Practicing Spirituality with Joyce Rupp – 2023

by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

January 9 – February 24

Joyce Rupp encourages us to bring our spirituality into the light of our everyday lives. Her books, workshops, and presentations always contain concrete spiritual practices, lively anecdotes, inspiring poetry, thoughtful journal exercises, guided meditations, and unique prayers. She has a gift for reading her own experiences and finding hints of God’s presence in her daily activities.

For this 40-day e-course, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat have selected passages from Joyce’s writing and married them to simple practices you can do during the day. We also work with some of her rituals and poetry. Subscribers to the e-course will have access to an online Practice Circle to share their responses and experiences with others.

Read more about the themes of this e-course and sign up using the link below.

Contemplative Writing

with Judith Favor

On-Demand (you choose start date and frequency of emails)

In 2021, Spirituality & Practice offered a year-long experiment in contemplative writing and listening, facilitated by Judith Favor, a seasoned spiritual guide. The writing component of the 2021 program was so insightful that we have recreated it in an e-course format which you can do on your own. You choose your own start date and how often you want to receive the 52 emails (we suggest weekly to spread the program out over a year).

Each email will contain a focus word, reflections, and writing prompts. You will be encouraged to organize your writing into sections, such as “Spiritual Gatherings,” “Stepping Stones,” “Dream Log,” and “Meditation Log.” Periodically you will receive guidelines for varied forms of writing, including dialogues, laments, and psalms.

Read more details and consider some “wondering questions” to see if this e-course is for you by using the link below.

Contemplative Photographers Practice Group Year 8

Enrollment Now Open

For the past seven and a half years, a community of people at all skill levels have been gathering at SpiritualityandPractice.com to explore contemplative photography together. Participants create photos in response to a weekly theme we provide. The atmosphere is one of acceptance, encouragement, and delight in the wonders that this artistic medium opens for us. Everyone is welcome, whether you’ve been in the group for years or are just discovering this opportunity today.

We have found this to be a marvelous opportunity for community building at S&P, and to encourage deep and growing relationships among the members of the Practice Group, we open enrollment to new people only twice a year. Those joining now during the second enrollment period will be able to see all the prompts since last August and view the photos posted by members.

Read more about this opportunity at the link below.

Poetry E-Courses

with Roger Housden

For five years, we asked best-selling author, popular speaker, and writing guide Roger Housden to curate a collection of poems for daily delivery during January. We figured this would be a great way to start the year, and many of our e-course regulars agreed. For 2023, instead of presenting a new course, we want to remind you of the existing ones. They are all available in our on-demand system, so you can do them at your own pace. In keeping with the history of these poems and Roger’s commentaries on them being the source of reflection for a New Year, we suggest you schedule your e-course to begin on January 1 and to be delivered daily.

These are wonderful collections of poems:

• Poetry to Lift the Spirits
• Poetry to Nourish the Soul
• Poetry in Quest of Courage’
• Poetry to Renew Your Heart
• Poetry to Transform Your Life.

Find links to sign up for each course from the page below.

Spiritual Literacy Film Series

Available on Six DVDs or as Videos-on-Demand

“To read the sacred in everyday life, we have to develop new qualities of mind and heart, qualities that open us to the presence of the spiritual within all aspects of existence. No moment, no thing is to be excluded. But like any other kind of reading, reading the sacred requires an alphabet. Here in 26 parts are 26 different qualities that are needed to practice spiritual literacy for reading the sacred in everyday life.”

These lines are from the opening credits of a very special film series focused on 26 of the practices in the Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy. Passages illustrating each practice from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat’s book Spiritual Literacy are presented through sense-luscious visuals and emotionally vibrant music. The films have been used for individual reflection and group discussion in congregations, retirement communities, health care centers, prisons, and elsewhere.

You can see a “trailer” for each episode at the VOD site and then either download the video or have the DVDs mailed to you.

Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, viewed the series and wrote: “This series is a truly a gem. It is intelligent, beautiful, and original. You can use it for information and meditation. You can teach with it and give it to a friend who is sick or depressed. You can use it as a model for expressing your own creativity. Or, you can simply enjoy it.”

Read more about the film series and the resources available to support your use of it on the page below.