The Way of St James has been a pilgrimage event for over 1000 years as people have flocked to the site of the burial of the apostle St James the Great. This book captures the experience of the medieval pilgrim through an examination of art, historical and social contexts as well as themes related to pilgrimage such as music, legend and ritual.

The renowned author of eight books and abbess of the online retreat center Abbey of the Arts, Christine Valters Paintner takes readers on a new kind of pilgrimage: an inner journey to discover the heart of God. Eight stages of the pilgrim's way--from hearing the call to coming home--are accompanied by scripture stories of great biblical journeys and the author's unique and creative practices of prayer, writing, and photography. As she did in The Artist's Rule and Eyes of the Heart, Christine Valters Paintner once again helps readers travel to the frontiers of their souls to discover the hidden presence of God. In The Soul of a Pilgrim, Paintner identifies eight stages of the pilgrim's way and shows how to follow these steps to make an intentional, transformative journey to the reader's inner "wild edges." Each phase of the exploration requires a distinct practice such as packing lightly, being uncomfortable, or embracing the unknown. Paintner shows how to cultivate attentiveness to the divine through deep listening, patience, and opening oneself to the gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort. Each of the eight chapters offers reflections on the themes, a scripture story, an invitation to the practice of lectio divina, and a creative exploration through photography and writing.

Thomas Chalmers was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who served most of his life at St. John's parish in Glasgow—a congregation that was both the largest and the poorest congregation in the city. Known for his extensive charitable work in caring for the poor and downtrodden, Chalmers was also an astute theologian. One of his most notable works is The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, in which Chalmers inspires his readers to remove the tangles of sin through the expulsive power of a new affection—desiring God. As a result of the fall, human feelings of love are often misplaced on the creation rather than the Creator. This classic work of the faith reorients our affections toward him.

What does “missional” mean for small Christian communities in a deeply secular society? Leading missiologist Stefan Paas asks what missional spirituality could possibly mean for today’s local church. This fully revised new international edition will make this an important introduction to contemporary thinking on mission and the church.

Like the migrating animals that our ancient ancestors once followed, we have been making planned long-distance journeys for millennia. What was first a matter of survival in time became a celebration of seasonal abundance--even today, many pilgrim festivals remain tied to the solar-lunar cycle that guided small bands of hunter-gatherers to come together at special times and places. The era when we were all nomads is long gone, but the impulse to undertake a ritual journey remains: each year, 200 million of us embark on a pilgrimage of some kind. These journeys of purpose may involve great hardship, great danger, or half a lifetime of waiting just to begin. Ranging from the Stone Age pilgrims of Anatolia to the New Age pilgrims of California, We Are Pilgrims is a quest to understand what drives this rich and varied human behaviour, unbounded by time or space, faith or identity. Victoria Preston discovers that, whether we set forth in search of comfort or liberation, as an expression of gratitude or devotion, journeys of meaning and purpose are always a powerful reminder that we are each part of something much greater than ourselves.

"This book describes the rich and varied influences on the author's life and poetry: the black Baptist church; the books lining her minister father's study; her meetings with outstanding African Americans such as ministers Charles A. Tindley, composer of 150 hymns, and S.S. Jones, who had the vision to know that black life in Oklahoma was important to record on film; poets and writers Countee Cullen, Sterling Brown, and Oscar Micheaux; and her lifelong acquaintance with Langston Hughes." "Begin with her birth at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. Grow up with her during the Great Depression, which, in spite of its negative effects, still allowed many joys of a Thirties childhood. Laugh with her about childhood pranks, and witness her emergence as a precocious poet whose first poem was published at the age of thirteen. Witness the contrast in her early years as the only black child in her class in one of the most racist cities of the North and her adolescence in all-black historic Sumner High School in St. Louis. Follow her to Virginia State College during World War II, and then to Detroit in 1946 as a young bride. Get to know her family. Share her beliefs and values, and understand the positive impact she has had on others through her poetry, her teaching, and her editing and publishing of numerous books by other African American poets."--BOOK JACKET.