Pat Collins

Carl Jung once wrote, "No matter what the world thinks about religious experience, the one who has it possesses a great treasure." Although fewer people than ever go to church, research indicates that perhaps as many as 66% of the population in secularized English-speaking countries are having significant religious experiences. This book explores the causes, nature, and effects of such experiences whether theistic or non-theistic, while indicating how those which are theistic can animate Christian spirituality, theology, piety, and churchgoing, while improving the psychosomatic health of those who enjoy them. This well-informed, wide-ranging study is a fascinating apologia which advocates the importance, beauty, and life-transforming power of a vital but often neglected dimension of human existence. It also sounds a cautionary note by pointing out that the orthodoxy of religious experience must be measured against the parameters of traditional Christian teaching in the belief that while dogmatic faith without religious experience is lifeless, religious experience without dogma is blind.

Drawing on insights from Scripture, tradition, psychology, and experience, this book offers a comprehensive guide to Prayer in Practice, an essential resource for students and seekers alike. Applying ancient wisdom to contemporary questions, Prayer in Practice responds to the perennial request, "Teach us to pray."

Drawing on insights from Scripture, tradition, psychology, and experience, this book offers a comprehensive guide to Prayer in Practice, an essential resource for students and seekers alike. Applying ancient wisdom to contemporary questions, Prayer in Practice responds to the perennial request, "Teach us to pray."

What in the world is a weed? The dictionary will tell you it is a plant out of place. In The Wonderous World of Weeds you will discover that the perceived weeds that grow around us hold special significance and wonderful medicinal values. We have plants growing all around us that have so much culinary and holistic potential and can be used as teas, poultices, compresses and ointments along with syrup and lozenges. Their medical uses can help relieve itches, get rid of cold sores or help with coughs and colds. Weeds also have culinary uses so there are recipes included. They are also great companions in the garden for vegetables, fruit trees and flowers and they can tell you about the quality of your soil. The Wonderous World of Weeds will feature 100 common world-wide weeds and each plant will include: a full description and identification together with a photograph; distribution i.e. where they typically grow; a list of their common names; what uses they have; what medicinal value they have; when to harvest them; recipes - whether it be culinary, medicinal or both.