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Seeking the Sacred: Transforming Our View of Ourselves and One Another
For readers of Thomas Moore, James Hillman, and Pema Chodron-a timely handbook for these troubled times that shows how to bring depth and meaning to our lives through cultivating our connection with something greater than ourselves.
Can changing our view of ourselves and others affect the world? Bestselling author Stephanie Dowrick's major new book is a compelling look at how we can transform the world by seeing the extraordinary everywhere we look, both without and within. Through her intimate, beautiful, and encouraging writing, Dowrick shows that it is only in altering our perception-seeing all of life as sacred-that we will challenge the usual stories about who we are and what we are capable of being.
At a time when religion is increasing seen as a cause of prejudice and division, or as irrelevant to our most pressing concerns, the eternal truths of a genuinely inclusive spiritual wisdom have never been more urgently needed or sought. In Seeking the Sacred , Stephanie Dowrick invites us to go beyond cultural divisions and religious dogma and to discover what makes our lives sacred, satisfying, and meaningful.
Weaving personal stories-including her own-with an inspired vision of life's most healing possibilities, she reveals how the sacred can transform the way we understand and value life, changing forever how we interact with others and care for ourselves.
Seeking the Sacred is a provocative and accessible read for those contemplating God, faith, spirituality, and the nature of belief in twenty-first-century life. This is a book for the spiritually curios as well as those already engaged in the deeper questions. Richly hopeful and uplifting, Seeking the Sacred unravels some of our most complex contemporary dilemmas and speaks to the heart of our deepest yearnings.
Can changing our view of ourselves and others affect the world? Bestselling author Stephanie Dowrick's major new book is a compelling look at how we can transform the world by seeing the extraordinary everywhere we look, both without and within. Through her intimate, beautiful, and encouraging writing, Dowrick shows that it is only in altering our perception-seeing all of life as sacred-that we will challenge the usual stories about who we are and what we are capable of being.
At a time when religion is increasing seen as a cause of prejudice and division, or as irrelevant to our most pressing concerns, the eternal truths of a genuinely inclusive spiritual wisdom have never been more urgently needed or sought. In Seeking the Sacred , Stephanie Dowrick invites us to go beyond cultural divisions and religious dogma and to discover what makes our lives sacred, satisfying, and meaningful.
Weaving personal stories-including her own-with an inspired vision of life's most healing possibilities, she reveals how the sacred can transform the way we understand and value life, changing forever how we interact with others and care for ourselves.
Seeking the Sacred is a provocative and accessible read for those contemplating God, faith, spirituality, and the nature of belief in twenty-first-century life. This is a book for the spiritually curios as well as those already engaged in the deeper questions. Richly hopeful and uplifting, Seeking the Sacred unravels some of our most complex contemporary dilemmas and speaks to the heart of our deepest yearnings.
366 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 201
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 2, 2014
From our CALEB reviewers:
Seeking the Sacred will most likely appeal to the serious seeker of God’s heart - of the divine - of the sacred. The theology is multi-faith and draws on the wisdom of the ages - from Jesus and his followers over the past 2000 years, from the Buddha, from Islam and from many other disciplines.
Because of this I believe it will have little appeal to the evangelical Christian. However, having said that, on reading Seeking the Sacred I am able to clearly recognise why so many young Christians have voted with their feet over the past quarter century. On that score alone, it is a ‘must read’ for every more conservative Christian concerned about the lack of young people in the pews.
Seeking the Sacred is a search for the meaning for life in all its sacredness. My favourite passage is: The most significantly transformative experience any of us will have is to recognise the value of our own existence … “My life has intrinsic value and so does yours” … This can literally transform our view of ourself and of one another.
I found the book a little hard to read but well worth the effort. DS
Seeking the Sacred will most likely appeal to the serious seeker of God’s heart - of the divine - of the sacred. The theology is multi-faith and draws on the wisdom of the ages - from Jesus and his followers over the past 2000 years, from the Buddha, from Islam and from many other disciplines.
Because of this I believe it will have little appeal to the evangelical Christian. However, having said that, on reading Seeking the Sacred I am able to clearly recognise why so many young Christians have voted with their feet over the past quarter century. On that score alone, it is a ‘must read’ for every more conservative Christian concerned about the lack of young people in the pews.
Seeking the Sacred is a search for the meaning for life in all its sacredness. My favourite passage is: The most significantly transformative experience any of us will have is to recognise the value of our own existence … “My life has intrinsic value and so does yours” … This can literally transform our view of ourself and of one another.
I found the book a little hard to read but well worth the effort. DS
May 7, 2011
What an amazing, precious and uplifting book. I bought this book hoping it might help resolve some of the unrest I’ve felt over the past years about my spirituality, and it far surpassed my expectations in this area and others. I feel it’s really opened my heart to my spiritual side again, and I am so grateful for that.
The key things I’ve taken from this book are:
* being aware of the sacred in the seemingly mundane moments of everyday life
* living my life with the philosophy of ‘do no harm’
* feeling able to identify as ‘spiritual’ without having to lock myself into one specific religion
* having confidence and trust in my intuition and inner voice.
I’d like to thank Stephanie for writing this book. I’d recommend it to anyone who has a spark of interest in any of the above points.
The key things I’ve taken from this book are:
* being aware of the sacred in the seemingly mundane moments of everyday life
* living my life with the philosophy of ‘do no harm’
* feeling able to identify as ‘spiritual’ without having to lock myself into one specific religion
* having confidence and trust in my intuition and inner voice.
I’d like to thank Stephanie for writing this book. I’d recommend it to anyone who has a spark of interest in any of the above points.
December 8, 2017
I'd really LOVE to give this book 5 stars but sadly it doesn't quite get there from a literary sense. The topic, stories, insights and revelations are all powerful and speak volumes. I have read a number of Stephanie's books in the past and each has resounded with me but this one has definitely been the strongest.
For people wondering about spirituality and religion this is the ideal book for you. In a world of confusion this text brings clarity and a path through the confusion.
For people wondering about spirituality and religion this is the ideal book for you. In a world of confusion this text brings clarity and a path through the confusion.
January 23, 2011
I really like her books and am thoroughly enjoying this. It pulls together the concept around the key of all religions and practices is the same, and that is to find and celebrate the sacred in ourselves and others. Not a religious book, more a mindful book.
March 24, 2018
I used soak up books like this like blotting paper. Now I can't wait to put it down. It has no attraction for me at all. The message is still noble and spiritual but the writing was quite uninspiring.
July 12, 2021
Every so often I pick out a book buried on my shelves or deep in my kindle, that I have bought but never got round to, for one reason or another. This was one of those. I bought it ten years or so ago, shortly after it was published.
It interested me how dated it felt already. Partly because so much has happened in the last decade that it feels too weird to contemplate the world without referencing its challenges in some way. And partly because of changes in myself. I reckon ten years ago I may have connected more to this book. It’s not that I find anything much to disagree with in it - the importance of deeply feeling our connection with all living things, practising love and kindness in all our dealings, and appreciating our own worth and being - what’s to disagree? It’s just … how can I put this … even as an introvert with a tendency to overthink everything, I felt a bit impatient with its intense self consciousness. And I felt all the chapters said basically the same thing and could have been woven into one short chapter with greater impact and poignancy. Less can be more. But I feel twisted being critical when fundamentally the message is constructive and encouraging more love in the world.
It interested me how dated it felt already. Partly because so much has happened in the last decade that it feels too weird to contemplate the world without referencing its challenges in some way. And partly because of changes in myself. I reckon ten years ago I may have connected more to this book. It’s not that I find anything much to disagree with in it - the importance of deeply feeling our connection with all living things, practising love and kindness in all our dealings, and appreciating our own worth and being - what’s to disagree? It’s just … how can I put this … even as an introvert with a tendency to overthink everything, I felt a bit impatient with its intense self consciousness. And I felt all the chapters said basically the same thing and could have been woven into one short chapter with greater impact and poignancy. Less can be more. But I feel twisted being critical when fundamentally the message is constructive and encouraging more love in the world.
February 13, 2021
Stephanie Dowrick puts her own life and spiritual seeking at the service of this comprehensive reflection on contemporary spirituality. Her gentleness and compassion make it pleasurable to read. It is something of a cornucopia of quotes from spiritual giants if every age and tradition. It is also peppered with stories from widely diverse individuals. In many ways it is political as well as spiritual in the best way. It centres on five major themes: reverence, identity, love, ‘do no harm’ and transformation. Sometimes it can feel like ‘everything I believe about this topic’ and in general it would have benefitted from being much shorter. This would have meant losing some gems, but it would have added coherence and a clearer line of argument. Nevertheless the reader is left in no doubt of their own responsibility for making ethical choices in the exercise of their spirituality and of the call for integrity of word and practice.
December 23, 2025
This is the first ever audio book I’ve ever listened to, and unfortunately the author’s soporific gentle voice plus the abstract nature of the content have combined to send me to sleep every time I try and listen. I have a brain that needs concrete detail, I’ve found over the years - listening to Joel Goldsmith recordings have exactly the same effect on me!
I am very interested in seeking the sacred and will continue to do so in various ways, but I’m going to be kind to myself and park this one for now.
I am very interested in seeking the sacred and will continue to do so in various ways, but I’m going to be kind to myself and park this one for now.
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November 9, 2011This is a spiritual comfort book, with lots of good quotes, such as this from Thomas Merton "“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name”.
Author Dowrick asks, “What would enable us to live as though we believed that? And how different would our lives be?"
Another good question she asks is how would life change if we lived it by the principle of "cause no harm"? These are really quite relevant questions these days.......
At first I thought this in some ways a little too "self helpy", however, this is written by a therapist and former publisher, and is an easy space to sink into for refreshment and reminders of ways to transcend and nourish the spirit.
Author Dowrick asks, “What would enable us to live as though we believed that? And how different would our lives be?"
Another good question she asks is how would life change if we lived it by the principle of "cause no harm"? These are really quite relevant questions these days.......
At first I thought this in some ways a little too "self helpy", however, this is written by a therapist and former publisher, and is an easy space to sink into for refreshment and reminders of ways to transcend and nourish the spirit.
August 25, 2013
There are no particular aha moments to be found in this book. It brings together the ideas of others and comes to conclusions that have been made before. If you need an affirmation at the beginning of your spiritual journey it may be comforting.
January 20, 2015
I enjoyed this book because it made me think. While I don't agree with everything in the book there were parts that resonated with me. It made me consider some things I would not encounter in my normal sphere.
December 6, 2010
Wonderful.
June 23, 2012
This is a book to read more than once and to take your time about reading.
December 6, 2014
I got about half way through and other priorities took over. However, I have no intention of finishing the book. It may be very valuable for some but I found it wordy but short on substance.
January 25, 2017
Slow and lacking of gusty fibre I would have preferred.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews