'Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life' by Dennis Linn 
is one of the resources accessible via our Contemplative Prayer page on this website.

You'll also find on this page five (PDF) prayer leaflets authored by Sue Pickering when she was a trainer with Spiritual Growth Ministries. One of these leaflets is about the 'Examen' which refers to 'Sleeping with Bread'. 

A preface to this book on Amazon notes, "If you were to join us in either of our homes at the end of almost any evening, or if you were to attend one of our retreats, we would invite you to do with us the process described in these pages. This book is about asking ourselves two questions: For what am I most grateful? For what am I least grateful? These questions help us identify moments of consolation and desolation. We call this process the examen."

Examen is one of the contemplative prayer forms some us have been working with during our Week of Guided Prayer Retreat at Island Bay.

St Hilda's Anglican Church in Island Bay is this week hosting a week of guided prayer. The Week began yesterday (Sunday) with an opening gathering in the Church with 15 participants joining the three prayer guides from Spiritual Growth Ministries. Each participant will have a daily session of 30 minutes with one of the 'guides' before all re-gathering on Friday evening for a closing group session.

The participants are representative of the Island Bay church congregations and have undertaken in addition to the formal group and individual sessions, to spend at least 30 minutes daily in the practice of prayer.

The leadership team of Jo Anastasiadis, Adrienne Thompson and Terry Alve are all trained and registered spiritual directors who are part of a group of directors who offer these Weeks of Guided prayer around Wellington and up to the Kapiti Coast. At the same time as the Week is happening at Island Bay, another 'Week' is happening on the Victoria University Campus.

More information about these Weeks and an online registration form is available HERE.

The national Anglican newspaper 'Taonga' has a helpful article on who the new Wellington bishop is - Justin Duckworth - and some of the things he stands for. I'll leave you to read it.

I single out these two quotations from the Bishop elect's 'sayings' as striking a chord with me. “So it’s about using the skills and passion I possess, and the experiences I’ve had in the last 25 years… and bringing those to bear to help the Anglican Church to realign a little bit... to realign to be a force for transformation in society.”

I like that. Not throwing the baby out with the bath water. Recognising that there's a bit of treasure (taonga) there in the old girl. Affirming the treasure, while facing change in those areas where the church is on the wrong path; heading in the wrong direction and focusing on the less important things than on the majors like justice and compassion and practical loving action.

Justin's obvious compassion and commitment to the weak, marginalised and those on the 'edge' of society excites me. I wasn't at the electoral synod, but I want to offer a great thank you to everyone there who had the vision, faith, fortitude, courage and other commendable things to choose this man to lead the church forward in the southern North Island. I am excited too to read that it seems this man is a man of prayer who will act by seeking to discern God's will each step of the way.

Kia Kaha Justin... Stand tall and be strong.

A Prayer for this time...

"I pray for this man of peace and courage
May Justin and Jenny, their family and close community,
Be a strength for one another always on this journey.
Increase wisdom and discernment in this waiting Bishop.
Grant him and the people he will lead as Christ's shepherd
Unity, faith, renewal of hope, respectful relations and
Mobilise them as one in Christ's name to serve faithfully,
So that healing, hope and honour may abound in our land."