Meditations of the Heart

Name: Meditations of the Heart
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Howard Thurman
ISBN: 9780807007723

Author: Howard Thurman, Yolanda Pierce

Narrator: Suan Dalian

Unabridged: 5 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Beacon Press Audio

Published: 01/31/2023

Categories: Nonfiction, Religion, Religious Meditations, Self-help, Meditations, Body, Mind, & Spirit, Mindfulness & Meditation

Synopsis

“As poet, prophet, and priest, Thurman builds upon a powerful legacy of ancestral hope: belief in a liberating God who can always be found ‘in and among the struggling.’”
—Yolanda Pierce

A universal beacon of hope and endurance for people of all faiths seeking to meet the challenges, uncertainties, and joys of life

Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart is a beautiful collection of over 150 prayers, poems, and meditations on prayer, community, and the joys and rituals of life by one of our greatest spiritual leaders. Thurman, a spiritualist and mystic, was renowned for the quiet beauty of his reflections on humanity and our relationship with God.

In a new foreword, Yolanda Pierce, dean of Howard University’s School of Divinity, calls attention to the justice-centered theological framework of Thurman’s words. Pierce notes how Thurman brings to light an image of God who can always be found “in and among the struggling,” both in times of weariness and in strength.

First written for and shared with his congregation of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, California, these meditations sustain, elevate, and inspire. They are a universal beacon of hope and endurance for people of all faiths seeking to meet the challenges, uncertainties, and joys of everyday life with a renewed and liberating faith.

About The Author

Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was hailed by Life magazine as one of the great preachers of the 20th century. He was a nationally recognized theologian, distinguished religious leader, and prolific author whose radical nonviolent philosophy played a pivotal role in shaping the civil rights movement. As the first Black dean of Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, he became a spiritual adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote over 20 published books, such as Meditations of the Heart, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, and Disciplines of the Spirit.Yolanda Pierce is dean of the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC, and a professor of religion and literature and of womanist theology. She is the author of In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit and Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Raymond on August 31, 2021

I started reading this book in February as part of a Lenten study and continued to read all of the meditations that Thurman wrote in this collection. It covers numerous topics such as: dreams, judgment, courage, pain of life, humor, enthusiasm, self sacrifice, goodness, and much more. My favorite me......more

Goodreads review by robin on August 20, 2024

Meditations Of Howard Thurman Howard Thurman (1899 -- 1981) was a mystic, preacher, civil rights leader, and philosopher. I have been learning a great deal from reading works by and about him. From 1944 -- 1952, Thurman served as pastor of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco......more

Goodreads review by Margie on July 01, 2011

These meditations are worth taking time over; this isn't a book to sit down and read through. Although Thurman frequently goes in directions that don't quite resonate with me, I don't disagree with his theology. He talks of silence being an opening to God (which I agree with), though he then takes it......more

Goodreads review by Antonio on July 28, 2013

When I trod a dark road, alone and barely holding on to my tattered faith, Howard Thurman comes and walks with me, cares for my soul, and gives me strength. I will always be "Reading" this book. I pick it up as I am moved so to do, when the noise of this sad world is too much. The words of Thurman l......more

Goodreads review by Jessie on September 21, 2012

One of my all-time favorite devotional books! He was the spiritual advisor to Dr. MLK and started one of the nation's first intentionally multiracial churches. We should all want to hear wisdom from someone like that. And he has this magnificent way of getting at justice through the back door with r......more

Quotes

“Even seventy years removed from their initial publication, Thurman’s words are still speaking to our hearts.”
—Yolanda Pierce, from the foreword

“I have read Howard Thurman and been informed, influenced, and girded by his courage, intelligence, and abiding love.”
—Maya Angelou

“In those long midnight hours when morning seems weeks away, the words of Howard Thurman have kept watch with me.”
—Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

“The minister will find this a source of ideas and illustrations for sermon material. The layman will find it helpful for personal devotions and family worship.”
—San Francisco Chronicle