Donna Schaper

Money, like sex or politics, is one of our last taboos. We earn it, spend it, worry about it—but rarely talk about it honestly. Meditations on Money invites readers to break the silence and explore the deeper meanings behind what we earn and how we live. Written with the warmth and wisdom of a trusted friend, this book offers gentle, thought-provoking reflections on our relationship with money—how it shapes our choices, our relationships, and our sense of self. It’s not a how-to manual or financial guide. Instead, it’s a companion for those seeking to master money as part of mastering life itself. Each meditation encourages quiet reflection, much like a daily devotional, helping readers see money not as a measure of worth but as a mirror of values. You’ll learn to think and talk about money without guilt or anxiety, to give and spend with intention, and to see wealth as a tool for freedom rather than a source of fear. Drawing on insights from spiritual and philosophical traditions across history, Meditations on Money reclaims money as a moral and spiritual practice. It challenges readers to see stewardship not as a duty, but as a way of life—one grounded in awareness, generosity, and joy. This is a book to savor slowly. Like a recipe or travel guide, it invites you into unfamiliar territory: a world where money no longer defines you, but serves you. Whether read alone or shared in conversation with friends and family, Meditations on Money will leave you more at ease, more awake, and more free.

As membership in traditional churches or religious institutions plummets, the meaning of marriage is changing rapidly. Interfaith marriages are on the rise, creating new challenges from wedding planning to childraising. People of faith are marrying nonreligious people. Many question the institution of marriage itself. At a time when those identifying as spiritual but not religious is on the rise, Pastor Donna Schaper provides a roadmap to help readers to understand this continuing transition of marriage after both culture and religion are no longer of one voice about its meaning.

In her more than forty years as a minister, Rev. Donna Schaper has been approached hundreds of times by people wanting to know how to prepare for the end of life in both practical and spiritual matters. Countless others have turned to her for guidance on how to handle the death of a loved one. From making a will and planning a memorial service to finding peace in the toughest circumstances, Approaching the End of Life offers practical and spiritual guidance to anyone wrestling with the end of a life. With sensitivity and humor Rev. Schaper helps readers face aging and mortality with freedom rather than fear. She encourages readers to find a spiritual home of some kind—even if it is far from the doors of a church—and offers helpful suggestions on memorials and funeral services that will be well suited to the departed while serving the loved ones in their grief and celebration. The book also includes practical resources such as a service planning checklist, a template for a funeral or memorial service, and more.

The user-friendly, interfaith guide to making and using labyrinths—for meditation, prayer and celebration—updated, revised and expanded! A labyrinth is a circuitous path that people have used as a form of prayer and meditation for thousands of years—a path that is being rediscovered as a spiritual tool in our own day. There are now thousands of labyrinths in North America, made of stone, cement, sunflowers, grass or canvas; indoors and outdoors; in Christian, Pagan and even nonreligious settings; and adaptable for use by people of all spiritual backgrounds. This guide explains how the labyrinth is a symbol that transcends traditions, and how walking its path brings us together. Here is your entry to the fascinating history and philosophy of the labyrinth walk, with directions for making a labyrinth of your own or ?nding one in your area, and guidance on ways to use labyrinths creatively for: Prayer • Stress reduction • Meditation • Commemorating personal or family milestones • Faith rituals • Celebrations of all kinds Labyrinths—a twenty-?rst century method of approaching the sacred—are a spiritual practice more ancient than Stonehenge or the ruins of Troy. This practical and inspiring guide will help you to explore them.

Donna Schaper has written a thought-provoking book to assist readers in developing a way to move forward, a way to become persons of faith, and a way of becoming Christians by ""calmly plotting the resurrection."" Schaper provides a daily exercise for the seven weeks of the Lenten season, including a passage of Scripture, a brief reflection, and concluding questions for further consideration or group discussion. The themes for each week of reflections are: Week 1--Where Are We Going? Week 2--Are We There Yet? Week 3--Are We Lost? Week 4--Parabolic Thinking: The Land Beyond Lost, Next To Doubt Week 5--What Is Enough Resurrection? Week 6--Rising Week 7--Risen Schaper provides a daily guide for our journey through the Lenten season, filled with personal illustrations, inspirational stories, and words for reflection. Perfect for individual study and for adult groups, Calmly Plotting the Resurrection is a helpful resource for anyone seeking a meaningful journey toward Easter. Donna E. Schaper is the Senior Minister of the Judson Memorial Church, Washington Square South, New York City.

Can we really enjoy the world while trying to save it? Many of us want to do both, but find a balance difficult to achieve. Part how-to and part memoir, Schaper's book shows us a socially responsible way of having it all. The short, humorous chapters are about simplifying: food, children, money, romance. From the Slow Food Movement to the lighting of simple fires, Schaper provides basic strategies and spiritual solutions for living well and doing good, drawing from her own experience of working for social change while attempting to live fully.

While there are no easy answers to loss and death, Mature Grief offers a compass to anyone navigating the unknown and uncharted waters of grief. Each life comes from God. It begins with God and has no end. Our parents came from God, out from the circle of eternity, bestowed with goodness, and in dying they return to God. Their circle is complete. And in between, their spirits splashed-down here briefly in a quiet eddy at the edge of the flowing river of time. Our lives began as a ripple of their lives. And their deaths may provoke a tidal wave of grief. In this thoughtful and practical book, pastor Donna Schaper guides the reader through the process of grieving the death of a parent. While acknowledging that every person’s experience of grieving the death of a parent is unique, she offers helpful insight to the reality that some occasions of grief are quite simple and others, for reasons as complicated as life itself, are fraught with confusion and complexity. Especially helpful is Schaper’s wise guidance for making transitions: dealing with belongings, family dynamics, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other important dates.

The third in Cowley’s Cloister Book series, Sabbath Keeping is a collection of ten meditations, each exploring a different aspect of keeping the sabbath and ending with a prayer. Since it is a difficult art in a society that does not value rest, Schaper encourages small acts of sabbath keeping that initially focus on physical and mental renewal but soon broaden to questions of justice and power. She begins with a chapter called “What is Sabbath?” and goes to the Bible for definitions, from the ordinances surrounding sabbath in the Hebrew Bible to the gospel stories about the Sabbath. Other meditations concern sabbath and music, sabbath and the body, prayer, focusing and decluttering, sabbath and memory, sabbath as the relinquishing of power, and sabbath as an act of resistance.

Through fascinating anecdotes and narrative stories, Donna Schaper relates these ancient texts to contemporary situations. She skillfully applies the gospel of life and hope to circumstances of suffering and death. Chapters include: - Letting Death Go (Mark 8:31-38) - Paying Attention to the Modern Light (John 3:14-21) - Junk Food and Holy Tables (John 18:1-19) - Being Spiritually Odd (John 20:19-31) Donna Schaper has preached 25 full seasons of Lent and Easter as a parish pastor and a denominational executive. She is a graduate of Gettysburg College, Gettysburg Seminary, and the University of Chicago. She currently works as Area Minister for the Western Area of Massachusetts of the United Church of Christ. She writes for magazines and journals and is a frequent consultant to churches on Spirituality and Church Growth.