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Christian schools are beset by many of the same challenges that plague virtually all schools today\u2014a culture of distraction and deteriorating mental health, the erosion of community and social bonds, not to mention widespread disaffiliation from traditional religious institutions. Drawing upon current research in psychology, neuroscience, education, and spirituality, Be Still and Know\u00a0<\/em>presents the contemplative Christian tradition as an untapped resource for addressing these challenges and helping Christian schools to better fulfill their mission.<\/p>\n In these pages, veteran educator Patrick Manning guides readers through a school day where they experience people, time, space, and school activities in a more contemplative manner. He invites readers to engage in Christian contemplative practices for themselves through a series of meditations. He also comes alongside them to assess the significant challenges of working in education today, and to develop practical responses grounded in the wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition as well as current research. Wise, timely, and transformative, Be Still and Know\u00a0<\/em>is a vital resource for teachers and administrators in Christian schools.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Available for purchase at Eerdmans,<\/a>\u00a0Amazon, and elsewhere.<\/strong><\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the supplement for elementary and middle school teachers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn this timely book, Manning reintroduces us to pedagogical treasures buried in ancient disciplines of contemplation. At once visionary and concrete, this book does something remarkable: it speaks to an urgent need by inviting us to non-anxious rest as the fount of learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 <\/span>James K. A. Smith, author of You Are What You Love<\/em> and How (Not) to Be Secular<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Drawing from the richness of Christian tradition, Manning presents a holistic vision of contemplative life as related to the very places and spaces of the educational setting: from classroom to various departmental meetings. This book would be a great read for any educator, from primary to collegiate, interested in leading a contemplative revolution in the school.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 <\/span>Timothy O’Malley, Associate Director for Research, McGrath Institute, University of Notre Dame<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDrawing from the wisdom of the Christian tradition, Patrick Manning reminds us of the one thing needful in education\u2014the love of God. He offers simple practices, gestures, and habits by which to cull distraction and attend instead to God and our learning community. I recommend this book as essential reading for faculty and teachers at the beginning of the school year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 <\/span>Jessica Hooten Wilson, Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books, Pepperdine University<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn Be Still and Know<\/em>, Patrick Manning invites Christian educators to embrace the contemplative heart of our faith, offering practices that renew both spirit and community. This important work is a gift and a valuable resource for all who seek to make our schools places where Christ\u2019s peace, love, and joy are deeply encountered and shared.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 <\/span>Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWith the precision of a theologian and the pedagogical acuity of a seasoned instructor, Manning synthesizes centuries of monastic insight with contemporary research on contemplative learning, demonstrating that true epistemic growth flourishes in those intentional pauses of reflection.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 Dr. Gregory Bottaro, <\/span>author of The Mindful Catholic<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For 2,000 years countless people around the world viewed reality through a Christian lens that endowed their lives with meaning, purpose, and coherence. Today, in an era of unprecedented secularization, many have ceased to find meaning not only in Christianity but in life in general. In Converting the Imagination<\/em>, the author offers a probing analysis of this crisis of meaning, marshalling historical and psychological research to shed light on the connections among the disintegration of the Christian worldview, religious disaffiliation, and a growing mental health epidemic. As a response Manning presents an approach to religious education that is at once traditionally grounded in the model of Jesus’ own teaching and augmented by modern educational research and cognitive science. Converting the Imagination <\/em>is an invitation to transform the way we teach about faith and make sense of the world, an invitation that echoes Jesus\u2019 invitation to a fuller, more meaningful life. It is sure to captivate scholars and practitioners of religious education, ministers seeking to re-engage people who have drifted away from the faith or to support young people suffering from existential anxiety, and anyone in search of deeper meaning in their religious traditions or in their own lives. Read a Q&A with the author and an excerpt from the book here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nPraise for\u00a0Be Still and Know<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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