Writing to Wake the Soul - by Karen Hering (Paperback)

About the Book

"Through the power of everyday words, find and deepen your connection with faith and self in the spiritual practice of writing. Have you ever sought to wake that still, small voice within--the voice that gives expression to your greatest hopes, fears, dreams, and sorrows? Through the intersection of poetry and story, metaphor and mediation, history and culture, you have the power to. Perfect for today's spiritual seeker, Writing to Wake the Soul provides inspiration, practical guidance, and content-rich prompts to help you articulate and explore the difficult questions of our time. Its elegant narrative invites you to use words as a way to journey into a greater intimacy with your faith, your soul, and your relationship to the world. Whether you're a theist or atheist, agnostic or church-goer, accomplished writer or even a non-writer, this guide offers a thoughtful reflection on the enormous transformative power of words in our everyday lives. Featuring exercises for meditation, contemplation, and gentle self-examination, along with writing prompts on a wide spectrum of theological themes and spiritual practices, Writing to Wake the Soul will help you develop a greater connection to that voice, to the inner self, and to the timeless wisdom deep within you"--

Book Synopsis

Through the power of everyday words, find and deepen your connection with faith and self in the spiritual practice of writing.

Whether you approach this book primarily as a reader or a writer, you can open a rich correspondence with yourself and learn what your own heart has to say. Karen Hering offers a path of self-exploration and a contemplative practice of writing that engages memory and imagination, story and poetry, images and the timeless wisdom of world religions and myth-ology. It will open your ear to your own truths while opening your heart to the world around you.

Blending writing prompts, meditations, and stories, this book invites you to begin wherever you are and discover your own unique relation-ship with language, spirituality, and the world around you. The next chapter is yours to write, and Writing to Wake the Soul offers all you need to write it.

Review Quotes

"Karen Hering's invaluable guide brings alive the venerable art of writing as a spiritual practice for our time and place. Importantly, Hering's approach does not predetermine where you must begin your journey, nor does it lead you down a carefully prepared path to an authorized destination. If you follow Hering through the exercises of "Writing to Wake the Soul" it will do just that awaken you to your own spiritual inclinations, as well as introduce you to a wealth of wisdom handed on by pilgrims who have preceded you on the way."--Donald Ottenhoff, Executive Director "Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research ""

So many of us want to write! We sense that writing satisfies some profound longing to become more fully ourselves, to connect more deeply to loved one, to help transform our hurting world...In "Writing to Wake the Soul," Karen Hering gives us the tools to act."--Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew "author of Writing the Sacred Journey and On the Threshold ""

"Profound in its clarity and completeness, here is a contemplative guide to awaken the nurturing spirit in each of us. At the essence of every spiritual journey is the task of finding our own footing on the path. Like a good guide, this book will take you by the hand as you journey, but only long enough to help you discover the compass and spiritual grounding you already carry within."--William C. Moyers "author of Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption "

"This is one of the best books ever written about the relationship between writing and spirituality. Karen Hering offers readers a wise and generous guide to mining essential material and transforming it into writing that is authentic and revelatory. Those who approach this book with open heart and mind will discover much about themselves."--Bart Schneider "author of Blue Bossa and Beautiful Inez "

"This is one of the best books everwrittenabout the relationship between writing and spirituality. Karen Hering offers readers a wise and generous guide to mining essential material and transforming it into writing that is authentic and revelatory. Those who approach this book with open heart and mind will discover much about themselves."--Bart Schneider "author of Blue Bossa and Beautiful Inez "

"In this powerful, lovely, practical, and provocative book, Karen Hering offers the world both a new form of ministry that transcends multiple traditional boundaries and profound evidence that the asking of unanswerable questions brings forth wide-open spiritual narratives of astonishing depth."--Mary Farrell Bednarowski "Professor Emerita of Religion Studies, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities "