Listening spirituality, Vol. 1: Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends [Paperback]

Patricia Loring (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Openings Press (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965759903
• ISBN-13: 978-0965759908
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than 5 stars..., June 1, 2005

By 

Quaker Annie "reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening spirituality, Vol. 1: Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends (Paperback)

There are two parts to Patricia Loring's "Listening Spirituality". Volume One Personal Spiritual Practices Among Friends, is for individuals. (ISBN 0965759903), Volume Two Corporate Spiritual Practice Among Friends is for those interested in the spiritual life of the whole meeting for worship (ISBN 0965759911).

Both of these books are incredible additions to any Quaker library, whether your meeting is programmed or unprogrammed.

Volume One is also good for any spiritual seeker to find. She offers guidelines and thoughtful queries that can help you focus on living a more spirit-led life. Great idea for worship sharing or prayer groups, its chapter titles are revealing of the content "Foundational Personal Practices in Support of Listening for God", "Active Meditative Personal Practices in Support of Listening for God", Moving Toward and Away from Listening to God in Contemplative Prayer and Personal Retreats".

Though those titles may sound a bit stiff and huge, the book is incredibly warm and inviting, soft and centered, inspiring to read. Inside these chapters, the sections are small, intense and yet sweet - with queries and small stories, information and historical bits. I wish I was as gifted a writer, so I could get this review right! This is a wonderful book. My copy is as crumpled, bent and well loved as any wise old woman could hope to be.

The corporate book is highly recommended for clerks - meeting clerks, committee clerks -- and anyone interested in the history and current spiritual nurture of Quaker meetings. This book goes in my bag for Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, if only to find an inspiring reading or to give strength to the on-going attempt to keep the focus on the Divine rather than on the secular world.

Wonderful wonderful books, true treasures. They will be classics for years to come. And you don't have to be a Friend to enjoy and gain from them!