Awaken Your Senses Comes to Philadelphia!

Beth Booram's and my Awaken Your Senses workshop is coming to Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA on October 5-7, 2012.  Based on our Awaken Your Senses book, this interactive and very sensory workshop will teach you ways of engaging your senses and exploring the wonder of God. 

Today would be a great day to register.  I hope we'll see you there!

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

Paying Attention in Love: A Spiritual Exercise

We start using our senses to experience the presence of God around us when we learn to pay attention in love to our surroundings, the spots where we live. Though it is in God that we live and move and have our being, it is in very specific places like our homes, offices, farms, schools and the like where we actually live and move and are being. Take a few minutes now and look around.

· What do you see?

· What do you smell?

· What do you hear?

· What do you taste?

· What do you feel?

Grab a piece of paper (or a scrap of napkin, computer keyboard, or journal) and write down your answers.

This is a simple step, but it is the first step in learning to pay attention. Seeing God at work and play around us, however, involves more than merely paying attention. Seeing God means coupling our attention with love.

There are miracles all around us. They seem hidden because we do not see them, cloaked as they are in the ordinary. It takes the combination of attention and love to notice them.

When we combine attention and love, we move to a new level of noticing. Love and attention give us a deep, clear look at God everywhere around us. So, with the thought of paying attention in love, slow your breathing, quiet your mind and calm your heart. Now, take a fresh look around, with attention and love.

· What do you see?

· What do you smell?

· What do you hear?

· What do you taste?

· What do you feel?

When you’re finished, write down your answers and compare them to what you wrote earlier. How are they similar? How are they different? How did you catch a glimpse or whiff or touch of the Divine?

-- adapted from "Awaken Your Senses: Exercises for Exploring the Wonder of God"

Scents-ing the Spirit: A Spiritual Exercise

We take a breath between 14,000 to 17,000 times each day. Every time we breathe in, we inhale the aromas of the world around us. Some of these smells are delightful. Some are less so. Regardless, these smells connect us to all of creation and to God, the creator of it all.

Take a few minutes and think of the place where you most often sense God’s presence. This may be where you worship on Sunday mornings. Or it may be a park where you go for walks, a corner of your living room, or some other place. Close your eyes and relax. Think back to the most recent time when you felt God close there.

· What did that place smell like then?

· What scents come to your mind?

· Are they scents of people?

· Of objects?

· Food?

· How do those scents contribute to your sense of Divine presence?

· Do they help connect you to God when you smell them out of context – places or times where/when you don’t expect to smell them?

Adapted from "Awaken Your Senses"

And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to Jan Church Daily--the winner of our final week of the Awaken Your Senses contest! You can read Jan's entry below. Also, Julie Hudson is the winner of an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses. Thanks to everyone who participated! Continue to stay awake to your senses--especially during this time of Lent as we embody the journey of walking in the footsteps of Christ toward the cross.

Smell -- Awaken Your Senses Contest

Here's Your Last Chance!

Today begins the final week in our Awaken Your Senses Contest. The sense of the week is SMELL!

Please add a comment to this post about experiences you have this week or have had in the past related to your sense of smell.

... BTW--did you know that your most vivid memories are likely linked to strong smells? Here's why:

Smelling Memories
"Often, the strongest memories of our past are indelibly imprinted into our memory bank through our senses, especially the sense of smell. Here’s why: we use our olfactory sense all the time as we take in currents of air that pass through the nostrils, over the bony turbinates in our nasal passages to a “sheet” about the size of a small postage stamp, which contains five to six million olfactory receptors! There, smells are recognized because each odorant fits into a nerve cell kind of like a lock and key. The nerve cells then send signals along our olfactory nerve to the brain, where the odors are interpreted as “sweet smelling gardenias” or “foul smelling sneakers.” The reason we know the difference is the strong connection between our sense of smell and our memory. According to Dr. Rachel Herz, a psychologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and recognized expert on the psychology of smell, our odor preferences are learned. Herz suggests, “We learn to like and dislike various odors based on the emotional associations we make upon initial encounter with them.” (Awaken Your Senses, Pg. 157, 158)

The contest is featured on:

• Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page
• Brent’s Blog
• Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of HEARING and notice how it introduces you to the wonder of God.
2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)
3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to TOUCH.
4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.
5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

The Contest Schedule!
February 6 – Taste
Winners: Leah Sophia -- $25 Harry and Davids Gift Certificate
Sherry Redinger – autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 13 – See
Winners: Martin Stand--$25 gift card (Amazon.uk)
Rantwoman -- an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 20 – Touch
Winners: Jen Friesen -- $25 gift card
Liz Dyer -- an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 27 – Hear
Winners: Carol Ann Webb -- $25 iTune
Leah Sophia -- an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses!
(our first double winner!)

March 5 -- Smell

Tell your friends about the contest. Tweet, tumblr and blog about it. Spread the word. We can’t wait to hear about your experiences as you awaken your senses to the wonder of God.

-- Brent

Hearing -- This Week's Contest Sense

This week's sense is HEARING!

“As you think about the sounds that compose the background soundtrack of your daily life, what words would you use to describe them? Are they sounds you should be paying attention to? Are they bringing news of others? Are they proclaiming God’s story in a way different from how you normally hear it? When listened to with attention and love, the everyday sounds of life may contain all the news of God that you can either use or bear.”

“Take a moment and listen to the sounds around you. Pay attention to them in love. What sounds do you notice? What news are they bringing? Are they blessings or calls to prayer? Or both?” (from Awaken Your Senses)

Today (Feb. 27) is the start of week four of the “Awaken Your Senses Contest.” The contest is featured on:

• Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page
• Brent’s Blog
• Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of HEARING and notice how it introduces you to the wonder of God.
2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)
3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to TOUCH.
4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.
5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

The Contest Schedule!
February 6 – Taste
Winners: Leah Sophia -- $25 Harry and Davids Gift Certificate
Sherry Redinger – autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 13 – See
Winners: Martin Stand--$25 gift card (Amazon.uk)
Rantwoman -- an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 20 – Touch
Winners: Jen Friesen -- $25 gift card
Liz Dyer -- an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses

February 27 – Hear

March 5 -- Smell

Tell your friends about the contest. Tweet, tumblr and blog about it. Spread the word. We can’t wait to hear about your experiences as you awaken your senses to the wonder of God.

-- Brent