"Sacred Compass" Workshop in Southern California!

Brent's Books On Kindle

I'm happy to announce that Mind the Light is now available on Kindle.  Mind the Light was first released in paperback in 2006. 

When it was released, Publishers Weekly said, "Those seeking a series of clever tips for cultivating spiritual growth overnight will not want to delve into this deceptively simple meditation on the Quaker custom of mindful seeing. A Friends minister and author of Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality, Bill describes his book as "a way of seeing our inner and outer lives with spiritual eyes and discovering the connectedness between inner and outer sight." Like a neighborly conversation across a kitchen table, this slender volume emphasizes the mundane details of daily life as they are enlightened by being attentive to the Spirit of God that Quakers believe dwells within each person."


While it's still available in limited quantities on-line and in bookstore, it has been declared out of print by the publisher.  So I've been able to make Mind the Light available, as originally printed, as a Kindle book -- for the low price of $2.99.

For those of you who like Kindle, a few other of my titles are also available there.

Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment was called by Richard J. Foster  "one of the finest books on discernment and divine guidance that I have seen in a very long time."

Also available is Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God (with co-author Beth Booram).  Parker J. Palmer says, "With Awaken Your Senses, Brent Bill and Beth Booram have given us a superb resource for seeking the God of life through sensuous experience, a way of knowing that has been sadly neglected--and too often held suspect--by the church. How did a faith based on the claim that 'the Word became flesh' become so divorced from bodily, incarnate knowledge? Here is a beautiful book that will help us reclaim our bodies, our senses and our relationship with God."




Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality has also recently been released on Kindle.  Publishers Weekly said, "In this brief primer on Quakerism in general and silence in particular, the author uses a practical tone to anchor reflections on what is essentially a matter of mystery: how God speaks in and through individual and communal silence. A self-confessed "type A personality," Bill brings a buoyant but realistic tone to his subject. Interspersed with quotations from various Christian writers and pauses for "quietude queries," or reflective moments for relaxation and contemplation, the slim volume is a useful tool for readers seeking a guide to devotional practice."

Coming soon is a new edition of David B. Updegraff: Quaker Holiness Preacher.  So far this is the only modern biography of this radical Quaker preacher of the 19th century.  2013 will mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of this landmark work.  The new Kindle version will be an expansion of the 1983 edition and will include research I have done since that edition was originally published.

Enjoy -- happy reading!

-- Brent

Spiritual Discernment-- Life in Motion

Trusting that God directs our paths teaches us to see the ways life opens. Our lives are filled with potential “a-ha” moments. Following our spiritual compass helps us see the “a-has”. Trusting God also allows us to be real and genuine and authentic people, because trust helps us be more aware of the circumstances through which we pass. We see our flaws and frailties, and can still embrace the fact that we are people who hunger after God and are instruments of God.

The early Quaker mystic Isaac Penington said:

"Know what it is to walk in the path of life. . . . It is that which groans, and which mourns; that which is begotten of God in you. . . . The true knowledge of the way, with the walking in the way, is reserved for God’s child, for God’s traveller. Therefore . . . don’t strive to be any more than God has made you. Give God your will . . . and, sink down to the seed that God sows in the heart and let that grow in you. "

I love the idea that “The true knowledge of the way, with the walking in the way, is reserved for God’s child, for God’s traveller.” As I look at my life, I see one of motion. Though firmly rooted in the Midwest, as an adult I’ve lived in sixteen houses in two states, held fifteen full- or part-time jobs, and owned too many cars. Your life may be less frenetic than mine, but I’m sure that as you look over your history you’ll see various movements in your life as well—careers, family, spiritual, and physical changes. The movements all fit with the concept of way opening. Way opening implies motion; a moving along life’s pilgrim way. What a winsome discovery.

-- Brent

And the Winner is...

Faithful reader (whoever you are) will remember that a few weeks ago I instituted a blog contest. I did it to help get the word out about my new book, Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment. I offered to answer 5-10 questions sent in by bloggers for a virtual interview. My good wife Nancy was to be the judge. The winner would win a signed copy of the book and a gourmet assortment of goodies from The Best Chocolate in Town (my favorite chocolate place!). Family of Brent Bill, employees of Brent Bill, Brent Bill's cats and dog were ineligible to participate in the contest (though Princess, the nicest, dumbest Great Pyrenees who ever lived tried to). The contest was prohibited where void. Side effects include dizziness, neuralgia, and innuendo.

Blogging their way into the contest were C. Wess Daniels at Gathering in Light, Liz Wine at Lovin' Life Liz, Shawna Roberts at Mystics, Poets, Fools, Robin Mohr at What Canst Thou Say, and Liz Op at the Good Raised Up. I hope you'll check them out -- and buy and/or read the book.

And now ... drum roll, please ... the winner -- Liz Wine of Lovin' Life Liz. I pressed Nancy for the reason and she just said, "I liked it best" and then went out to plant herbs.

So, congratulations, Liz -- a book and chocolates are on their way to you.

Thanks to all the bloggers -- and readers!

-- Brent

Do We Know Where?

I've been thinking a lot lately about compasses and GPS (hmmm, wonder why?). This morning, navigating rush hour traffic on the way to work, I was struck by another difference between the two and why a compass is the best metaphor for our quest for God and spiritual discernment (besides my hanging my whole book on that metaphor!).

The main thing, it seems to me, is that GPS implies at least beginning with a fairly specific idea of where the end destination is. It's not like hopping in a cab, like in the old movies, and telling the system, "just drive." You enter where you are (specifically) and where you'd like to end up (specifically). I can't just enter "Brent's Farm" for example -- it needs a full address. Even with newer systems that allow you find stores, eateries, and the such, you have to add specifics -- city at least and the type of store -- food, book, etc.

What would we put in for God? Is God locatable in that sense? I don't think so.

That's why the compass fits better. We may not always know where God is ... or where we are ... but the compass unfailing points the way to God, our spiritual true north. The Holy Spirit, our ever present companion on our life's pilgrimage, shows the way. Who knows what we'll find along the way -- joyful, sad, helpful, scary. It's an adventure in spirituality -- not safe, but ultimately satisfying as we learn to rely on the tool God has planted in our soul.

--Brent

Sacred Compass -- Seeing the Signs On the Way

Following our sacred compass is like hunting for a house down a country lane—we get the general direction, but need to learn to look for the signs. “Take heed of the promptings of Truth and Love, for those are the leadings of God,” urged the first Quaker, George Fox. Leadings is the word that Friends use to describe direction or guidance coming from the Spirit of God. Divine direction, God’s guidance, spiritual opportunity, and revelation are intimately tied into following the sacred compass. Here's a reading from chapter three of Sacred Compass.

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Enjoy--
Brent

Sacred Compass: The Holy Discovery

Here's a bit from the introduction of Sacred Compass.

Enjoy--
Brent

Sacred Compass Blogger Contest -- First Interviews

The blogger contest for Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment is off and running. The first three to post their interviews are C. Wess Daniels at Gathering in Light, Liz Wine at Lovin' Life Liz, and Shawna Roberts at Mystics, Poets, Fools. I hope you'll give them a visit.

Another person had interview questions but doesn't blog any longer. So I asked her if it would okay to post her questions and my answers on my blog. She said okay, First, though a little background. The interviewer is Jo Morgan of Joywise Heart-to-Heart. Jo lives in Madison, WI and she and her husband and I all went to high school together. Jo and I met in art class at Columbus, Ohio West High School -- under the tutelage of Mr. Robert McLinn. So we're long-time friends, even though Jo looks as even better as she did in high school (as does her husband Rick) and I look ... well, you know how I look. So here goes.

What drew you to this particular topic? Were there specific experiences?
The idea of knowing God’s will for my life, to use the language we used when I was growing up, has always been important to me. From high school days onward I’d buy and/or read books on spiritual discernment. Most of them, while helpful in some ways, were more of the 1-2-3 steps to God’s plan for your life. My life never quite seemed to fit into that 1-2-3 pattern – especially when it came to the challenging times of life or the times when I thought I’d followed God’s direction and seemed to end up in the wrong place. So I began questioning and learning and realized that life is a pilgrimage to God and that all of our experiences are used by God to make us the people we are – and that is good. So I wanted to share those thoughts with others – especially other “strivers” like me who want to do good, seem to often fail, and then beat ourselves up about missing some direction.

How do you personally receive or discern Divine Direction?
There are lots of ways I sense Divine Direction at work in my life. Most are in what Quakers call nudgings – a gentle nudge in the soul to do something worthy. It can be something simple – helping someone whose groceries have tumbled out of his torn grocery sack – or something large – to go work with AIDs orphans in Africa. We all get these nudgings – the important thing is learning to pay attention to them. There are other ways, too, reading wise books, listening to wise people, paying attention in love to the world around me, and much more.

Can you describe a time when the direction was almost as clear as your GPS directions?

One of the clearest times of direction was the time Nancy and I stood in the checkout line at the local grocery store, our cart well loaded. Our three sons lived at home at the time and so food disappeared quickly. Standing in front of us was a member of our Friends meeting, who also had three sons. Her cart held a few essentials. A single mother, she was between jobs and doing her best to get by. I felt a prompting inside me. By almost any standards, you are rich, the voice said. What should you do? Then I remembered Jesus’ words, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” I looked at Nancy, she nodded, and I tapped our friend on the shoulder. “Nancy and I would like to buy your groceries, if you’ll allow us,” I said so only she could hear. A look of relief filled her eyes and she nodded yes. As we three left the grocery, she said “Thanks. I have a lead on a job and this will really help tide us over until it comes through.” That was the last thing ever said about this incident between us. That, for me, was a time when Divine direction was a clear as GPS.

What do you believe prevents us from "discerning" God's guidance more easily?

Oh, I think all sorts of things get in our way – our busy-ness, our rushing around, the buzz in our minds of thoughts coming and going and going and coming. Probably the biggest obstacle to discernment is the noise of living, especially when we fail to recognize how it is distracting us from the needs of our souls. When we take time to nurture our spirits, we find discernment much easier.

What recommendations do you give the reader for tapping in more directly to God's Positioning System?
God’s Positioning System! I love that. Well, to tap in more directly, if we’re going to think of GPS, we have to first turn it on, then we have to consult it. GPS doesn’t do any good if it’s just in the car or on our cellphone. It has to be turned on and ready to go – and we have to use it. So, ways of turning it on, I think, include taking time for nurturing the spirit – prayer, quietness, reading, music, art, walking. These things vary person to person. Then ask – “Am I hearing/sensing correctly? Is this the way to go?” And trust the answers your soul receives – especially when the answers lead toward things that bring life and love and light.

Thanks, Jo, for sending in the questions! And for those of you who are bloggers, it's not too late to do the virtual interview.

--Brent

Sacred Compass Blogger Contest

My new book, Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment, (published by Paraclete Press) is just now hitting bookstores. It's premise is that a compass makes a good metaphor for our spiritual lives and the work of discerning God’s will for them. God doesn’t speak as clearly and as obviously as Mapquest or GoogleMaps or GPS. Maybe that’s because we don’t navigate the life of faith via anything remotely resembling GPS. Instead, the divine compass points us the mind and love of God. Our sacred compass operates in our souls and calls us to life with God. As we move toward Divine guidance, we joyfully behold the face of a loving God gazing back at us.

To help get the word out about the message of this book (which Richard J. Foster of Celebration of Discipline calls "one of the finest books on discernment and divine guidance that I have seen in a very long time."), I'm sponsoring a contest. It's an open call to any blogger to send me 5-10 questions about Sacred Compass. I will answer each one individually -- a sort of virtual interview. The virtual interview judged best by an independent, non-biased judge (my wife Nancy who has never read a blog until now but knows good questions when she sees them) will win a signed copy of the book and a gourmet assortment of goodies from The Best Chocolate in Town (my favorite chocolate place!).

A picture of the book jacket, blurbs by others, and photos of me are available for the asking. Questions for the virtual interview will be accepted through April 19th and the virtual interview must be posted by May 1 on the blogger's blog (is that redundant?). Entries will be judged by May 11 (my birthday!) and the winner announced to great acclaim on May 12. Send interview questions (along w/ a link to your blog) to brentbil@sbcglobal.net Visit http://www.brentbill.com/ for information about me.

Let the contest begin!

-- Brent

Family of Brent Bill, employees of Brent Bill, Brent Bill's cats and dog are ineligible to participate in the contest. Prohibited where void. Side effects include dizziness, neuralgia, and innuendo.