Best-selling author Kathleen Norris provides a unique viewpoint of what matters most, including: Belief Matters: Why does belief matter? To what do we give our hearts? What is the core message of what we believe creeds or commitment? To what extent is to believe also to belove ? The Bible Matters: The Bible is our collective story. How is that story reflected in our daily lives? What is it about the Bible that always seems to address our present moment? Community Matters: In community, individualism and imperfection meet grace and acceptance. What is our part in the Body of Christ? Place Matters: In what ways is faith set within the physical space of home, church, land and people? We Matter: What it means to remain in God s image and to counter our selfishness by embracing the world and its needs? Ideal for adult and young-adult small groups, Christian educators, clergy, chaplains and campus ministries. SOLD SEPARATELY. Also available is the Embracing a Life of Meaning Small-Group DVD.Each of the five DVD sessions begins with a 10-15 minute video presentation by Kathleen Norris followed by filmed interaction with a diverse small group of adults. This "Participant s Workbook" then helps your own local small group join the conversation. This book includes all study materials need by participants and those who lead. Each participant will need one copy."

"A book of stories, a book of prayer, a book to be read meditatively and well," DAKOTA offers a timeless tribute to a place in the American landscape that is at once desolate and sublime, harsh and forgiving, steeped in history and myth. From the award-winning author of AMAZING GRACE, DAKOTA is Kathleen Norris at her most thoughtful, her most discerning, her best. She gives us, once again, a rare "gift of hope and balance, a place to begin" (Chicago Tribune) and assurance that wherever we go, we chart our own spiritual geography.

A New York Times bestseller for 23 weeks

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

"A strange and beautiful book...Part memoir, part meditation, it is a remarkable piece of writing." -The Boston Globe

"The Cloister Walk is a new opportunity to discover a remarkable writer with a huge, wise heart...Norris resonates deeply for a lot of people: She's one of those writers who demands to be handed around. You want to share this great discovery, giving her work as a gift3/4or you simply shove a copy in the face of a friend, saying 'Read this.'" -Minneapolis Star-Tribune

When Dennis Okholm began exploring the roots of contemporary Benedictine monasticism, he quickly found that St. Benedict has as much to offer Protestants as he does Roman Catholics. In "Monk Habits for Everyday People," Okholm--a professor who was raised as a Pentecostal and a Baptist--uses his profound experience with Benedictine spirituality to show how it can enrich the lives and prayer practices of Protestants.

"As a knowledgeable pastor and theologian, Dennis Okholm proves an excellent guide. . . . This memoir, gentle in tone and often humorous, is nonetheless full of challenges to Protestant comfort zones. . . . Okholm reminds us that for all Christians, good spiritual habits are good for our spiritual health; that 'scripture is the original rule'; and that Christ is the point of it all, our true beginning and our end." --Kathleen Norris, author of "The Cloister Walk" (from the foreword)

"Twenty years in the making, Dennis Okholm's "Monk Habits" is the perfect introduction to Benedictine spirituality for the earnest Protestant believer. In taking us on his own journey, he invites to discover Benedict of Nursia and Benedict's myriad faithful followers over fifteen centuries. This represents an important bridge between evangelicalism and Catholicism. Highly recommended." --Tony Jones, national coordinator of Emergent Village, author of "The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier"

"The practices of Benedictine monasticism have several times brought revitalization and spiritual focus back to the worldwide church at large. In this informative and irenic book, Dennis Okholm explains how the 'rule' of Benedict did the same for him personally as an evangelicalprofessor and Presbyterian minister. The book's winsome portrait of the Benedictines--and, through their monastic practices, of Christ--makes for a spiritual feast. The historically minded will also benefit from Okholm's careful discussion of why more Protestants should pay greater heed to the Benedictine life." --Mark A. Noll, coauthor of "Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Catholicism"

Part-gardening bible, part-call to action, award-winning authors Kathleen Norris Brenzel and Mary-Kate Mackey present advice, tips, and how-tos for gardeners seeking better health, increased happiness, and stronger communities A gardening book for the times we live in, The Healthy Garden combines practical advice for starting a garden with a rare view into how home gardening builds resilience, personal happiness, and community strength. Filled with savvy tips from dozens of experts, each chapter celebrates the many ways gardening works to build health. These professionals and passionate plant people offer lively insights into landscape design, soil science, nutrition, and plant choices. With its can-do, Victory Garden approach, The Healthy Garden is essential for anyone seeking to live closer to nature in their own backyards

The bestselling author of The Cloister Walk reflects on the sanctifying possibilities of everyday work and how God is present in worship and liturgy as well as in ordinary life. Definitely not "for women only."

In Willa Cather's own estimation, My Antonia, first published in 1918, was "the best thing I've ever done." An enduring paperback bestseller on Houghton Mifflin's literary list, this hauntingly eloquent classic now boasts a new foreword by Kathleen Norris, Cather's soulmate of the plains. Infused with a gracious passion for the land, My Antonia embraces its uncommon subject - the hardscrabble life of the pioneer woman on the prairie - with poetic certitude, rendering a deeply moving portrait of an entire community. Through Jim Burden's endearing, smitten voice, we revisit the remarkable vicissitudes of immigrant life in the Nebraska heartland with all its insistent bonds. Guiding the way are some of literature's most beguiling characters: the Russian brothers plagued by memories of a fateful sleigh ride, Antonia's desperately homesick father and self-indulgent mother, and the coy Lena Lingard. Holding the pastoral society's heart, of course, is the bewitching, free-spirited Antonia Shimerda.

The extraordinary "New York Times" bestselling masterpiece from "one of the most eloquent yet earthbound spiritual writers of our time ("San Francisco Chronicle").
Kathleen Norris had written several much loved books, yet she couldn't drag herself out of bed in the morning, couldn't summon the energy for her daily tasks. Even as she struggled, Norris recognized her familiar battle with "acedia," a word she had discovered in early Church text years earlier. Fascinated by this "noonday demon," so familiar to those in the early and medieval Church, Norris knew she must restore this forgotten but important concept to the modern world's vernacular. An examination of acedia in the light of psychology, spirituality, the healing powers of religious practice, and Norris's own experience, "Acedia & Me" is both intimate and historically sweeping, brimming with exasperation and reverence, sometimes funny, often provocative, and always insightful.

Music of Silence shows how to incorporate the sacred meaning of monastic living into everyday life by following the natural rhythm of the hours of the day. The book tells how mindfulness and prayer can reconnect us with the sources of joy. An invitation to join in quiet ecstasy, to rediscover sacred rhythms. Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1917 Edition.

This is a new release of the original 1933 edition.