Holy Living- Simplicity: Spiritual Practices for Building a Life of Faith

"While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come." ~ 1 Timothy 4:8

Christians crave a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. Spiritual disciplines are activities and practices that guide you in your daily walk through life bringing you closer to Christ. They also help you to make a difference in our world. Practicing these spiritual disciplines opens you to God's transforming love and help you experience Holy Living.

At its core, the spiritual practice of simplicity enables us to eliminate from our lives all the things—both material possessions and thoughts, habits, and attitudes—that distract us from God so that God has complete freedom to work in and through us. Simplicity brings freedom, balance, and perspective to our lives and enables us to align our priorities with the priorities of God. It reorients us and allows us to be open to the present moment. Developing the spiritual practice of simplicity is key to a healthy, vibrant relationship with God and others. This book helps us know how to begin and implement this practice.

This is one of series of eight books. Each book in this series introduces a spiritual practice, suggests way of living the practice daily, and provides opportunities to grow personally and in a faith community with others who engage with the practice. Each book consists of an introduction and four chapters and includes questions for personal reflection and group discussion.

Other disciplines studied: Celebration, Confession, Discernment, Neighboring, Study, and Worship.

Wendy J. Miller is a contemplative story-listener and a transformative instructor. She has a deep love for the narratives which form the biblical mega-story, stories which offer a doorway for persons to engage with their own life and soul-story, and to encounter God within and behind their own storied experience.

She holds a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Iowa Wesleyan College, a Masters degree in Church Leadership with a concentration in pastoral care and counseling from Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) in Harrisonburg, VA, and an STM degree in Spiritual Theology and Spiritual Direction from General Theological Seminary in New York City. Her written works include: Learning to Listen: A Guide for Spiritual Friends; Invitation to Presence: a Guide for Spiritual Disciplines; Jesus, Our Spiritual Director: A Pilgrimage Through the Gospels; Come with Me: Daily Living with a Monastic Missional Rule of Life; and Holy Living: Discernment.

Named Professor Emeritus in Spiritual Formation at EMS after teaching spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and supervising training of spiritual directors for 19 years, Wendy continues to nurture the spiritual formation and training of lay persons and clergy in various United Methodist and Mennonite Conferences for the missional ministry of tending the soul of persons/congregation/ communities within and beyond the church. Since relocating in Dallas, Texas, in 2013 she serves as Director of Spiritual Direction and Formation for the ministries of the Missional Wisdom Foundation. Wendy is also one of the instructors in the Perkins School of Theology Certificate in Spiritual Direction program. She is an ordained minister within the Virginia Conference of the Mennonite Church.

Elaine A. Heath is a theologian whose work is interdisciplinary, integrating pastoral, biblical, and spiritual theology in ways that bridge the gap between academy, church, and world. Her current research interests focus on community as a means of healing trauma, emergent forms of Christianity, and alternative forms of theological education for the church in rapidly changing contexts.

Heath is the author of numerous books and articles, the most recent of which is Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors (2019), a republication with updates of a previous volume: We Were the Least of These: Reading the Bible with Survivors of Sexual Abuse (2011). She also recently served as general editor of the Holy Living series.