Description

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“As poet, prophet, and priest, Thurman builds upon a powerful legacy of ancestral hope: belief in a liberating God who can always be found ‘in and among the struggling.’”
—Yolanda Pierce

A universal beacon of hope and endurance for people of all faiths seeking to meet the challenges, uncertainties, and joys of life

Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart is a beautiful collection of over 150 prayers, poems, and meditations on prayer, community, and the joys and rituals of life by one of our greatest spiritual leaders. Thurman, a spiritualist and mystic, was renowned for the quiet beauty of his reflections on humanity and our relationship with God.

In a new foreword, Yolanda Pierce, dean of Howard University’s School of Divinity, calls attention to the justice-centered theological framework of Thurman’s words. Pierce notes how Thurman brings to light an image of God who can always be found “in and among the struggling,” both in times of weariness and in strength.

First written for and shared with his congregation of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, California, these meditations sustain, elevate, and inspire. They are a universal beacon of hope and endurance for people of all faiths seeking to meet the challenges, uncertainties, and joys of everyday life with a renewed and liberating faith.

About the Author

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Howard Thurman (1899–1981) was hailed by Life magazine as one of the great preachers of the 20th century. He was a nationally recognized theologian, distinguished religious leader, and prolific author whose radical nonviolent philosophy played a pivotal role in shaping the civil rights movement. As the first Black dean of Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, he became a spiritual adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote over 20 published books, such as Meditations of the Heart, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, and Disciplines of the Spirit.

Yolanda Pierce is dean of the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC, and a professor of religion and literature and of womanist theology. She is the author of In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit and Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative.

Praise For…

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“Even seventy years removed from their initial publication, Thurman’s words are still speaking to our hearts.”
—Yolanda Pierce, from the foreword

“I have read Howard Thurman and been informed, influenced, and girded by his courage, intelligence, and abiding love.”
—Maya Angelou

“In those long midnight hours when morning seems weeks away, the words of Howard Thurman have kept watch with me.”
—Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

“The minister will find this a source of ideas and illustrations for sermon material. The layman will find it helpful for personal devotions and family worship.”
—San Francisco Chronicle