Books – Prose

Colossians

Focus on Christ

Fisherman Bible Studyguides have been a trusted name in Bible study for almost thirty years. With outstanding authors, an emphasis on personal growth, and over eighty titles, the Fisherman guides offer a breadth and depth of biblical study not found in any other series. Fisherman studies are written with a commitment to the unique authority of the Bible in our lives. Nondenominational, nonsectarian, and suitable for new Christians and mature Christians, Fisherman have a broad appeal with a biblical base.

In Luci Shaw's study: Colossians: Focus on Christ, an eight-week New Testament study, readers study Paul’s letter to the Colossians and realize that aspects of heresy that threatened the early church are active in our own world. Paul provides an answer as he encourages us to focus on Christ.

Bible Newsletter Studyguide of the Year 1982

Buy

God in the Dark

Through Grief and Beyond
God in the Dark is one woman’s record of her journey through grief and beyond. Poet Luci Shaw’s journal of her husband’s terminal cancer begins with the doctor’s first diagnosis and follows her through the early months of her widowhood.

In these pages, we see the complexities of a fragile three-way relationship—between a man, a woman, and God. With deep insight and honesty, Luci Shaw probes the paradoxes of faith with which we all struggle—when we are honest enough to admit it.

This story moves in and out of shadow, and if her insights seem sharp and bleak one moment, only to be clear and hopeful the next—she can only say, simply, “This is how it was This is how I lived it.”

Her penetrating question “Where is God's promised presence?” troubles us all, compelling us to investigate more urgently the mysterious ways of the Almighty.

"A very honest and haunting book." —Frederick Buechner

"A gripping story." —Leland Ryken

"Luci Shaw is a poet with rare vision, a Christian of profound faith." —Philip Yancey

"I believe God in the Dark will become a classic in its field." —Ingrid Trobisch

ECPA Gold Medallion Nominee, 1990

Buy

Life Path

Personal And Spiritual Growth
through Journal Writing
Life has a way of slipping away while we're not looking. And many of us are so numbed by mundane routine that we hardly miss its passing. Keeping a journal can bring back memories of those . . .

  • timeless moments when the mists part and you catch a glimpse of a loving Father.
  • rare insights where you suddenly see your life from a new perspective.
  • welcome moments when the pain subsides and the healing begins.

You'd think such moments would be unforgettable, but they are not. You will forget them. They will quickly slip through your fingers if you don't tie them to your heart in a journal.

Buy

Horizons

Exploring the Creation
Calligraphy by Timothy Botts
Renowned poet Luci Shaw and artist and calligrapher Timothy R. Botts have pooled their considerable talents to produce a lush and profound book about the wonders of God's magnificent Creation. Botts has won two Gold Medallions for his outstanding design and calligraphy in Doorposts and Windsongs. Four-color illustrations.

"Luci Shaw's unique gift of poetry, of imagery, and of penetrating thought makes this a book to be savored, not merely read. ..When you are through, you will be the richer for having read it. I loved it!" —Ruth Bell Graham.

ECPA Gold Medallion Nominee, 1993

Buy

A Syllable of Water

Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art
In a Syllable of Water, some of today's leading writers of faith reflect on all aspects of the writing vocation and process in ways that will inform and inspire.

Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, and others discuss everything from the tools of a writer to the ways that they spend their time when they are not writing.

Editor John Wilson and poet Diane Glancy, reflect on the value of the editor-writer conversation, as well as the power of revision.

Other writers including Doris Betts, Harold Fickett, Virginia Stem Owens, Scott Cairns, and Eugene H. Peterson offer sage advice on how to approach nearly every imaginable genre from fiction and nonfiction to memoir, poetry, and translation.

Buy

WinterSong

Christmas Readings
by Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw
Have a cup of coffee and put a log on the fire, settle into a comfortable chair and enjoy a winter's day with the writings of novelist Madeleine L'Engle and poet Luci Shaw. Participate in the winter season: the wonder, the solemnity, the power, and the miracles. These readings reflect on the winter world around us, drawing joy from winter days, hope from Christmas celebrations, and promise for the New Year. This elegant collection is the natural outflow of the long-standing friendship between Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw. Sharing similar themes and a reflective style of writing, they combine their two rich literary worlds. Newbery Award Winner Madeleine L'Engle is widely known for her children's books, and adult fiction and nonfiction. Both women are widely known throughout the United States and Canada for their workshops on writing and journaling, lectures, and retreats.

Buy

Friends for the Journey

Two Extraordinary Women Celebrate Friendships Made and Sustained Through the Seasons of Life
Co-Author Madeleine L'Engle

Born of a friendship spanning a quarter of a century, Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw's Friends for the Journey considers the golden quality of deep and lasting friendships, showing that the common ground of love for God transcends even separation.

"In these pages two loving friends celebrate their intertwining journeys in ways that show, rather than tell, what heights of joy await those who enter into intimate friendship with God. This is a somersault of the spirit from two wise and childlike women who know the spiritual life in all its depth and wonder. Leaping from poetry to dialogue to journal-entries to story-telling they celebrate Christian love through the power of the baptized imagination. A feast for the soul." —Emilie Griffin.

Buy

Water My Soul

Cultivating the Interior Life
Poet and author Luci Shaw guides you into a deeper understanding of how to cultivate the life of the soul in relationship to God. Water My Soul speaks of the interior life in images of garden and wilderness, seed and soil, watering and waiting—metaphors for the process that leads to the spouting of the seed, the greening of the leaf, and the eventual harvest of flower and fruit. This book speaks straight to the heart, helping you enjoy a lifelong partnership with God as you cultivate a rich inner life—a life characterized by growth in wisdom and godliness.

"Luci Shaw is one of our best writers. Read this wonderful book, and for heaven's sake pick up some copies for your friends!" —Annie Dillard

"Water My Soul is a profoundly rooted book that reminds us all to slow down, breathe deeply, and experience God at work. Luci Shaw displays the wisdom of a woman who has lived well and the child-like wonder of a believer who continues to discover new reasons to believe. This book will be a classic—a volume to be reread whenever life seems to spin out of control." —Dale Hanson Bourke, Publisher, Religion News Service

ECPA First Place Gold Medallion, 1990

Buy

The Swiftly Tilting Worlds of Madeleine L'Engle

Essays in Her Honor by Walter Wangerin Jr, Eugene H. Peterson, Katherine Paterson & Others
This festschrift, written to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of America's most beloved writers, herself a long-time friend of Luci Shaw, includes many perceptive essays, ranging from the personal to the academic, that honor L'Engle and her pervasive influence.

"Madeleine L'Engle's friendship and her example point...my gaze to the beautiful, the sacred, the high adventure of creative life in the service of God." —Emilie Griffin, author, Wilderness Time, Wonderful & Dark Is This Road

Buy

Books – Prose

Colossians

Focus on Christ

Fisherman Bible Studyguides have been a trusted name in Bible study for almost thirty years. With outstanding authors, an emphasis on personal growth, and over eighty titles, the Fisherman guides offer a breadth and depth of biblical study not found in any other series. Fisherman studies are written with a commitment to the unique authority of the Bible in our lives. Nondenominational, nonsectarian, and suitable for new Christians and mature Christians, Fisherman have a broad appeal with a biblical base.

In Luci Shaw's study: Colossians: Focus on Christ, an eight-week New Testament study, readers study Paul’s letter to the Colossians and realize that aspects of heresy that threatened the early church are active in our own world. Paul provides an answer as he encourages us to focus on Christ.

Bible Newsletter Studyguide of the Year 1982

Buy

God in the Dark

Through Grief and Beyond
God in the Dark is one woman’s record of her journey through grief and beyond. Poet Luci Shaw’s journal of her husband’s terminal cancer begins with the doctor’s first diagnosis and follows her through the early months of her widowhood.

In these pages, we see the complexities of a fragile three-way relationship—between a man, a woman, and God. With deep insight and honesty, Luci Shaw probes the paradoxes of faith with which we all struggle—when we are honest enough to admit it.

This story moves in and out of shadow, and if her insights seem sharp and bleak one moment, only to be clear and hopeful the next—she can only say, simply, “This is how it was This is how I lived it.”

Her penetrating question “Where is God's promised presence?” troubles us all, compelling us to investigate more urgently the mysterious ways of the Almighty.

"A very honest and haunting book." —Frederick Buechner

"A gripping story." —Leland Ryken

"Luci Shaw is a poet with rare vision, a Christian of profound faith." —Philip Yancey

"I believe God in the Dark will become a classic in its field." —Ingrid Trobisch

ECPA Gold Medallion Nominee, 1990

Buy

Life Path

Personal And Spiritual Growth
through Journal Writing
Life has a way of slipping away while we're not looking. And many of us are so numbed by mundane routine that we hardly miss its passing. Keeping a journal can bring back memories of those . . .

  • timeless moments when the mists part and you catch a glimpse of a loving Father.
  • rare insights where you suddenly see your life from a new perspective.
  • welcome moments when the pain subsides and the healing begins.

You'd think such moments would be unforgettable, but they are not. You will forget them. They will quickly slip through your fingers if you don't tie them to your heart in a journal.

Buy

Horizons

Exploring the Creation
Calligraphy by Timothy Botts
Renowned poet Luci Shaw and artist and calligrapher Timothy R. Botts have pooled their considerable talents to produce a lush and profound book about the wonders of God's magnificent Creation. Botts has won two Gold Medallions for his outstanding design and calligraphy in Doorposts and Windsongs. Four-color illustrations.

"Luci Shaw's unique gift of poetry, of imagery, and of penetrating thought makes this a book to be savored, not merely read. ..When you are through, you will be the richer for having read it. I loved it!" —Ruth Bell Graham.

ECPA Gold Medallion Nominee, 1993

Buy

A Syllable of Water

Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art
In a Syllable of Water, some of today's leading writers of faith reflect on all aspects of the writing vocation and process in ways that will inform and inspire.

Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, and others discuss everything from the tools of a writer to the ways that they spend their time when they are not writing.

Editor John Wilson and poet Diane Glancy, reflect on the value of the editor-writer conversation, as well as the power of revision.

Other writers including Doris Betts, Harold Fickett, Virginia Stem Owens, Scott Cairns, and Eugene H. Peterson offer sage advice on how to approach nearly every imaginable genre from fiction and nonfiction to memoir, poetry, and translation.

Buy

WinterSong

Christmas Readings
by Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw
Have a cup of coffee and put a log on the fire, settle into a comfortable chair and enjoy a winter's day with the writings of novelist Madeleine L'Engle and poet Luci Shaw. Participate in the winter season: the wonder, the solemnity, the power, and the miracles. These readings reflect on the winter world around us, drawing joy from winter days, hope from Christmas celebrations, and promise for the New Year. This elegant collection is the natural outflow of the long-standing friendship between Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw. Sharing similar themes and a reflective style of writing, they combine their two rich literary worlds. Newbery Award Winner Madeleine L'Engle is widely known for her children's books, and adult fiction and nonfiction. Both women are widely known throughout the United States and Canada for their workshops on writing and journaling, lectures, and retreats.

Buy

Friends for the Journey

Two Extraordinary Women Celebrate Friendships Made and Sustained Through the Seasons of Life
Co-Author Madeleine L'Engle

Born of a friendship spanning a quarter of a century, Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw's Friends for the Journey considers the golden quality of deep and lasting friendships, showing that the common ground of love for God transcends even separation.

"In these pages two loving friends celebrate their intertwining journeys in ways that show, rather than tell, what heights of joy await those who enter into intimate friendship with God. This is a somersault of the spirit from two wise and childlike women who know the spiritual life in all its depth and wonder. Leaping from poetry to dialogue to journal-entries to story-telling they celebrate Christian love through the power of the baptized imagination. A feast for the soul." —Emilie Griffin.

Buy

Water My Soul

Cultivating the Interior Life
Poet and author Luci Shaw guides you into a deeper understanding of how to cultivate the life of the soul in relationship to God. Water My Soul speaks of the interior life in images of garden and wilderness, seed and soil, watering and waiting—metaphors for the process that leads to the spouting of the seed, the greening of the leaf, and the eventual harvest of flower and fruit. This book speaks straight to the heart, helping you enjoy a lifelong partnership with God as you cultivate a rich inner life—a life characterized by growth in wisdom and godliness.

"Luci Shaw is one of our best writers. Read this wonderful book, and for heaven's sake pick up some copies for your friends!" —Annie Dillard

"Water My Soul is a profoundly rooted book that reminds us all to slow down, breathe deeply, and experience God at work. Luci Shaw displays the wisdom of a woman who has lived well and the child-like wonder of a believer who continues to discover new reasons to believe. This book will be a classic—a volume to be reread whenever life seems to spin out of control." —Dale Hanson Bourke, Publisher, Religion News Service

ECPA First Place Gold Medallion, 1990

Buy

The Swiftly Tilting Worlds of Madeleine L'Engle

Essays in Her Honor by Walter Wangerin Jr, Eugene H. Peterson, Katherine Paterson & Others
This festschrift, written to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of America's most beloved writers, herself a long-time friend of Luci Shaw, includes many perceptive essays, ranging from the personal to the academic, that honor L'Engle and her pervasive influence.

"Madeleine L'Engle's friendship and her example point...my gaze to the beautiful, the sacred, the high adventure of creative life in the service of God." —Emilie Griffin, author, Wilderness Time, Wonderful & Dark Is This Road

Buy