"When I started this journey I was hoping to find a miracle, one that might dramatically change my life. What I found was far more important: the extreme importance of small things."
Like the vibrant yet simple quilts that spoke to her heart and led her to live with the Amish and to write the New York Times bestselling Plain and Simple, the empty begging bowl is the powerful -- though sometimes elusive -- symbol in Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred.
Returning home from the Amish, Bender struggled to apply the peaceful wisdom and simplicity she learned from them to her hectic life. Then one day she heard the story of the begging bowl and instinctively knew it had much to teach her: each day a Zen monk goes with an empty bowl in his hands; whatever is placed in the bowl will be his nourishment for the day. So, too, Bender discovered, if we approached each day afresh, with our bowls waiting to be filled, we will find at the end of the day that extraordinary things -- some so small we may be tempted to overlook them -- have come our way.
Everyday Sacred is filled with the stories, the people, and the experiences that filled Bender's bowl -- a "connect-the-dots record of my search for the sacred in everyday life." From the simple act of clearing off her desk to enjoying a perfectly prepared cappuccino to realizing she can only do three of the thirteen things on her to-do list, Bender finds that each step along one's journey is a place to learn.
In the end, Bender discovers for herself -- and shows us in the process -- that "small miracles are there for us, all around. We can find them everywhere -- in our homes, in our daily activities, and, hardest to see, in ourselves.""synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
In Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home (HarperSanFrancisco: now in its sixth printing), Bender speaks to our longing to make each day truly count. She chronicles her struggle to bring the joyful wisdom and simplicity she experienced in her sojourn with the Amish back to her hectic, too-much-to-do days at home. Bender discovers for herself, and in the process shows us, that small miracles can be found everywhere'in our homes, in our daily activities and, hardest to see, in ourselves.
Profiles and interviews with Ms. Bender, as well as book excerpts have been published in countless national publications including Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, Ladies' Home Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Utne Reader, and W Magazine. She has also appeared as a guest on dozens of radio and television shows.
Born in New York City, Sue Bender received her BA from Simmons College and her MA from the Harvard University School of Education. She taught high school in New York and English at the Berlitz School in Switzerland. She later earned a Masters in Social Work from the University of California at Berkeley. During her active years as a family therapist, Bender was founder and Director of CHOICE: The Institute of the Middle Years. In addition to being an author and former therapist, Sue Bender is a ceramic artist and much sought after lecturer nationwide. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband Richard, and is the mother of two grown sons.
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