Dallas Willard Center Book and Research Award Finalist
Hearts Minds Bookstore’s Best Books of 2015, Spirituality and the Devotional Life
‘This is a book written specifically for those of us who are assigned the task of developing an imagination for living the Christian faith with insight and skill in and for a society that is disconnected from the biblical revelation and the Jesus incarnation, ‘ writes Eugene Peterson in the foreword of The Cultivated Life. ‘But it is equally useful for all of us who are committed to following Jesus with our families and coworkers and neighbors.’
Sociology professor and spiritual director Susan Phillips walks us through the ‘circus’ of our cultural landscape to invite us into a cultivated life of spirituality. If we want to accept the invitation to return to the garden, then we must face down the temptation to live life as spectators of the circus that plays on around us. We want to be rooted and grounded in Christ, but are pushed toward constant work, alternating between performance and spectacle. Cultivation requires a kind of attentiveness that is countercultural to our age of distraction.
These pages unfold the spiritual practices that can lead us into a new and delightful way of living. Are you ready to leave the circus?
Table of Content
Foreword by Eugene Peterson
Introduction: Leaving the Circus
1. The Way of Cultivation
2. Finding and Receiving Refreshment
3. Listening as a Way of Receiving Cultivation
4. Stopping
5. Sabbath Keeping
6. Cultivating Attention
7. Praying with Scripture
8. Cultivating Attachment
9. Spiritual Direction
10. Rooted and Grounded by Friendship
11. Practicing Friendship
12. Bearing Fruit and Enriching the Soil
Conclusion: Living toward Completion
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Guidelines for Practices
Index of Names and Subjects
About the Author
About the author
Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message; his memoir, The Pastor; and numerous works of biblical spiritual formation, including Run with the Horses and Traveling Light.
More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
23,582 Ebooks in this category
