the complexities of conventional religion and clears the path for us to grow in a life-changing relationship with God.
Wisdom stories with a spiritual message have a special place on many people's bookshelves, providing Christian insight into the various issues that we face day by day. This new collection of stories from master storyteller, Margaret Silf, will provide a rich source of illumination to those who turn to it, whether that is for personal use and enjoyment, or for church or school use. Accessible and popular, these stories speak straight to the heart.
Are you bogged down in your spiritual journey? Does church seem to hinder more than it helps? Here is a welcoming and realistic guide for all who may be feeling spiritually jaded. Whatever your circumstances, Companions of Christ will show you how to embark on a journey of the heart, starting wherever you happen to be and no matter how unfit for the journey you may feel. In Companions of Christ popular British writer Margaret Silf unearths the gold mine of spiritual wisdom to be found in the legacy of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. Ignatian spirituality sets out an engagingly down-to-earth vision of connecting with God in everyday life. Neither a recipe for a privatized spiritual life nor an agenda imposed by someone else, the Ignatian vision is centered on companionship, which means literally to "share bread" with another. It latches onto God's presence in stories, in other people, in the created universe, and even in God's apparent absence. Perfect for those whose faith in God or patience with the church is flagging, Companions of Christ contains very practical teaching on great Ignatian themes -- imaginative scriptural meditation, spiritual discernment, and honest prayer. Incorporating helpful spiritual exercises throughout, Silf shows both tentative and seasoned believers how to keep faith despite the odds.
This fascinating book brings together wisdom from around the world and through the ages. Sources include the Bible, new science and new cosmology, native spirituality, folk stories, natural history, poetry and commentary on life situations by wise people (e.g. Desmond Tutu and Kahlil Gibran). Themes include: - Original wisdom (the wisdom that makes possible the universe we know) - Natural wisdom (the wisdom in the created world) - Native wisdom (the wisdom expressed in all human traditions from the earliest stages of our human journey) - Life wisdom (practical wisdom we gather and pass on) - Desert wisdom (wisdom we gather in the dark times) - Guiding wisdom (the wisdom that gives us direction) - Unfolding wisdom (the wisdom unfolding around us that reveals that we don't have all the answers). The Way of Wisdom will appeal to all those searching for a deeper meaning and sense of connectedness in their lives.
Decisions, decisions - we have to make hundreds of them every day! And, as the range of choices we make increases, so too does the accompanying stress... This handy book seeks to make the process more fruitful, more focused and less stressful. It uses a few simple tools that combine the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions with the common sense of the 21st century and looks at questions such as: how do we decide what choices to focus on?; how do we learn to be true to ourselves?; how do we implement our choices?; can we change course if we get things wrong? Through offering suggestions - not rules - and short, accessible chunks of text, Margaret Silf encourages us to trust our own hearts and minds.
Offers a fragment of the living Word for every day of the year, together with a reflection that helps you to discover life with God in the midst of simple, everyday tasks and encounters.
Just Call Me Lopez is a recipient of the QED Seal, which stands for Quality, Excellence, Design for ebooks and applications and a PIA (Publishing Innovation Awards) finalist. What do we have in common with a man from the sixteenth century—or even more so, a saint from the sixteenth century? Probably a lot more than you think. St. Ignatius of Loyola wasn’t always the heroic and holy figure that you hear about today; he was a flawed, fallible, and relatable man named Íñigo Lopez. In Just Call Me Lopez, a twenty-first-century woman, Rachel, meets the man who becomes the saint, and both are transformed by their unlikely friendship and series of thought-provoking conversations. Their worlds literally collide when Rachel is struck by a hit-and-run driver, and Lopez is there to help her. They realize that this chance accident is actually an act of God that allows Rachel and Lopez, through the medium of their friendship, to come to terms with their personal struggles. Lopez shares his life with Rachel, describing the obstacles he faces during his unbelievable conversion from a womanizing soldier to a man of God. While Rachel keeps mostly silent about her personal struggles, she observes and is astounded by Lopez’s metamorphosis from mess to mystic. Rachel finally faces her troubling situation, and Lopez gently guides her through the process of discernment to make a difficult, but inspired, life choice. Just Call Me Lopez helps us realize that our very human faults and imperfect behavior do not prevent us from receiving God’s grace; rather, knowing our weaknesses and giving ourselves over to the Holy Spirit can create a new way for us to live.
10th Anniversary Edition Whatever path you’re on, God is there to guide you . . . Anyone seeking to deepen his or her relationship with God will greatly benefit from Inner Compass, Margaret Silf’s dynamic presentation of the profound insights of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. While reflective, the work exudes a congenial, practical outlook and a thoroughly modern sensibility. As Silf points out, the book “grew out of questions rather than certainty, discovery rather than doctrine, the experience of everyday living rather than academic study.” This tenth-anniversary edition of the acclaimed Inner Compass features a new introduction and personal invitation to the reader, plus a significantly expanded resource section. Devoted followers of Ignatian spirituality and spiritual seekers alike will find that wherever life has led them, Inner Compass offers renewed direction and purpose and helps them recognize the will of God within their own hearts.
Women everywhere are invited into a moment of inspiration and reflection with The Daily Inspiration for Women. Relevant and fresh, this book is a collection of shared wisdom among four women in various stages in life, providing the reader with an abundance of experience, knowledge, perspective, and support. Told through the lens of changing seasons, four women share their individual, spiritual wisdom in this daily source of strength, solace, and celebration that happen in the seasons of a woman’s life.
It's Time to Say "Yes" to the Mess We've all heard the old adage "The only constant is change," but how do we actually respond to the changes that come at us from all sides? From satisfying work to sudden unemployment. From a happy marriage to a hurtful divorce. From caring for the kids to caring for an aging parent. These are just a few of the countless ways that life hurls us into the chaos of change, where our certainties are shaken and our faith may even begin to falter. But what if we saw the chaos—the “mess”—of our lives not as something to fear or eschew, but as something to be embraced? In The Other Side of Chaos, best-selling author Margaret Silf looks closely at the subject of chaos—and the intrinsic transition it brings—through the lens of Christian spirituality. Through Scripture stories and verses, personal accounts, and other anecdotes, Silf helps us develop an authentic “spirituality of transition” that leads us to live out life’s changes constructively, creatively, and confidently. Ultimately, The Other Side of Chaos gives us the courage to trust God when life is breaking down and to see our messes not as something to be rescued from, but as something that will help us break through to a place where God makes all things new. First Place Inspiration Category, 2012 Excellence in Publishing Awards
Close to the Heart is a comprehensive guide that opens a world of imaginative yet simple ways to approach personal prayer. Breaking through boundaries and stereotypes, best-selling author Margaret Silf shows personal prayer to be a journey into reflective living as she invites readers to experience prayer as a natural, organic process. Silf's stories and suggestions, drawn from contemporary life, are solid and practical. She explains, "This book sets the scene for deep personal prayer by suggesting ways of inner stillness and reflective living. It tempts the reader to search for 'clues to the kingdom' on the sidewalks of his or her own hometown.
This informal, inspiring book teaches readers how to create a personal spiritual retreat through readings, prayer, and their own imagination. Trained by the Jesuits to accompany and guide others in prayer, Margaret Silf brings her experiences and insights to a guide that will help all spiritual seekers–whether they are steeped in Christian tradition or have no background in prayer, retreat, and meditation–make their own journeys of prayer. In Wayfaring, Silf takes readers step-by-step through the Gospels, examining and elucidating the teachings they contain. Like a personal "spiritual trainer," she deftly encourages readers to tap into their own hearts and minds and discover how the life of Jesus can help them shape their own paths through life. Sil's previous books have garnered critical acclaim and have attracted a wide, enthusiastic audience in the United Kingdom. Wayfaring, the first of her books to be published by a mainstream publisher in America, is a valuable contribution to spiritual literature, sure to be embraced by many on this side of the Atlantic.
There are many books that explore actual, physical, sacred space and pilgrimage sites. This is a different kind of book. It introduces seven traditional 'sacred spaces' but then leads readers into a deeper reflection on what such 'sacred space' means in our own lives and experience. The various sacred spaces explored are: the Celtic Cross; the infinite knot; hilltops; wells and springs; causeways and bridges; thresholds and burial grounds; and boundaries. In each chapter, the author introduces a 'sacred space' as the main theme and then illustrates this by associating it with a particular stage of life and a particular sacramental experience. The ideas are then brought together by means of a scripture story.
You must become the change you long for. Fine words, a great vision, but where to begin? We caterpillars know. From the moment we are conceived in our parents' mating dance, we already contain the cells that hold our future butterfly. We become, literally, the change we carry within us, as our hidden wings take shape. Let us tell you our story... " Tumultuous changes are occurring in the world around us, and the structures and values by which we have charted our lives seem to be collapsing. Many of us are struggling to plot a spiritual path through this unfamiliar landscape and to believe in a positive future. Hidden Wings is a book offering hope and understanding. Using the example of a caterpillar entering the devastating, world-altering stage of the chrysalis, before emerging--transformed--as a butterfly, Margaret Silf helps us to see that these times of chaos could in fact be an opportunity for profound spiritual transformation.
Sometimes, it can feel as though we are living in the worst of times--a world of chaos, uncertainty, and breakdown. But could this also be the best of times--a crucible of change in which a wiser and more spiritually mature future is being forged? The stars are most clearly visible in the deepest darkness. The butterfly emerges out of the worst meltdown of the chrysalis. In Born to Fly, Margaret Silf helps us to explore what it would mean for each of us to be such an emerging butterfly--to be an agent of spiritual transformation in our own lives and in the world around us. What kind of future do we desire for ourselves, for those who follow after us, and for the whole of creation? And, if the choices we make today are shaping that future, how might we learn to make those choices more wisely? The second part of the book takes us on a gentle journey in five stages through the process of transformation mapped out for us by the caterpillar as it changes from a pesky garden grub, taking what it wants without regard for the rest of creation, to a butterfly, giving life wherever it lands. Born to Fly is designed to be read for personal reflection and inspiration, or alongside fellow readers, with suggestions for further discussion. It is a companion book to Margaret Silf's Hidden Wings.
You can find God as easily at the car wash as you can at the cathedral. For many Christians, it’s relatively effortless to experience God in special places, such as a church or a mountaintop; or at special times, such as the birth of a child or the wedding of two people deeply in love. But it can be quite a challenge for us to meet God in the most ordinary of places, in the most ordinary of times. God in the magnificent? No problem. God in the mundane? That’s a bit harder. In Compass Points, best-selling Ignatian spirituality author and beloved speaker Margaret Silf leads us to discover God beyond the grandiose and to find the Divine in our daily lives. Through short but powerful meditations and vignettes based on her own authentic spiritual experiences, Silf reveals the interior process of Ignatian mindfulness—of which a core tenet is that God can be found in all things. By joining Silf on her journey through real life in the real world, readers will have their own eyes, minds, and hearts opened to the Divine experience and will come to more fully recognize God’s active, abiding presence in everything that they see and do.
There are many books that explore actual, physical, sacred space and pilgrimage sites. This is a different kind of book. It introduces seven traditional 'sacred spaces' but then leads readers into a deeper reflection on what such 'sacred space' means in our own lives and experience. The various sacred spaces explored are: the Celtic Cross; the infinite knot; hilltops; wells and springs; causeways and bridges; thresholds and burial grounds; and boundaries. In each chapter, the author introduces a 'sacred space' as the main theme and then illustrates this by associating it with a particular stage of life and a particular sacramental experience. The ideas are then brought together by means of a scripture story.
Page-a-day reflections and Scripture readings that foster spiritual calm and give glimpses of God’s abundant grace Margaret Silf offers her warm and welcoming spiritual wisdom to this perennially popular book. Filled with daily meditations and Scripture readings that follow the lectionary readings of the church year, 2012: A Book of Grace-Filled Days is a portal to God’s loving, grace-filled presence in the midst of our busy lives. Each page lists the Scripture readings from the Mass for that day, a quotation from the readings, and a brief reflection to spur meditation, prayer, and self-examination. 2012: A Book of Grace-Filled Days begins with the start of the church year in Advent 2011 and continues through the calendar year 2012. The readings and meditations take note of major feast days, especially solemnities, holidays, and significant saints’ commemorations. Each daily entry is short enough to be read in just a minute or two, but powerful enough to help us feel God’s peace and loving presence throughout the day.
The journey mapped out in this book is an invitation to look into some of these lighted windows, and discover a few reflections of what we wait for, and long for-reflections of God's guidance, his call to trust him and live by his wisdom.
Silf deftly brings together science and spirituality, allowing a bold new synthesis to emerge between them. She encourages readers to think about what it might mean to become fully and truly human.
In addition to having a foreword written by well known author Margaret Silf, this book has been endorsed by William Barry SJ, Tim Muldoon, Trevor Hudson, Tracy Williamson, Fran Rossi Szpylcyn and Michelle Francl Donnay. In her foreword Margaret Silf describes the book as being an intimate guidebook to Ignatian spirituality. Suited to all readers - those familiar with Ignatian spirituality will find well known themes presented in a new perspective! and those new to the field will find an accessible guide. This is not a book to be read so much as it is a book to be prayed through. It offers a blend of life experience and the principles of Ignatian spirituality. Any person seeking meaning through the Christian faith will find this book a useful and life giving resource.
Covers such information as why people go on retreats, what types of retreats are available, what role the retreat companion plays, how people prepare for retreats and subsequently sustain their retreat experience, and how to find a retreat center that is nearby."--from amazon.com.
In these imaginative modern parables illustrating the human quest for the divine, much-loved writer Margaret Silf shows how ordinary experience can reveal shafts of God’s mystery.
A guide to the different sorts of retreats on offer (Ignatian, Myers Briggs, Enneagram etc.). It covers the purpose of retreats, who can benefit from them, the difference between group and individual retreats and between directed and undirected retreats. There is a section on each major type of retreat explaining what happens, the basic premise behind it, who it is suitable for and how to find a retreat. The book also contains case studies.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.