Spirituality 101: The Indispensable Guide to Keeping―or Finding―Your Spiritual Life on Campus

Inspiration &amp; Information for those who want more from college than just a degree. Who do you want to be? Are you spiritual? Religious? Still figuring it out? Regardless of where you are, college is an intense time of choices, challenge, and growth. Full of opportunities to learn from students from around the country and many different faith traditions, Spirituality 101 is the perfect companion for college students seeking spiritual fulfillment on campus. Including practical, hands-on advice and information from experienced faculty and student affairs professionals, this is your indispensable guide to the choices and possibilities available throughout your college experience, and beyond. Spirituality 101 also offers more than 40 personal student reflections―sometimes funny, sometimes serious, always honest and wise―that will motivate and energize you to explore your own questions and commitments. Your complete guide to navigating a spiritual life on campus: <ul>
<li>Finding Your Place: Who Do You Want to Be? </li> <li>Reading, Writing, and Religion: Spirituality in the Classroom and Beyond</li> <li>The Club Scene: Membership and Leadership in Campus Organizations</li> <li>Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’ Roll: Spirituality and Your Social Life</li> <li>Turning Points: Spiritual Awakening or Crisis of Faith?</li> <li>Assumptions, Intolerance, Hate, and a Hope for Something Better</li> <li>Hey, What Does That Mean? Talking with Others about Your Spirituality</li> <li>Significant Others: Family, Friends, and Mentors</li> <li>Taking It Off Campus</li> <li>A Cap, a Gown, and a Commitment to Faith</li>
</ul>

Religion & Spirituality

Schwartz, Harriet L.

Judaism

SkyLight Paths

Spiritual Writings on Mary: Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations)

The world’s great writings about Mary―her faith, strength and love― can become a companion for your own spiritual journey Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been revered for centuries by people from all over the world. She is a paragon of humility, righteousness and dedication, and her life as mother and prophet can serve as an example to us all. In over two hundred selections, Spiritual Writings on Mary examines the essential aspects of Mary’s role in history and in life today. Selections from influential writers, thinkers and theologians―both ancient and modern, from a wide range of Western and Eastern backgrounds―explore what life may have been like for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and celebrate the many ways in which Mary serves as a model of holiness for all women and men; as the archetype of motherhood; and as a source of tenderness, comfort, protection and peace. Dante Alighieri Hildegard of Bingen Jalal-ud-Din Rumi Bernard of Clairvaux Birgitta of Sweden Bonaventure Sue Monk Kidd Gerard Manley Hopkins Now you can experience the power and grace of Mary even if you have no previous knowledge of Mariology. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the most stirring and evocative writings on Mary, conveying the ineffable love, awe, reverence and gratitude in the hearts of people all over the world for the holy mother of Jesus.

Mary Ford-Grabowsky

Christian Books & Bibles

Discover the richness of Rumi's spiritual tradition―through facing-page commentary that brings his writings to life for you.
"This book you are now holding is a selection of what I believe are the best of Rumi’s accounts of the compassionate actions, sayings, and qualities of the Prophet, which include Rumi’s own inspired comments and explanations. It is my hope that you will be surprised and uplifted by the profound wisdom that Jalaluddin Rumi conveys through these stories and sayings." ―from the Preface
This great Sufi poet and teacher can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.
The lyric and wisdom poetry of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi has been an inspiration throughout the Middle East and Asia for over seven hundred years. Recently, it has also become popular in Western countries through translations and interpretive poetic versions in English. But while popular renderings have created the appreciation of Rumi the mystic, there is little understanding today of the religious and spiritual traditions from which the great mystic came. Rumi and Islam―Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses examines not the popularized Rumi of universal love but the Sufi disciple whose works express deep reverence for the Prophet Muhammad. Ibrahim Gamard focuses on Rumi’s place within the Sufi tradition of Islam, as one of the greatest Muslim followers of the Prophet Muhammed, and on the Islamic foundations of his lover-Beloved mystical poetry. By probing verse by verse Rumi’s spiritual teachings, Gamard provides insight into the mystical side of the Qur’an and Islam, a religion that holds a deep love of God at its core.
Now you can experience the profound and uplifting wisdom of Rumi even if you have no previous knowledge of Sufism or Islam. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the most important of Rumi’s writings, mainly from the Mathnawi, with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that conveys how his teachings about the nature of love for God and God’s love for us can increase our understanding of Islamic wisdom in the West.

Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses--Annotated & Explained

Literature & Fiction

Ibrahim Dr. Ibrahim Gamard

Gamard

History & Criticism

Let Your Deepest Soul Rejoice! 
You are the Beloved of the Divine Lover. You are loved with a love beyond that which human words can express, which song and pen seek in some way to convey or at least hint at. Let go. Let the currents of love invade you. Let your deepest soul rejoice.… ―from the Preface
In the tradition of Christian mysticism, including Bernard of Clairvaux, Gregory the Great, and Ambrose of Milan, M. Basil Pennington shares his reflections on the Bible's most challenging mystical text, the ancient love poem that is the Song of Songs. In this extraordinary volume, Pennington is joined by the profound Jewish artist Phillip Ratner, whose inspired works call forth from Pennington not only transcendent prayer and rich analogy but also the deepest sentiments that are common to every human mind and heart.
Pennington reflects on the ways you can use the Song of Songs to fulfill your own unutterable aspirations. Enriched by Jewish and Christian faith, the drawings and meditations speak to you and every person who desires to connect with their deepest, most human longings. Allow yourself to let go and delve into the poetry of Song of Songs, to find joy in the boundless love of God for you, the beloved child. Allow yourself to experience this story of love―human love yearning for the Divine.

The Song of Songs: A Spiritual Commentary

Pennington OCSO, M. Basil

Your image of God has evolved from a distant, all-knowing father to a creative force of the universe. Now it's time to update your prayer, too.
An evolutionary God is the one whose fingerprints and embraces and music we find in the evolutionary patterns in the unfinished world around us, the elusive mother and inventor of this ever-changing milieu. It is a God who pretends―for some purpose we do not comprehend―not even to exist, but whom we can reach out for and give thanks to, if we wish―as most of our race has done throughout its history. ―from the Introduction
In this unique collection of eighty prose prayers and related commentary, William Cleary invites you to consider new ways of thinking about God and about the world around you. Inspired by the spiritual and scientific teachings of Diarmuid O’Murchu and Teilhard de Chardin, Cleary reveals that religion and science can be combined to create an expanding view of the universe―an evolutionary faith.
Prayers to an Evolutionary God inspires you to discover your own place in the story of the universe, challenges you to rethink life in new ways, and enables you to express yourself in words that make sense―to an evolutionary God.

Prayers to an Evolutionary God

O'Murchu, Diarmuid

Cleary, William

Tagore: The Mystic Poets (Mystic Poets Series)

Discover How Tagore’s Spiritual Life and Vision Can Enlighten Your Own "Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophical and spiritual thoughts transcend all limits of language, culture, and nationality. In his writings, the poet and mystic takes us on a spiritual quest and gives us a glimpse of the infinite in the midst of the finite, unity at the heart of all diversity, and the Divine in all beings and things of the universe." ―from the Preface bySwami Adiswarananda Rabindranath Tagore is one of the most influential mystic poets and teachers of the last century. Deeply spiritual and profoundly sensitive, his verse speaks to people from all backgrounds who seek a deeper understanding of self, country, creation, God, and love. This beautiful sampling of Tagore’s two most important works, The Gardener and Gitanjali, offers a glimpse into his spiritual vision that has inspired people around the world. Poems from The Gardener explore youth and earthly love, while excerpts from Gitanjali express divine love and Tagore’s difficulty in satisfying it. Overwhelmingly mystical and lovely in its simplicity, this unique collection offers insight into Tagore’s heavenly desires, his ongoing quest for Brahama Vihara, the joy eternal, and illuminates the remarkable diversity that made him the most important bridge between the spirituality of the East and West in the first half of the twentieth century.

Tagore, Rabīndranāth

Hafiz: The Mystic Poets (Mystic Poets Series)

Discover How Hafiz's Spiritual Life and Vision Can Enlighten Your Own
Hafiz is known throughout the world as Persia’s greatest poet, with sales of his poems in Iran today only surpassed by those of the Qur’an itself. His probing and joyful verse speaks to people from all backgrounds who long to taste and feel divine love and experience harmony with all living things.
This beautiful sampling of Hafiz’s works captures his deep spiritual understanding, offering a glimpse into the vision that has inspired people around the world for centuries. Considered by his contemporaries as an oracle and often referred to as "Tongue of the Hidden" and "Interpreter of Secrets," Hafiz followed Sufism’s inner path on a quest to discover the hidden meaning of the universe, and shares his experiences and desire for union with the Divine in symbolic language that borders on magical.
Infused with the spirit of love and joy, this unique collection offers insight into Haiz’s spiritual philosophy and carefree mysticism that addresses the earthly beauty, pain, ecstasy and longing that define human nature, and the divine adoration that promises to set the spirit free.
"Ambiguity is a major characteristic of Persian poetry, and Hafiz was one of the greatest masters of this artistic quality: each reader tends to see his or her own experiences reflected in the poems. As a result, it is usually unclear whether in a given verse he means actual wine or spiritual wine, a male or a female beloved, a human beloved or God, and so forth…. But after reading the same images over and over in ever-changing contexts, one gradually leaves behind the ordinary material world and enters into a realm in which everything symbolizes the beautiful qualities of the beloved, who ultimately is God and the source of Love." ―from the Preface by Ibrahim Gamard, annotator and translator, Rumi and Islam: Selections from His Stories, Poems, and Discourses―Annotated &amp; Explained

Hopkins: The Mystic Poets (Mystic Poets Series)

Discover How Hopkins's Spiritual Life and Vision Can Enlighten Your Own
"Poetry and art and music seize upon the human experience in ways that reveal new possibilities of intimacy with the Divine. In the way they reach out and grab us by the heart at unexpected times, they reaffirm that the Holy will meet us when it chooses.…" ―from the Preface by Rev. Thomas Ryan, CSP 
Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christian mystical poet, is beloved for his use of fresh language and startling metaphors to describe the world around him. Beneath the surface of this lovely verse lies a searching soul, wrestling with and yearning for God. Hopkins writes from a Christian background, and yet his themes speak to people of all faiths who seek a deeper understanding of the presence of God in all of life.
This beautiful sampling of Hopkins's poetry offers a glimpse into his unique spiritual vision that continues to inspire readers throughout the world. The poems unite his two devotions, presenting mystical images of Christ in the natural world, which serve as a window through which you might also begin to see the Divine Presence in the world around you.

HOPKINS, Gerard Manley

Poetry

This engaging introduction to Dorothy Day will show you how one person can accomplish big things.
This colorful book introduces you to the world of Dorothy Day, one of the most amazing people of the twentieth century. You will be inspired as you learn about Day's life―from her efforts to further peace and equality as a young woman to her work helping the hungry and homeless with food, shelter and unconditional love―and her belief that we all have the power to make the world a better place.
Through enjoyable biography, activities inspired by Dorothy Day’s values and beliefs, and Day’s own words, Dorothy Day: A Catholic Life of Action will show you how to stand up for your beliefs and lead a life that inspires those around you to do the same.

Dorothy Day: A Catholic Life of Action (Spiritual Biographies for Young Readers)

Children's Books

Shaw, Maura D.

Biographies

What You Will See Inside a Synagogue

A colorful, fun-to-read introduction that explains the ways and whys of Jewish worship, faith, and religious life. What You Will See Inside a Synagogue will: <ul>
<li>Satisfy kids’ curiosity about what goes on in synagogues attended by their friends, broadening awareness of other faiths at an important age when opinions and prejudices can first form. </li> <li>Provide Jewish children with a deeper understanding of the practices of their own religious tradition. </li> <li>Give children the opportunity to ask questions, making them more active participants.</li>
</ul>
Colorful full-page photographs set the scene for concise but informative descriptions of what is happening, the objects used, the clergy and laypeople who have specific roles, the spiritual intent of the believers, and more. The What You Will See Inside… series is designed to show children ages 6–10 the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of traditional houses of worship, liturgical celebrations, and rituals of different world faiths, empowering them to respect and understand their own religious traditions―and those of their friends and neighbors.

Wolfson, Ron

Religions

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