HOLY GROUND

Too often we turn prayer into well-intentioned patterns of our own making. Too often we assume prayer is primarily about words. Sometimes there's an almost magical understanding that if we get the words right, if we trust enough or believe enough, God will ""answer."" But most of us know that God is not a divine magician or our own personal valet and that prayer is much more than our feeble attempts to make God pay attention to what God already knows. Using the alphabet as a template of descriptive words and actions, Holy Ground: An Alphabet of Prayer invites reflection about prayer as paying Attention, looking for Beauty, showing Compassion, practicing Devotion, celebrating Enthusiasm--all the way to the end of the alphabet and discovering Wonder, X as mystery, and Z as Zeal. These reflections will help readers experience prayer as a place, an action, or attitude, a stance for recognizing and acknowledging God's presence in the midst of ordinary life--something like the sigh of the shoemaker, too busy to drop his worn shoes and kneel in disciplined prayer, but not too busy to sigh his prayer of gratitude. Prayer is so much more than words.

""Aageson provides a treasury of thoughtful reflections on the 'alphabet of prayer.' The author has such a wonderful sense of God's presence in the midst of ordinary life. Holy Ground encourages readers to approach prayer as a way of paying attention, listening for God's voice in people, in creation, and in the events of our daily lives. This book will be fruitful for personal devotion and for group prayer and study.""
--Mark S. Brocker, Lead Pastor, St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Beaverton, Oregon

""How do we invite people into practices of prayer that nourish and sustain? This exquisite little book invites readers into an open and generous space of wondering about prayer, encourages a diverse and wide range of ways of praying, and offers resources for going deeper into traditions which honor prayer.""
--Mary Hess, Professor of Educational Leadership, Luther Seminary

""You could read Holy Ground in one sitting. But I wouldn't recommend it. Rather, you should savor individually each of the delicately crafted nuggets that Julie Aageson concocts--expanding your palate as to what prayer could be. You will be richly satisfied.""
--Jessica Crist, Bishop, Montana Synod, ELCA


Julie K. Aageson has served as a resource specialist and writer for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For a decade, she wrote a monthly column for the ELCA magazine, GATHER. She is the author of Benedictions: 26 Reflections (2016) and a co-author of One Hope: Re-Membering the Body of Christ (2015).