What's Happening at
SpiritualityandPractice.com
February 21, 2020
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What movie most moved your spirit in 2019? Out of the hundreds of films and DVDs we reviewed last year, we offer you this selection of ones that are especially recommended for your spiritual journey. You will find foreign language, animated, and documentary categories in addition to 20 of our favorite features.
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From more than 200 books we reviewed in 2019, we have chosen the 50 Best Spiritual Books and 20 additional Best Spiritual Children's Books, those which have most impressed and inspired us. Through diverse approaches, these titles explore the quest for meaning and purpose, wholeness and healing, commitment and community, contemplation and social activism.
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Curation and practices by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, design by Margaret Wakeley
"May I never find myself yawning at life," writes Toyohiko Kagawa. A baker's dozen of illustrated quotes, paired with a simple practice, help you cultivate wonder, presence, listening, reverence, and more.
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By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Catholic priest and devotional writer Edward Hays gives us two ways to observe the beginning of Lent: one which reminds you to reflect on your own death and one which proclaims "Now is the time to awaken."
More Practices
: Birthdays of George Washington, Marian Anderson, Ralph Nader, and John Steinbeck.
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by Thomas Moore
Bestselling author Thomas Moore is known for his thought-provoking explorations of soul in all its shades and textures; his classic
Care of the Soul
and the books that have followed demonstrate his ability to reinvigorate old concepts. Here he offers fresh takes on challenging and inspiring gospel texts. Read more and sign up:
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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Edward Hays was a storyteller, artist, priest, and the author of more than 35 bestselling books. He was a master of everyday spirituality, encouraging us to read and interpret what shows up in our lives, to find places of meditation where we live and work, to keep our hearts open, to sustain the art of long looking, and to cultivate a sense of wonder. Read more and sign up:
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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
"We must be prepared to be always correcting our image of Jesus for we will never exhaust what there is to know," Adolf Holl, author of
Jesus in Bad Company
, wisely observed. Each daily email in this e-course contains a thought-provoking quotation about Jesus for your reflection and a practice suggestion inspired by the quote. Read more and sign up:
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By Contemplative Outreach
These 42 guidelines by Fr. Thomas Keating lend themselves perfectly to Lectio Divina -- prayer reflection on sacred texts. Emails include an image, Scripture passage, one or more of the guidelines, a commentary, and a practice suggestion, with review on Sundays. Read more and sign up:
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By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
We can no longer be blind to the dangers of the nuclear age. It is time to see what we have not seen. A five-part mini-series plus other films, books, and spiritual practices raise awareness and help us deal with the risks and consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
More Films
: 1917, Beanpole, Bombshell, By the Grace of God, Corpus Christi, Cunningham, Just Mercy, Les Miserables, Little Women, Queen & Slim, Sanditon, Synonyms, And Then We Danced, The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, Young Ahmed
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DVDs and Streaming Releases
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By Various Directors
We feel a collective flinch across the United States when we read or hear about the fear, homesickness, pain, and suffering of families pushed out of their homelands because of violence, who have then been stopped at the U.S. border and even separated from their children. That's why we welcome with wonder and joy the stories of people holding others up in this excitingly diverse series.
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Directed by Bong Joon Ho
Winner of the 2020 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film, and Best Original Screenplay,
Parasite
is a masterpiece in filmmaking and class warfare dissection, one of the most thrilling film experiences of the past year.
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By BJ Fogg
BJ Fogg, the founder of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, believes that when we commit to a behavioral change we need to begin now and start small. He succeeds in reframing change as something to be embraced and celebrated.
More Books
: Choose Wonder over Worry, Internationalism or Extinction, Ordinary Blessings
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By Barb Rosenstock
This biography of an early First Lady shows her combination of competence and boldness that allowed her to run a household, shape her husband's words when he wrote about colonists' rights, teach her children, feed militias, house refugees, and eventually sail to Europe and serve in a diplomatic capacity.
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Short & Sweet Spirituality Blog
By Frederic Brussat
These pithy calls for respect, kindness, and tolerance take the form of a proverb, a blessing, a breath prayer, and more, including even a cliche about acceptance that deserves a second glance: "Different strokes for different folks."
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Practicing Democracy Project
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By Keziah Grindeland
Daniel Kish, a blind man who rides a bike using echolocation, is convinced that any blind person can do what he does: only expectations stand in the way. Can our expectations of democracy and of our perceived opponents similarly hold us back?
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By Hannah Arin
In the current season of primaries and caucuses, this voting ritual, designed for group or individual use, sets a strong intention to benefit all whom your vote will affect: those whose voices are not heard, those you love, bridge builders, leaders, and the many facets of your own life.
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By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
"An infinite light is hidden in every good deed," taught Rabbi Shneur Zalaman of Lia. These Quaker, Jewish, Sufi, and Buddhist perspectives can help us all find our way toward the renewed light of Spring, now only a few weeks away.
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A Thought to Carry with You
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In his book
Who Speaks for God?
, Christian writer and political activist Jim Wallis asks a question that's vital for all of us to consider in an era when politicians speak of building walls rather than bridges:
"Can we expand our vision of community beyond our own skin, family, race, tribe, culture, country, and species? Spiritual life is more than what we believe, it also includes how we related. Who is included in the we and who is not? That is both a spiritual and a political question. How we answer it will likely determine our future."
In spite of what politicians do, there's much that we can do at the grassroots level to increase understanding and a hospitable spirit, beginning with our own attitudes. "I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be shut," said Mahatma Gandhi. "I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible." And we could add that we want the subcultures of our own land also to blow freely through our homes, so that we can come to a mutual appreciation as a basis for resolving differences.
Blessings,
Your Spirituality & Practice Team
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Patricia Campbell Carlson
Margaret Wakeley
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