Praying Women

A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor.

What is “biblical womanhood” . . . really?

Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn’t sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment—a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decided to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible for a year.

Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learned the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood required more than a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). It meant growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period.

See what happens when a thoroughly modern woman starts referring to her husband as “master” and “praises him at the city gate” with a homemade sign. Learn the insights she receives from an ongoing correspondence with an Orthodox Jewish woman, and find out what she discovers from her exchanges with a polygamist wife. Join her as she wrestles with difficult passages of scripture that portray misogyny and violence against women.

Popular pastor and acclaimed author Van Moody reveals the secret to a fulfilling, life-sustaining relationship with God: a deep understanding of just how much He loves us.

We were made to be in relationship with God, wired to love and be loved by Him. We feel truly whole and complete only when we have a vital, passionate relationship with Him. And that relationship can occur only with a deep understanding of who God is and how much He loves us.

As the story of the Bible makes clear, God’s earnest love for His people is continually given and rejected. To understand how God can keep pursuing us like this, we must see Him as He is: overflowing with desire for, and relentlessly in pursuit of, His people. Desired by God gives a refreshing, eye-opening picture of this God, who wants with all His heart for us to know Him. And when we see Him clearly and fall in love with Him, we will find ourselves more grounded, satisfied, and cared for than we ever dreamed possible.

Two spiritual giants. Five days. One timeless question.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.

In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama’s home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness’s eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. They looked back on their long lives to answer a single burning question: How do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?

They traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy.

This book offers us a rare opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecendented week together, from the first embrace to the final good-bye.

We get to listen as they explore the Nature of True Joy and confront each of the Obstacles of Joy—from fear, stress, and anger to grief, illness, and death. They then offer us the Eight Pillars of Joy, which provide the foundation for lasting happiness. Throughout, they include stories, wisdom, and science. Finally, they share their daily Joy Practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives.

The Archbishop has never claimed sainthood, and the Dalai Lama considers himself a simple monk. In this unique collaboration, they offer us the reflection of real lives filled with pain and turmoil in the midst of which they have been able to discover a level of peace, of courage, and of joy to which we can all aspire in our own lives.

Journal
This beautiful journal from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives you all the space you need to notice and record what gives you joy. Arranged as a 365-day companion, it prompts you with inspiring quotes from The Book of Joy to help transform their joy practices into an enduring way of life. It is the perfect companion for The Book of Joy’s many passionate readers as well as the perfect gift for anyone looking to live a more joyful. Share the joy!