Bonnie B. Thurston

2009 Catholic Press Association Award Winner To read the Gospel of Mark is to embark on a journey that begins in a desert and ends with a boulder rolled away from the tomb. In between, Jesus teaches his disciples, calls them to journey and learn what it means to follow him, and guides them to Jerusalem, the scene of the Passion. In The Spiritual Landscape of Mark, Bonnie Thurston has adapted a retreat that she gave to the Society of the Sacred Cross at Tymawr Convent in Wales, thereby inviting all of us to embark on this spiritual journey. Mark's gospel is full of places' desert, house, sea, valley, mountain, city, cross, garden and the winding roads between them. Thurston's prose invites us to go away to a quiet place and reflect awhile on what it means to be Jesus's disciple, to follow him across the hard landscape. Along the way there will be glimpses of his glory when he stills the storm and is transfigured on the mountain, when he heals the sick and feeds the hungry. Still, the primary lesson is the difficult way to which we are called, along with the great joy of knowing that Jesus has initiated the journey and leads us exactly where we need to go. Bonnie B. Thurston, PhD, lives in West Virginia in solitude. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the author of several books, including Philippians in the Sacra Pagina series and Religious Vows, the Sermon on the Mount, and Christian Living (Liturgical Press), and Preaching Mark (Fortress Press).

The Spiritual Landscape of Mark

To understand the life and thought of Thomas Merton, one must understand him as a monk. After introducing his vocation and entrance into the Trappist order, this book highlights some of his basic spiritual presuppositions. Relying primarily on Merton's writing, Bonnie B. Thurston surveys his thought on fundamental aspects of monastic formation and spirituality, particularly obedience, silence, solitude, and prayer. She also addresses some of the temptations and popular misunderstandings surrounding monastic life. Accessible and conversational in style, the book suggests how monastic spirituality is relevant, not only for all Christians, but also for serious spiritual seekers.

Thomas Merton's Monastic Spirituality

Shaped by the End You Live For

Somewhere along the way, says Bonnie Thurston, the wild unlikelihood of the Christian message has been reined in and made to fit more conventional categories of thought. That it is good and moral to be Christian we understand. That it is feral and almost uncontrollably countercultural is something that has been largely forgotten or suppressed. This taming has been especially effective in the case of the first gospel. In Maverick Mark, Thurston sets out to rediscover the radicalism of Mark's original message. Thurston focuses on Mark's conception of discipleship, economic justice, and personal lifestyle. She demonstrates that this gospel raises fundamental questions about some common contemporary Christian assumptions. This is an accessible introduction to Mark, ideal for interested adult readers of all kinds, which incorporates the most reliable and up-to-date Scripture scholarship. Bonnie B. Thurston, after years as a university and seminary professor, lives quietly in her home state of West Virginia. She is the author of many books of scripture and theology, including The Spiritual Landscape of Markand Philippians in the Sacra Pagina series. Her poetry appears frequently in religious periodicals and among her published collections isBelonging to Borders: A Sojourn in the Celtic Tradition.

The Untamed First Gospel

Maverick Mark

Judith Ryan

Bonnie Bowman Thurston

"With updated bibliography"--Copyright page.

Philippians and Philemon

From its origins in the fourth and fifth centuries, first in monastic circles and then in wider Christian communities, the story of Mary of Egypt was wildly popular. From early Christianity through the medieval periods, from Egypt to Scandinavia, verse lives in Greek, Latin, and vernacular languages portray her as the model of repentance. Continuously venerated in the liturgy and icons of the Orthodox Churches, she is now seldom known in the West. This modern verse life and the accompanying essay reintroduces St. Mary’s extraordinary life, its theological and spiritual implications, and its remarkable depiction of gender complementarity.

A Modern Verse Life and Interpretation

Saint Mary of Egypt

Saint Mary of Eqypt

This is a book about how, on a cosmic and a personal level, darkness gives way to light. It does not sugar-coat the reality of darkness but is full of hope, reminding voyagers that 'light shines in the darkness', that darkness is required to perceive light - and that Easter means the light has come, life triumphs, and the promised Holy Spirit will empower us for growth: 'eastering' ...These reflective, prayerful poems are 'a ticket and passport for a spiritual journey' and can be used in a daily discipline or with groups.'For each traveller I pray journeying mercies,' Bonnie Thurston writes. 'And I remind pilgrims: Take heart. He will come.'Having resigned a professorship and chair in New Testament studies, Bonnie Thurston now lives quietly as a solitary near Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, working as a spiritual director and retreat leader and volunteering in a food bank. She is the author of over 20 books.'You are in skilled hands here, so let yourself be carried along, ready to experience delight, or be jarred into discomfort. Above all ponder, weigh, take time. For each poem comes out of the quiet depths of a person who is a fellow pilgrim, illuminating the familiar with her own God-given insight.'- Esther de Waal

Bonnie B. Thurston

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