Lynne Baab
resources for personal spirituality
and for congregational leaders
search this site:
Praying about the flow of time: A month of celebrating renewal and moral responsibility
Lynne Baab • Wednesday October 9 2024
Think back on the first two weeks of January, perhaps this year or a past year. After the celebrations on New Year’s Eve and whatever pattern you have for New Year’s Day, what happens next for you? Do you settle easily back into work after the holidays? Do you kick yourself around for eating too much in those food-filled days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s? Do you start a diet or recommit to an exercise plan?
I wonder how many cultures have a period of intentional reflection right after celebrating the New Year. The Jewish High Holidays, a cluster of holy days...
Read full article »Praying about the flow of time: Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year
Lynne Baab • Thursday October 3 2024
Because Rosh Hashanah is this week, I’ve been pondering New Year’s celebrations. God created us and placed us on this beautiful earth with rhythms of day and night as well as the rhythms of seasons. I wonder if yearly rhythms are imprinted in us, and we feel a need to mark one place in the yearly cycle as an end and beginning. I wonder if we need New Year’s celebrations to nudge us to reflect on the past and experience hope for the future with others.
Of course, January 1 or Rosh Hashanah are not the only New Year’s celebrations. Many New...
Read full article »Praying about the flow of time: The Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels
Lynne Baab • Wednesday September 25 2024
Michaelmas daisies bloom in the fall and come in various shades of purple, pink, and white. I first heard about Michaelmas daisies in a novel set in England that I read as a young adult. At that time, I thought “Michaelmas” was an odd name for a fall-blooming daisy. I had no idea Michaelmas is a day in the church calendar, originally celebrating the archangel Michael. Later, two other archangels, Gabriel and Raphael, were added to the day.
Michaelmas is observed in Western Christianity on September 29 and on November 8 for Christians in the Eastern traditions. The suffix “mas” comes from...
Read full article »Praying about the flow of time: The Season of Creation
Lynne Baab • Tuesday September 17 2024
Sturdy, spreading oak trees. Tall evergreens. Lacy Japanese maples with hints of red and orange. Drooping flowering cherries. Spiky palms. Hillsides covered with deep green trees. An individual tree in winter, bare branches dusted with snow.
Creator God, we praise you for trees. We remember moments when trees have lifted our hearts. We also think of wood studs and joists that provide form for our dwellings, and we thank you for the beauty and utility of trees.
Oil slicks on puddles, and oil leaks into rivers and lakes. The residue left by car tires, washed by rain into streams and rivers, damaging salmon...
Read full article »
Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer Guide
Lynne draws on her Ph.D. studies in communication to bring insight about listening and empathy so that we can pray more deeply. Each of the 28 short chapters is illustrated with a beautiful watercolor by Dave Baab.
Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional
Lynne has chosen one psalm for each day of Lent and offers brief reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in a group. Illustrated with more than 50 of Dave Baab's beautiful watercolors.
NEW: Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times
Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023
By Lynne M. BaabNEW: Spiritual Practices for People in Ministry
Lynne Baab • Sunday June 26 2022
Making Space for a Continuing Conversation with the Living GodNEW: Yes, Jesus Told Us to Pray in Secret. But He Also Prayed with His Friends.
Lynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021
By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021
Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »
Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups.
Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.
You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.
Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills.
Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.
"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader
"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping
Subscribe
To receive an email alert when a new post is published, simply enter your email address below.
Featured posts
- Drawing Near to God with the Heart: first post of a series »
- Quotations I love: Henri Nouwen on being beloved »
- Worshipping God the Creator: the first post of a series »
- Sabbath Keeping a decade later: the first post of a series »
- Benedictine spirituality: the first post of a series »
- Celtic Christianity: the first post of a series »
- Holy Listening »
- A Cat with a Noble Character »
- Welcome to my website »
Tags
Archive
- October 2024 (2)
- September 2024 (3)
- August 2024 (5)
- July 2024 (3)
- June 2024 (5)
- May 2024 (5)
- April 2024 (4)
-
March 2024 (5)
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying about distractions from empathy
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying to keep empathy flowing
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Everyday initiative
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying for guidance for ending conversations
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Reflecting on the series
- February 2024 (4)
- January 2024 (2)
-
December 2023 (6)
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Initiating
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying about listening roadblocks
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying to love the poverty in our friends
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying for “holy curiosity”
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying for “holy listening”
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying to give affection extravagantly
- November 2023 (4)
-
October 2023 (5)
- Friendship, loneliness and prayer: A listening skill with two purposes
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Saying “thank you” to friends
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: One more way reflecting helps us
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Lessons from two periods of loneliness
- Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Types of reflecting, a listening skill
- September 2023 (4)
- August 2023 (4)
- July 2023 (5)
- June 2023 (3)
- May 2023 (6)
- April 2023 (4)
- March 2023 (4)
- February 2023 (4)
- January 2023 (4)
- December 2022 (5)
- November 2022 (1)
- October 2022 (5)
- September 2022 (5)
-
August 2022 (6)
- Draw near: Confessing sin without wallowing
- Draw near: A favorite prayer about peace, freedom, and much more
- Drawing near with Desmond Tutu: God’s love is the foundation for prayer
- Draw near: Worshipping God with Desmond Tutu
- Draw near: Yearning, beseeching and beholding with Desmond Tutu
- Draw near: Praising God with Desmond Tutu
- July 2022 (2)
- June 2022 (6)
- May 2022 (5)
- April 2022 (6)
- March 2022 (5)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (3)
- December 2021 (5)
- November 2021 (4)
- October 2021 (5)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (4)
- June 2021 (4)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (5)
- March 2021 (4)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (5)
- November 2020 (3)
- October 2020 (5)
- September 2020 (4)
- August 2020 (4)
- July 2020 (5)
- June 2020 (4)
-
May 2020 (4)
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of separating thoughts from feelings
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of welcoming prayer
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: a kite string as a lifeline
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of God’s distant future
-
April 2020 (7)
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: the lifeline of God’s constancy
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of accepting my place as a clay jar
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: the lifeline of memories
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: the lifeline of “Good” in “Good Friday”
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of “easier does not mean easy”
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: The lifeline of nature
- Spiritual diary of sheltering in place: the lifeline of God’s voice through the Bible
-
March 2020 (7)
- Important anniversaries in 2020: The first Earth Day in 1970
- Important anniversaries in 2020: Florence Nightingale was born in 1820
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: Weeks 1 and 2
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: God's grace as a lifeline
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: The lifeline of limits on thoughts
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: Wrestling with God for a blessing
- Spiritual diary of self-isolation: responding to terror by listening to Jesus voice
- February 2020 (4)
- January 2020 (5)
- December 2019 (4)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (5)
- September 2019 (4)
- August 2019 (5)
- July 2019 (4)
- June 2019 (4)
- May 2019 (5)
- April 2019 (4)
- March 2019 (4)
- February 2019 (4)
-
January 2019 (5)
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Jesus as Friend
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship with Christ and friendship with others
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Who is my neighbor?
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Friendship as action
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Hymns that describe friendship with God
- December 2018 (3)
-
November 2018 (5)
- Connections between the Bible and prayer: Sensory prayer in Revelation
- First post in a new series: Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Strong opinions and responses
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: My conversation partners about friendship
- Nurturing friendships in a cellphone world: Two views about communication technologies
- October 2018 (4)
- September 2018 (4)
-
August 2018 (5)
- Providing Christian Care in Our Time
- Providing Christian care in our time: Seven trends in pastoral care today
- Providing Christian Care in Our Time: Skills for Pastoral Care
- Providing Christian care: The importance of spiritual practices
- First post in a new series: Connections between the Bible and prayer
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (4)
- January 2018 (4)
- December 2017 (5)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (4)
- September 2017 (5)
- August 2017 (4)
- July 2017 (4)
- June 2017 (4)
-
May 2017 (5)
- My new spiritual practice: Separating thoughts from feelings
- My new spiritual practice: Feeling the feelings
- My new spiritual practice: Coping with feelings that want to dominate
- My new spiritual practice: Dealing with “demonic” thoughts
- My new spiritual practice: Is self-compassion really appropriate for Christians?
- April 2017 (4)
- March 2017 (5)
- February 2017 (4)
- January 2017 (4)
- December 2016 (5)
- November 2016 (4)
- October 2016 (4)
- September 2016 (5)
- August 2016 (4)
- July 2016 (4)
- June 2016 (4)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (4)
- March 2016 (5)
- February 2016 (4)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (4)
- November 2015 (4)
- October 2015 (5)
- September 2015 (4)
- August 2015 (4)
- July 2015 (4)
- June 2015 (4)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (4)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (4)
- December 2014 (5)
- November 2014 (4)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (4)
- August 2014 (5)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (7)