Using the metaphor of pilgrimage, this book invites readers to reflect on living with illness. The heart of the book is a collection of thirty meditations, followed by a reflection, a short prayer, and a suggested spiritual practice. The meditations voice the difficulties and the challenges of living with illness, and call the reader toward a deepening understanding, compassion and generosity. While the meditations intend to offer comfort, they are also written from the conviction that God invites us to grow even in these circumstances. When living with chronic, terminal, or progressive illness, discovering a way to pray can be quite a challenge. These thirty meditations provide a welcome means with practices inspired by the psalms.

Excerpt:
                         Day One
“You will show me the path of life” —Ps. 16:11

If you are reading this meditation, in all probability you
are learning to live with illness. Your illness may be
chronic or progressive or terminal. In any case, you are
entering a school of experience for which our culture
offers little wisdom. You are seeking to find a way to live
with the stresses and the discomforts of a body that is
somehow weakened. You are trying to live within new
limitations. You are also coming face to face with the fact
of your own mortality.

The wisdom tradition of scripture tells us that this kind
of experience, as harsh and painful as it may be, also
offers us the opportunity to come to terms with reality.
We begin to remember that we are creatures. We begin
to recognize that our lives are fragile and that our bodies
can suffer from many different maladies. We begin to
reorient and reframe our lives, within a new context —
a context of difficult days and unexpected physical
disruption. And we may begin to ask deeper questions
about meaning and about life, about death and about
eternity. When we ask those questions, we are beginning
to take the first steps on a path of life. We are beginning
to live at a deeper level, though it may not be the path
we would have chosen.

  Visit the author at her website www.marycearle.org

Mary C. Earle is a poet, author and spiritual director, who teaches at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. She is also author-inresidence at the Work+Shop, a ministry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. She resides in San Antonio, Texas.

For Immediate Release September 8, 2009
Contact: Bill Falvey, 917-373-8510, wfalvey@cpg.org
Church Publishing, 445 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016

New Book Offers Strong Medicine Inspired by the Psalms

(New York) – When living with chronic, terminal or progressive illness, discovering a way to pray can be quite a challenge.
 
“If you’re living with illness,” explains author Mary C. Earle, “you’re entering a school of experience for which our culture offers little wisdom, seeking a way to live with discomforts and within new limitations that bring you face to face with the fact of your own mortality and prompt you to ask deeper questions about meaning and life, about death and eternity.”

In her new book from Morehouse Publishing, the Rev. Earle – well known for earlier works using Benedictine wisdom to cope with the challenges of chronic illness – invites those suffering from illness, plus their caregivers, on a 30-day pilgrimage inspired by the Psalms:

Days of Grace:  Meditation and Practices for Living with Illness Mary C. Earle  ISBN: 978-0-8192-2364-7  $12.00  Paper  128 pgs  4 x 6

**Review copies, interviews, and excerpts available on request.**

A reflection, a short prayer, and a suggested spiritual practice follow each of these 30 new meditations.  The meditations seek to voice the difficulties and the challenges of living with illness, and call the reader to a deepening compassion and generosity. While the meditations intend to offer comfort, they are also written from the conviction that God invites us to grow even in emotionally and physically challenging circumstances.

The book, intended for general readers dealing with illness, caregivers, plus hospitals, disease centers, parish nurses, church study groups, Christian educators, and clergy, includes a short conclusion reflecting on the intentionality of pilgrimage and how that spirit can give some meaning to grappling with the tensions and travails of living with illness.

Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, poet, author and spiritual director, who teaches online courses for the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin.  She is also Author-in-Residence at the Work+Shop, a ministry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio.  She is author of The Desert Mothers: Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness, Beginning Again: Benedictine Wisdom for Living with Illness, and Broken Body, Healing Spirit: Lectio Divina and Living with Illness. She also is co-author of Holy Companions: Spiritual Practices from the Celtic Saints.

The new book can be ordered through any Episcopal, religious, or secular bookstore; through any online bookseller, or direct from the publisher by calling 800-242-1918 or by visiting www.churchpublishing.org.

Founded in 1918 and headquartered in New York City, Church Publishing Incorporated is the publisher of official worship materials, books, and music for the Episcopal Church, plus a multi-faceted publisher and supplier to the broader ecumenical marketplace. Publishing imprints include Church Publishing, Morehouse Publishing, and Seabury Books. Additional CPI divisions include Morehouse Church Supplies, a provider of church supplies, ecclesiastical furnishings, and vestments, located in Harrisburg, PA; and Morehouse Education Resources, which produces lectionary-based curriculum, faith formation programs, plus e-publishing resources and services, in Denver, CO.

Tear sheets and/or advance notice of publication is encouraged and appreciated.