Margaret Guenther - Böcker

An exploration of spiritual direction in which the author seeks to demystify the subject by recounting her own experience.

Margaret Guenther is one of the church's most popular authors. With a wide and enthusiastic ecumenical audience, she is much in demand for retreats, conferences, diocesan conventions, and clergy days. In her new book, Guenther retells the "walking stories" of Scripture and unpacks the truths they reveal 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 new work.

Guenther uses the images of the spiritual director as host, teacher, and midwife to describe the ministry of spiritual direction today. She pays particular attention to spiritual direction for women, and addresses such down-to-earth questions as setting, time, and privacy. The stories of real people bring the practice of spiritual direction alive.“In the pages that follow, I will attempt to describe the shape that spiritual direction might take for people of our time, aware that the subject is an elusive one. I am speaking to the beginner, those persons lay or ordained, with or without formal theological training, who find themselves drawn to this ministry. Perhaps they feel the stirring of their own unacknowledged gifts. Or perhaps they wonder about receiving direction, whether it is a ministry available to ‘ordinary people' or reserved for the especially holy. I hope some dark corners will be illuminated and some questions answered.”

The second half of life—which we can enter at any age—is that time when we begin the process essential to a mature faith: discovering who we are, exploring our relationship with God, and beginning to let go. This part of life has a depth and spirituality all its own—a need for structure and rule, a tolerance of ambiguity, an exploration of limitation and mortality, and the deep work of discipline and detachment.Margaret Guenther brings her insights as a spiritual director to the gifts and opportunities of those of us who are on this journey to “holy ground.” In each chapter, Toward Holy Ground explores the practical aspects of spirituality in midlife: intercessory prayer, a sense of community, a rule of life, lightheartedness, detachment, and stripping down, preparing for “a good death.” A final chapter discusses practical aspects of ministry to the frail aged.

In this down-to-earth book on the essentials of prayer, Margaret Guenther answers many of the common questions of the spiritual life, such as How do we learn to listen to God in our prayer? and, How do we develop a life of prayer in the midst of busy, active lives? She includes practical descriptions of a number of ways Christians have prayed through the centuries, from using the Jesus Prayer or rosary to praying with the stories of scripture and prayer book liturgies. Guenther also discusses basic matters of Christian practice, such as making a confession, intercession, going on retreat, simplifying our lives, using a journal to pray, finding a spiritual director, and praying through times of desolation when God does not seem to be listening.

“For God alone my soul in silence waits....”In these reflections on Psalm 62 Margaret Guenther provides the foundation for a time of reflection and retreat without ever leaving home. The book’s first chapter introduces us to ways of making a retreat wherever we are, at a place apart or in the midst of our daily lives. Guenther then offers eight meditations on Psalm 62, with its themes of waiting on God’s presence with patience, trust, and expectation. She explores the images the psalm evokes of longing, silence, waiting, safety, enemies, and God as a rock and refuge. As in all her books, Guenther finds new ways to explore these ancient themes with the wit and practicality of an accomplished storyteller.These eight meditations can be read consecutively over the course of a single day or weekend, or spaced over time with periods of reflection in between. Each meditation ends with ideas for further prayer and pondering.My Soul in Silence Waits is one of our series of Cowley Cloister Books: smaller format, gift edition books designed for meditative and devotional reading.

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.