Take a spiritual journey without leaving your backyard
God in the Yard: Spiritual Practice for the Rest of Us by L.L. Barkat invites readers to break away from technology and experience solitude in nature an hour every day.
NEW YORK – Imagine taking time every day for one hour to do something…and do it for a year. That’s author L.L. Barkat’s invitation in God in the Yard: Spiritual Practice for the Rest of Us (ISBN 0984553118), a memoir of her year-long experience of outdoor solitude and exploration of spiritual practice.
In her daily outdoor solitude, she finds inspiration through God’s creation, be it the bitter cold of a January day, the first flight of a baby cardinal, or zebra wasps that look like the Hindenburg.
Barkat weaves her daily experiences with spiritual-practice themes such as prayer, Sabbath, silence, gratitude, and hospitality—seamlessly including biblical reflection along the way. Readers are invited to take their own 12-week journeys toward personal and spiritual growth. Various options for discovery and participation are included—free writing, physical and mental play, and blogging. This inspirational yet practical book can be applied alone or in a group setting. The author emphasizes participation over rigid practice.
“In our technology-saturated world, we don’t take time alone. We don’t step away from our computers or our cell phones, ” Barkat said. “If we walk away from the techno world on a daily basis, and spend a little time with God’s creation, it can refresh us personally and spiritually, reorienting our perspectives.”
As its subtitle suggests, this book offers spiritual discovery and provides creative opportunities for expression and spiritual communion. Holley Gerth of Incourage puts it this way, “L.L. Barkat invites us to chase spirituality in much the same way a child chases the tail of a kite…by finding the beautiful balance between what’s just beyond reach and what’s entirely ours for the taking. Her words are full of hope, joy, wonder.”
God in the Yard: Spiritual Practice for the Rest of Us is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels such as Ingram.
About the Author
L.L. Barkat, a popular speaker for a New York ministry, is the author of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places and InsideOut: Poems. She is managing editor for TheHighCalling.org and staff writer for International Arts Movement’s The Curator. Barkat was recently spotlighted as the subject of the full-page feature Who’s Next in Christianity Today magazine (print and online.)
MEDIA CONTACT
L.L. Barkat
Email: llbarkat [at] yahoo [dot] com
Website: llbarkat.com
REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE
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