The Meeting Place

We all long to feel we're truly meeting with God in prayer. This personal exploration of spiritual direction will introduce you to rich contemplative practices that will help you feed your soul, throw off outside expectations, and experience God's presence in every season of life. "Spiritual direction is a relational art born amid conversation and stories and honest curiosity, where we listen to Jesus in company with another and in harmony with the Spirit. In these pages, you'll experience these mysteries through lyrical prose offering a slow, open-hearted, and sometimes bewildering encounter with the living God. If you've ever wondered what spiritual direction is or you long for a more natural intimacy with God, you'll find help here. Also, I found myself wanting to learn how to cook paella in a garden kitchen in Barcelona, but you'll have to read to discover what I mean." -- Winn Collier, author of Love Big, Be Well and A Burning in My Bones: The Biography of Eugene Peterson, and director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination "For a self-proclaimed unreliable narrator, I found Laura Kauffman's introduction/invitation to spiritual direction to be quite trustable. If 'be still and know' sounds impossible in your breakneck-paced life (plus maybe even a little frightening), Laura's stories and practices in The Meeting Place offer a gracey alternative: 'Okay, then, how about just a little stiller? How about we start there, and see what we might see?'" -- John Blase, poet and author "The guidance offered in The Meeting Place toward a deepening life of faith emerges from the writer's own richly examined life as wife, mother, reader, lifelong learner, and spiritual director. The stories and prayer practices are elegant and simple, invigorating and encouraging. This is a book to keep nearby, underline, enjoy, and return to for the kind of encouragement that keeps your eyes open and your feet steady on the path." -- Marilyn McEntyre, author of Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies "Laura Kauffman is a storyteller, a light-bearer, and a gift. In a world filled with loneliness and facades, she invites you into her life. As she holds hope for the story of God written in your life, she uses real tools and ancient practices to invite you to experience God in an ordinary, extraordinary way. Read--no, experience--this book." -- Sherri Harder, spiritual director, supervisor, teacher with Sustainable Faith, and author of An Ignatian Pilgrimage An Invitation to Rest in God's PresenceWe long to tangibly experience the presence of God--to come and see what the Lord has done, to be still and know our God. Far too often, that longing is swallowed up in the dings of technology, the demands of our schedules, and the duties of our faith. We are exhausted--and missing deep connection with the divine. The Meeting Place is a guide to two ancient, proven practices for drawing near to God in a loud and distracting world: spiritual direction--the art of attending to God's movements in your life with the help of a trained companion--and contemplative prayer--the practice of quieting the mind and opening the heart to receive rather than speak. Together, these practices create a meeting place: a space of unhurried encounter between your soul and a God who is closer than you think. Written for anyone who longs to experience God more deeply--especially those who feel new to contemplative practice, spiritually burned out, or simply too busy to stop--each chapter offers: ● A personal story--drawn from Laura Kauffman's own journey as a practicing spiritual director and poet, illuminating what she has discovered in the quiet ● A practical exercise--something you can try on your own or bring into community, designed to make ancient practices accessible in ordinary life Laura Kauffman's writing has been described as turning a poet's eye toward the rhythms of daily life--a careful meditation on meaning found in what often goes unnoticed. That same quality of attention shapes every page of this book, making it ideal for personal devotional use, spiritual direction groups, or contemplative retreat settings. If you long to be aware of the nearness of God, to rest in his presence, and to be equipped to listen to him, The Meeting Place is your guide toward an ever-deepening intimacy with God.