2012-02-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Path of the Purified Heart: The Spiritual Journey as Transformation has just been published!

Order the book now at http://www.cascadebooks.com/ or look for it in mid-February at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere books are sold. The e-book for Kindle and iPad users is now available at Amazon.
Endorsements and reviews appear below.

Path of the Purified Heart forthcoming from Cascade Books

2011-11-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

My new book, Path of the Purified Heart: The Spiritual Journey as Transformation, will soon be published by Cascade Books, a division of Wipf and Stock Publishers.

The book offers a clear path and a rooted spirituality for those seeking a deep relationship with God. Whether you are now or ever were Christian--Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or unaffiliated--this book will show you the path countless spiritual seekers have followed to the heart of God.

The path traces the classic spiritual journey toward transformation into the likeness of Christ in a unique and fascinating way. Throughout the book, I weave in my own journey on this path, revealing the struggles and surprises I have encountered along the way.

Drawing on the voices of wise elders from the past and present, I show how contemporary Christians and spiritual seekers may recover a rich, deep tradition to inform their relationship with God through Christ. Essential spiritual practices for each stage of the journey--purification, illumination, and union with God--are illustrated. The church's role in spiritual formation is emphasized.

Two motifs structure the book: the church's liturgical year, which I followed through my own "year of purification" during the writing of the book, and the labyrinth, symbol of the spiritual journey. I invite you to take this journey of discovery and transformation along with me!

Endorsements and Reviews:

"Laura Dunham invites the reader to share in the rich convergence in her own life. That convergence includes deep rootage in Reformed faith, alert participation in the great tradition of spirituality, engagement with contemporary masters of spiritual disciplines, and her own critical angle on her own experience. She lines out this convergence according to the liturgical year of the church, giving access that may lead the reader, along with the author, closer to the heart of God."

             Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary
              Author of The Practice of Prophetic Imagination (2012)

"In Path of the Purified Heart, Dunham employs all the candor and intimacy of good memoir and all the objectivity of a trained pastor to give us an honest and informative look into Christian mysticism from the perspective of the Reformed tradition."

              Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours series

"Rare keen intelligence, simplicity of style and compelling as a literature! This book can teach all of us how transformation is possible if we take seriously one liturgical year and stay attentive. Rev. Laura Dunham has written a book not only different in degree, but different in kind. This is a new contribution to serious seekers in the Christian tradition because this book is not only smart and personal but real and ready for any contemporary seeker who wants to go deeper right now."

               Mary Margaret Funk, OSB, Our Lady of Grace Monastery
               Author of Lectio Matters:Before the Burning Bush (2010)

"Spiritually rich and beautifully written, Laura Dunham not only retrieves important traditions of Christian wisdom, she juxtaposes them in unique, insightful, and fully convincing ways. How does the embodied and transformative process of walking the labyrinth guide us also in the soul's journey through purification, illumination, and union? How is the church's liturgical calendar humanized through provocative yet honest personal anecdote? In raising these questions Dunham honors Christian traditions as well as her readers."

                 Dr. Steven Chase, Presbyterian minister and Studium Scholar, St. Bendict's Monastery
                 Author of Nature as Spiritual Practice (2011)

"Dear Laura--I want you to know that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. It is wonderful! Honest and hopeful. And you cover so much material. Thank you!."

                 Anna Pinckney Strait, Associate Pastor, University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, NC