Margaret D. McGee – författare

Have a haiku momentwhen your mind stops and your heart moves.

Writing haiku offers the chance to honor, hold, and fully experience a fleeting moment that takes you out of yourself, a moment that hints at the deeper unity that lies beneath the surface of things. from Chapter One

In this encouraging guide for both beginning and experienced haiku writers, Margaret D. McGee shows how writing haiku can be a consciously spiritual practice for seekers of any faith tradition or no tradition.

Drawing from her experience as a spiritual retreat leader and published haiku writer, McGee takes the mystery and intimidation out of beginning to write haiku. For those already on their way, she provides helpful hints and exercises to broaden and deepen both your haiku artistry and your appreciation of haiku as part of your spiritual life. With humor and encouragement, she offers step-by-step exercises for both individuals and writing groups, and shows how haiku can help you:

Just One Moment of Close Attention Can Be a Prayer to God

"Does God communicate through the natural world? Through the slug on the compost pile, the leaf on the lawn, the stone tumbled on the beach, the air that feeds my lungs, the dreams that fill my nights? How will I know unless I pay attention?"—from the Introduction

Paying attention is rarely easy to do. It requires focus, patience and a willingness to slow down—traits that are hard to come by in this hurry-up world. But close attention to even one small piece of creation, one object, person, routine, image, word or scripture, can become a prayer to God, opening a channel of communication between you and the Divine to allow for deep spiritual growth.

In this inspiring guide, you will discover ways to develop a practice of attention as a means of talking—and listening—to God. Framed on the Christian liturgical year and paired with images of the seasons of the earth, each chapter includes an insightful and poignant narrative which illustrates the surprising richness to be found in every attention-getting moment. Following each narrative is a prayer, suggested scripture readings and a specific exercise you can use to develop your own practice of attention as a means to better connect with God.

Accessible, humorous and meaningful, these words and practices will lead you further along your path toward discovering a deeper awareness of yourself and your relationship to all that is around you—and within you.