Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections, and Rituals: A 52-Week Devotional - Hardcover

by Bonnie Smith Whitehouse (Author)

A 52-week interactive devotional that helps families and friends discover God enfleshed in the world.

"A devotional in the most all-encompassing sense, Seasons of Wonder sets readers on a path that leads to a year filled with more hope, more sweetness, more grace, and more love."--Margaret Renkl, author of Late Migrations and PEN Award Winner

Seasons of Wonder is designed to allow you to gather together weekly with your loved ones and expand your understanding of divinity, specifically the radical but faithful idea that everything is sacred. This devotional is designed around weekly contemplative activities as well as interactive and transformative practices that connect us to surprise, awe, and wonder, including:

- uncomplicated crafts that honor creation
- simple recipes to make together
- conversation guides to cultivate the gifts of storytelling, deep listening, mystery, and community
- accessible introductions to liturgical observations and rituals
- plus four additional weeks of activities that you can incorporate whenever they're appropriate, such as birthdays, sick days, or when you're traveling together or blessing your home

In February readers might make a hiking stick to embark on a holy pilgrimage (even if it's just in the neighborhood) and discover the meaning of Ash Wednesday, while in the summer months they can learn how to cherish the Earth's seasons of holy pause by making prayer cards, bath salts, or family time capsules alongside the reading of peaceful liturgies and ancient prayers.

Bonnie Smith Whitehouse invites us all to consider the life-changing idea that small, intentional moments of wonder are charged manifestations of the grand presence of Christ in me, in you, and in this dazzling, vast--and imperiled--blue planet we call our beloved home. By spending a short amount of time together with Seasons of Wonder every week this year, you can transform an ordinary meeting into a sacred gathering.

Author Biography

Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, PhD, is a writer and professor who studies storytelling, creativity, contemplation, and wonder. She is the author of Nautilus Award winner Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking and Kickstart Creativity: 50 Prompted Cards to Spark Inspiration. A lifelong Episcopalian, she has spent the last twenty years as a lay leader of St. Augustine's Episcopal Chapel at Vanderbilt University. Bonnie is professor of English and director of the honors program at Belmont University, and she lives in Nashville with her family.