A step-by-step guide to writing your own scripture using selections from major sacred texts, secular sources and your own words. Create Your Personal Sacred Textis a unique step-by-step guide to selecting and writing your own scripture. Bobbi Parish has developed and used this process both personally and professionally with clients over the course of a decade and has found its transformative powers to be universal. With a comprehensive resource guide to the world's major sacred texts and a selection of secular texts, the book covers: What you need before you start Selection guidelines Writing your own scripture Text assembly Prayer, meditation, and other methods of seeking inspiration Ideas for using your text individually or communally And much more The process of creating a personal sacred text will enrich your spiritual life, and your finished text will be a source of wisdom and inspiration for many years to come.

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
An Overview of the Creation Process
Defining the Personal Sacred Text	p. 7
The Rewards of Creating a Personal Sacred Text	p. 17
The Process of Creating Your Personal Sacred Text	p. 27
What You Need Before You Start	p. 41
Assembling Your Personal Sacred Text
Documenting Each Selection	p. 51
Assembling Your Selections into a Text Format	p. 63
Making Selections from Existing Material
Major Sacred Texts	p. 75
Other Spiritual Resources	p. 97
Secular Resources	p. 123
Selection Guidelines	p. 141
Writing Your Own Scripture
Writing Your Own Scripture	p. 153
Methods of Seeking Inspiration to Write Your Own Scripture	p. 163
Genres to Write	p. 201
Using Your Personal Sacred Text
Individual Processes	p. 217
Community Involvement	p. 227
Bibliography	p. 247
Author Resources	p. 257
Index	p. 259
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Defining the Personal Sacred Text

Finally. You made it home. After a grueling day at work that started early and ended late you are exhausted. The boss chewed you out in front of all your coworkers. A customer screamed his displeasure in your ear so emphatically it's still ringing. And there wasn't time for lunch, so you haven't had a thing to eat since that banana you grabbed as you flew out the door this morning.

As you step from your car, lugging behind you a bulging briefcase with reports that have to be reviewed before tomorrow's big meeting, your youngest child hurtles herself at your midsection. She's wailing about the toy her brother "deliberately" broke. You attempt to soothe her while dragging both of you into the house.

Your spouse is standing in the kitchen taking inventory of the dinner possibilities with a look of such exhaustion and frustration on his face that it can be matched only by your own. As your son sails down the hallway on his skateboard, throwing insults over his shoulder at his sister, the dog presents himself at your feet. Relieved to be greeted by a friendly face you reach down to rub his ear. He responds by throwing up pizza and Gummi Bears all over your new shoes.

In the midst of this chaos, the doorbell rings. You and your spouse exchange "Now what?" looks. Stepping out of your shoes, you walk to the door, ready to unload your frustrations on the salesperson you suspect is on the other side. After you jerk the door open, you are surprised to see a woman in a flowing blue robe standing before you.

"Is this the Smith residence?" she asks, reading from a sheet of paper and then peering up at you over the top of her glasses.

"Yes," you reply, drawing the word out as if it had ten syllables rather than one. Quickly, you scan your peripheral vision for men carrying cameras or a van with candid camera stenciled on the side.

"Well, then, this is your lucky day!" she proclaims, letting her glasses drop and swing from the chain around her neck. Shoving the piece of paper up one sleeve, she pulls a golden wand from the other. "I am your vacation fairy godmother. You have won an all-expense-paid trip anywhere in the world you'd like to go. Just name the destination of your choice and I'll zap you there myself."

You can hear your family gathering behind you. As they murmur their curiosity, you try to find an intelligible reply to voice. But all that comes out is "Yeah, right."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," your fairy godmother chastises. Muttering about never being believed, she points her wand at the shrub next to the door frame. A bolt of electricity shoots out, transforming the plant into a suitcase. Your children shriek with delight.

"Voil^!" she says, with a grand flourish of her arm. "Now do you believe me?"

"Ah . . . well . . . yes," you sputter.

"Great. Now let's see if we can't find something to eat. I'm starved." She pushes her way past you and disappears in the direction of the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder, "Just let me know what you decide."

You stand there, incredulous, glancing between your equally surprised spouse and the form fading down the hallway. As your children cautiously creep after her, the two of you are left standing alone. "Well, where do we want to go?" you finally ask.

Where would you want to go? If there were no limitations, such as time or money, where would you choose to travel? How long would you be gone? What route would you take? Would you go alone or with someone else?

While our chosen destinations and itineraries may be as variable as our personalities, I think there would be some fairly common themes in what we want to achieve on our dream vacation. Some may select a leisurely excursion to the most beautiful beaches in the world, while others would line up a cycling tour of the great castles of Europe. But I believe we would all seek to be revitalized and renewed by our experience. We want an adventure that will transform our lives in whatever way we most need it to be transformed.

Perhaps you want to calm your stressed psyche, restore balance to your life, or reignite the passion in your romance. There may be a sight you've always wanted to see or a trek you've always wanted to make that you know will help define your vision and purpose in life. You may be searching for the one thing that will fill the emptiness inside you or answer a question that has rattled around inside your soul for years.

If any of these sound like purposes you would want your dream vacation to meet, then you are reading the right book. Making a journey to the River of Truth--the source of universal wisdom--will do all those things and more. You might be headed to a different geographic point along the river from other travelers or use a different mode of transportation from others who make the voyage. Yet because we are all seeking essentially the same things, the process will be similar. We want to deepen and broaden our connection with Spirit, others, and ourselves through the creation of a sacred text that reflects our unique relationship with her. Capturing our story is important because we know there never has been, and never will be, another one exactly like it. We know that if we avoid this journey we cheat ourselves, Spirit, and the universe out of a richer experience. So, after careful consideration, you have decided that the River of Truth is your ideal vacation destination. Having a solid grounding in the concepts involved in creating your personal sacred text from your journey to the River of Truth is very important. It will help you stay focused through the lengthy process and prevent you from getting lost along the way. It's hard to prepare for a journey if you do not know its nature. Therefore, we'll stop here and take a few moments to define exactly what a personal sacred text is by looking at each term, separately and together.

Personal

According to most dictionary definitions, "personal" means individual, private, and having to do with characteristics of being a human being. For our purposes we won't stray too far from these definitions. In the context of creating a sacred text, the word "personal" has three meanings: individual, unique, and dynamic.

Compiling a volume of work that reflects your spiritual beliefs and experiences is a very individual undertaking. Although you may be used to a faith tradition that values the collective experience and process, reflected in community worship services and governed by dogma and doctrine, this particular process is about your own differentiated values, beliefs, and ideas. It is not about what anyone else thinks or feels unless that is germane to your arriving at a particular thought of your own. It is not about the blind recitation of catechism or the mindless regurgitation of facts and stories you learned as a child. When you hold your sacred text up to a mirror, you want to see your own reflection, not the "should," "ought," or "must" interpretations of anyone else.

This process is about you and your journey. It is your story of the explorations and discoveries you have made, and still want to make, about Spirit and yourself. If, in the process, you decide to own someone else's beliefs because they adequately reflect your own, that's great! The goal is to avoid adopting ideals incongruent with who you are.

Although this is a sacred text you are making solely for yourself, there may be a time, during or after its creation, that you decide to share some or all of it with a trusted friend or family member. The decision is entirely up to you, and chapter 15 will help you with that process. Despite the deeply personal nature of their texts, all of my clients and workshop participants have chosen to share at least small pieces of them with others or to leave their entire texts to loved ones after their deaths. For this reason, it is important to consider potential readers when you are creating your text. It need not be a primary or significant focus, but if you wish to share your story with anyone in the world, you should consider whether it will be understood clearly. Therefore, you will see many references in this book about "readers" of your personal sacred text. Incorporate the related suggestions as appropriate to your particular desires for sharing your text.

Creating a sacred text is also a unique process. There never has been, and there never will be, another human being exactly like you. Your thoughts, personality, ideas, and behaviors will go unduplicated for all of time. Consequently, no one has or ever will again have the understanding of and relationship with Spirit that you do. Your work will have a value unequal to anything else that will ever be done.

In making your selections and writing your scripture, seek to reveal your uniqueness. Boldly declare what makes you who you are, how you are different from everyone else, and what transpired in your life to create your unparalleled relationship with Spirit. Celebrate your separateness from the rest of humanity! Give the universe the gift of knowing who you are so we can all learn from your experience.

Your personal sacred text should reflect the dynamic quality of your human life. None of us is stagnant. Even if we choose to dig our heels into the dirt as hard as we can, circumstances eventually will dislodge us, dragging us into growth and change. We can embrace this or fight it, but we cannot avoid it.

Over the years as you grow and change, your sacred text, whether you intend it or not, will reflect the dynamic nature of your evolving beliefs and spiritual ideals. You may wish to make your evolution a conscious part of the story you tell. Or you may simply prefer to let it unfold on its own, an ever-flowing undercurrent in your journey to the River of Truth. The choice is yours. My only suggestion is that you welcome the evolution as a part of the process rather than choose rigidity or constancy.

Excerpted from Create Your Personal Sacred Text: Develop and Celebrate Your Spiritual Life by Bobbi Parish
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.