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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy > Liturgy
What would it be like to actually get away and be with God? What
would it be like to spend more than 5 minutes with God without
looking at one's watch, wondering how to fill the time?
Sacred Space blends the ancient practices of the 12 stations of
the cross and the "prayer path," and brings it into the everyday
lives of youth and young adults. Inside Sacred Space readers will
find stations for prayer and reflection on the Scripture designed
to give them a new perspective on their everyday life settings.
Young Christians will walk through meditations that can be
practiced anywherethe mall, a park, a campus, on a mission trip, or
even at home. There are also traditional meditations, and an
explanation of how to set up a traditional prayer path for their
group.
Sacred Space is about turning everyday space into sacred
spaceand integrating the ancient practices of the faith into
everyday life.
The Babylonia Talmud is an immense collection of laws, practices,
and customs of the Jewish people, edited in its present form in the
fifth century. Tractate Megilla (literally, 'scroll') concerns a
deep exegesis of the history and customs of the holiday of Purim,
when the Jewish people in ancient Persia were saved through the
intervention of Queen Esther at the last minute from extermination
by the wicked Haman. It is a holiday of gaiety and commemoration.
The Talmud is often extremely difficult to understand, and tractate
Megilla is no exception. The Whole Megilla is an effort to explain
the text, page by page, for interested readers. It affords the
reader an opportunity to capture the flavor of the Talmud and
follow the notoriously demanding text.
We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service Prayers is a
super user-friendly Sing-Along prayer book for the Shabbat
(Saturday) Morning Synagogue Service with TRANSLITERATED ENGLISH
TEXT, translation and explanation of the service. Its primary
purpose is to make it beyond easy to learn the prayers when
listening and singing along to the 64 track music CD album set of
the same name; but it also stands, in its own right, as a learning
tool explaining the meaning of the words and the service. Our
Jewish prayers are beautiful love songs; full of goodness,
affection, adoration, hope, kindness and generosity. They are our
DNA, even if we do not know them, because these prayers, our
religion, have moulded the Jewish people; our way of thinking,
education, who we are, and what we represent. Judaism is all about
being good and positive for oneself, family, community, the wider
world - all out of respect and love for Hashem. It fills me with
gratitude, humility, and pride. Our heritage is an intellectual,
cultural, spiritual and religious blessing - but we need easy
access. I was never able to participate in, let alone enjoy, the
Shabbat Morning Service, but I loved those moments when the whole
community comes together and sings a few short prayers with moving
melodies. There just was not enough of it, we needed more singing,
much more! Community is all about family and friends, and we are
all friends, it is actually written in one of our prayers. Our
prayers are crying out to be sung with great happiness, clearly and
harmoniously. Communal prayers are all about belonging, sharing,
and that is only possible if we can all join in as equals; and for
that we need clearly articulated words that are easy to learn and
enjoyable to sing. I dedicate this project of melodizing the
Shabbat Morning Service prayers and writing a Sing-Along prayer
book to all who love and care for Jewish Continuity, Judaism,
Torah, and the Nation-State of the Jewish People, Israel; and so
also to all our wonderful friends, the righteous among the nations.
Remember to remember that when we sing together, we stay together.
AM ISRAEL CHAI - the people of Israel live. With love, and hope for
our children, Richard Collis
"Our God is a God of surprises... Am I open to the God of
surprises?"-Pope Francis, 2014 Responding to this challenge,
Surprised by God explores what it means to reflect on life and how
we reflect theologically about our journey of faith.Theological
reflection has been primarily used in academic training for
ministry preparation, but it is a tool that is critical for any
person pondering Pope Francis' questions. Christina Zaker provides
an in depth look at the foundational elements of theological
reflection including definitions and guidance through various
methods. Offering a lens for reflection based on the unique way
Jesus' parables surprise and invite listeners to collaborate in the
kingdom of God, the book foregrounds the importance of honest
spiritual reflection. Reveling in the many ways God surprises us,
we learn how to respond to the invitation of faith with open minds
and hearts.
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