Marsha Crockett

Speak, My Soul

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 19:53:48 GMT

Available May 2024; Pre-Order Now!

Learn to listen for the voice of God.

Our soul speaks … but can we hear it? In our noisy and overcrowded lives, it's often difficult to find the space to listen deeply to our own inner voice, let alone the voice of God. In Speak, My Soul, spiritual guide Marsha Crockett leads you through seven pathways for slowing down and discerning God's promptings in your daily life. Using the psalms as a spiritual roadmap, the journey will include seven weeks of daily meditations, prayers, practices, and prompts to help you enter and explore the quiet landscape of the soul, speaking to you even now.

Speak, My Soul is ideal for both personal and group use and includes the following:

A daily and weekly rhythm for personal devotion, reflection, prayer, and suggestions for journaling
A Small Group Leader’s Guide, including tips on developing listening groups, teaching active listening skills, and group dynamics
Speak, My Soul Psalms: Bonus content with reflection questions for six additional psalms
Lenten Retreat Guide
Inner Path Identifiers: a chart of traits, challenges, and disciplines associated with each of the seven inner paths for further reflections

"An enlightening spiritual guide … whether you're a spiritual seeker or simply someone longing for a deeper understanding of the voice within, this book will help you recognize and respond to your soul's call and God's divine love." —J. Dana Trent, author of Between Two Trailers: A Memoir

Sacred Conversation

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 21:32:57 GMT

God created humans with the desire to both know others and be known. People weren't meant to go it alone on their spiritual journeys, and God has provided many fellow travelers to accompany us.

Some of these fellow pilgrims—spiritual directors—are called to walk the spiritual path with others. The spiritual director, however, does not seek to tell their counterpart how to live out the faith. Instead, the spiritual director accompanies others on their spiritual journey and helps them discover how God may be working in their lives. The spiritual director listens, notices, encourages, asks questions, and prays for the person receiving spiritual direction.

In Sacred Conversation, readers will learn what spiritual direction is and what it isn't. They will explore spiritual practices that have helped people for hundreds of years develop a closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Marsha Crockett introduces readers to seven gifts of spiritual direction: awakening, hospitality, story, pilgrimage, silence, meditation, and belonging.

Each chapter contains reflection questions for individuals to use in conversation with their spiritual director, as prompts for journaling, or for sharing with small groups.

The Coming Messiah

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 15:03:39 GMT

HOPE | LOVE | PEACE | JOY

It's fair to say that most everyone is hungry for more these days?more hope, more love, more peace, more joy. These beautiful gifts can feel elusive and difficult to fully experience amid the stressors of everyday life. In the times we're experiencing now with a global pandemic, rampant evidence of racism, nature regularly revealing her power to wreak havoc, and deep uncertainty about the future, it can feel all the more challenging to remain rooted and grounded in God's goodness. As we move toward the end of this year, though, we move toward Advent.

The word Advent means "coming," and we celebrate and anticipate the arrival of Jesus?Immanuel, "God with us." During this season, we hear the good news of Jesus' birth, and we take part in traditions that reflect this story through the gifts we bring, the songs we sing, and the gatherings of friends, family, and faith communities. But how does the coming of Jesus personally speak into our human story in a season like that of 2022?

This eCourse invites you to join author Marsha Crockett in an exploration of the HOPE, LOVE, PEACE, and JOY that the coming of Jesus offers. You'll be invited into guided times of prayer and quiet reflection?all accessible via mobile device. The guided meditations invite you to look deeper, to linger longer, and to approach boldly the beauty of the coming Messiah.

This eCourse is designed to be simple, easily accessible, and supportive of your daily practice during Advent. You may choose to read or listen to daily meditations, which are read by author Marsha Crockett (each recording is five minutes or less). It is primarily a solo practice, but there will be space for you to share comments with other eCourse participants. You'll be invited to a reflection and prayer practice each Monday through Friday of Advent. Prayer practices include breath prayer, lectio divina, prayers of imagination, contemplative questions, and others. Each day's reflection ends with a blessing. Weekends are reserved for a practice of the Examen?a simple exercise of noticing the presence of God.

The Upper Room's longing for you is that this Advent will be full of the hope, love, peace, and joy that Jesus brings.

Sacred Conversation

Wed, 18 May 2022 20:38:09 GMT

God created humans with the desire to both know others and be known. People weren't meant to go it alone on their spiritual journeys, and God has provided many fellow travelers to accompany us.

Each chapter contains reflection questions for individuals to use in conversation with their spiritual director, as prompts for journaling, or for sharing with small groups.