Margaret Guenther – författare

Retellings of the "walking stories" of Scripture and how they unpack the truths about spiritual life.

Jesus walks everywhere with his disciples—always arriving, departing, on the way somewhere else. Adam and Eve walked out of the garden, Lot and his daughters walked out of Sodom, Abraham and Isaac walked to Mt. Moriah, the Israelites walked for forty years to the promised land, the Prodigal Son walked home barefoot, the disciples walked to Emmaus.

The spiritual life is oftentimes about putting one foot in front of another, always on the way, never home, until crossing another new threshold. However, the point of all our walking—whether tedious or joyous, rambling or goal-oriented—is getting home, as this splendid author illustrates in this reflective work.

A thoughtful, real-world interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict to guide us into a more balanced life.

From informal versions of the Rule of St. Benedict to Twelve-Step groups and Weight Watchers, the basic human need for guidance and structure in the quest for wholeness is palpable and real. Out of her long experience as a spiritual director, mentor, and teacher, Margaret Guenther offers a warm and sensible guide for “the rest of us”—singles, couples, parents, extended families, members of churches—to create a helpful and balanced rule of life to help us in our search for faith. She explores ancient and contemporary meanings for the classic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, along with the distinctively Benedictine ethos of stability and conversion, pointing out the pitfalls of each. A series of short essays follows on the different elements of a rule of life—such as authority, money, pleasure, stinginess, friends, enemies, and living through hard times. The final chapter gives practical ideas for crafting a rule of life that encourages each of us to grow, stretch, and flourish.

Sojourneris an Old French word with jour--day--at its heart. It reminds us of our transience and of the inexorable passage of time. It reminds us that we do not own this world but that we are merely passing through. It reminds us that God''s time is not our time.

Fans of Margaret Guenther will welcome this salty and wise collection of reflections on her life journey her childhood in Kansas City, her college days, her career, her travels, and her slow awakening to transience of all things. This writer and spiritual director looks back over the nearly eight decades of her life, tackling themes of childhood, friendship, moving, the magic of words, heaven, spirituality in cyberspace, asking the right questions, and things never to do again.

Readers of Holy Listening, On Holy Ground, My Soul in Silence Waits, At Home in the World, and The Practice of Prayer will delight in this book of fresh, humorous insights.