In the Midst of Chaos: Caring for Children as Spiritual Practice

When people think of the spiritual life, they often automatically picture uninterrupted silence and serenity. When people picture parenting, they see noise and complication, dirty diapers, sleepless nights, phone calls from teachers, endless to-do lists, teen rooms strewn with stuff, car-ride pandemonium. By and large, these portraits are accurate. Spirituality requires focused attention, and caring for children in our fast-paced, stress-filled, technology-driven, postindustrial, postmodern society is perhaps one of the most intrusive, disorienting occupations around. How can we find spiritual depth in the midst of the chaos of our lives with children?

Theologian, mother, and writer Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore gives us some answers to this question and shows us how to integrate and strengthen the practice of faith in the everyday -- and often mundane -- experience of raising children. In the Midst of Chaos reveals what it takes to find the spiritual wisdom in the messy, familial ways of living. By rethinking parenting as an invitation to discover God in the middle of our busy and overstuffed lives, it relieves parents of the burden of being the all-knowing authority figures who impart spiritual knowledge to children. Finding spirituality in family activities such as reading bedtime stories, dividing household chores, and playing games can empower parents to notice what they are already doing as potentially valuable and to practice it more consciously as part of their own faith journey.

Free downloadable Study Guide also available.

(9 sessions)