Jan Phillips’ Book of Hours is a tapestry of threads from the arts, science, sacred texts and her own mystical poetry. It is the story of one woman s journey from Catholicism to a new cosmology of global communion and co-creation. It is Rumi-meets-Teilhard, Catherine of Siena meets Dorothy Day – a compelling illustration of how spiritual practice leads to heightened creativity leads to inspired evolutionary action. It’s like being picked up by the shirtsleeves and carried to the mountaintop. It doesn’t hurt but the view most certainly changes. A book to help you: evolve yourself forward as a spiritual and creative agent of change, find out why you believe what you believe and update your mental software, expand your intuitive and creative bandwidth, discover meaningful ways to express your commitments, clarify the distinctions between spirituality and religion. (1)
Jan Phillips is a wonder. She never ceases to amaze me with the depth of her thinking, of her vision. I thoroughly enjoyed No Ordinary Time and savored every word. Though I have read most if not all of her books, I felt this one showed more of Jan Phillips as a woman, a person, and not the “author” of the book. One gets to really know her in a sense; such a nice “walk along” in her shoes. When she is frustrated with a situation, you get frustrated. You feel hope, not hopelessness. You feel satisfied, motivated, inspired. I highly recommend this book. Read it, live it, do it! (2)
A pioneer and risk-taker, Jan Phillips is not averse to trying new things. No Ordinary Time took about six months to write,” she says. “I decided to self-publish so I could come out as a poet and not get any grief from a publisher about putting poetry in a non-fiction book.”
Kudos! I mentioned to Jan that I thought her latest book might very well be my favorite of the books she’s written. As stated above, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of her books but there’s something different about this one, something personal in the way it speaks directly to me. Jan explains possible reasons why. “It was my favorite book to write. Combining prayers, poems, reflections, stories, the whole thing was a joy-filled adventure.”
The joy shows in every word, every sentence, every chapter. But make no mistake, Jan Phillips’ latest book calls for action. “I believe that we, contemporary writers and mystics of the day…we are the writers of the new sacred texts. What happened 2000 years ago was timely for that era. Our commentary and creativity in THIS era is every bit as critical. It’s time to take ourselves seriously as cultural co-creators and admit that this is our spiritual work.”
Pick up Jan Phillips book No Ordinary Time and take a look at the spiritual path your future might hold. Pause and reflect, then spread your wings. Create….
1. No Ordinary Time book description
2. MaryAnn Myers’ comments on amazon.com