Julie K. Aageson

I love words--everything about them. Perhaps that is why, from the earliest days of childhood, I have been a lover of books. I love the ways words transport and transform, inform and illustrate and illumine. I write to be able to live in the world of words and to clarify my own sometimes random thinking. Most of all, I write because the act of writing is life-giving and life-enriching. It connects me with readers and thinkers and learners--all of us who wrestle with living meaningful lives. Writing invites a publicly honest accounting for who I am and what I am about. When I write, whether in letters or emails, articles or books, I am being true to myself.

My books express broad ranging interests: the beauty of the natural world, curiosity and optimism about the complexities of everyday life, a life-long desire to see the sacred in ordinary things, a passion for the riches of liturgical life, skepticism about pat "answers", the nature of joy, family life, and so much more.

For almost 30 years, I wrote as a resource specialist for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I'm a former public school teacher and wrote a regular column for GATHER Magazine for a decade. I've published in L Magazine, Clergy Journal, Parish Teacher, The Lutheran Magazine, and Seeds for the Parish.

My books include the following:

*One Hope: Re-Membering the Body of Christ (2015) was a writing adventure with five other colleagues. It reflects rich conversations and wrestling about shared convictions and beliefs. It's a simple and accessible book meant to stimulate conversation especially among Lutherans and Catholics about what we share in common and how we witness to a gracious and loving God. It was written in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and includes questions for group discussion or individual reflection.

*Benedictions: 26 Reflections (2016) is a personal account, a collection of affirmations about God's presence in ordinary things: the ground beneath our feet, the ways we bless each other, the making of our homes, grief and loss, doubt and darkness. Benedictions invites readers to consider places, people, and events from real life that enrich and inform meaningful living. It includes questions and statements for individual or group reflection and retreats.

*Holy Ground: An Alphabet of Prayer (2018) asks readers to reflect on praying without words, prayer using the alphabet as a guide: A-Attention, B-Beauty, C-Compassion, D-Devotion, E-Enthusiasm, F-Faith, G-Gratitude, H-Hospitality, I-Imagination... all the way to the end of the alphabet to discover W-Wonder, X as Mystery, and Z-Zeal. These brief chapters are meant to enlarge our understandings of God's presence to help us see and hear God in places we might not ordinarily expect. The hope is that readers will experience prayer as so much more than words. Each chapter begins with a beautiful calligraphy letter and invitation to color or embellish the letter as a way of meditating on the word it signifies. Questions and statements for individual or group use are included.