Mary Holder Naegeli
Author
—Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life—1896
Mary Holder Naegeli: Author
Mary’s calling as a writer and pastor is to bring the Word of God to life for ordinary people. Her education and forty years of pastoral experiences have given her an appreciation for the human condition and the heart-cries of women and men searching for God’s wisdom. Through blogging, curriculum development, and non-fiction books, Mary’s writing has helped believers and questioners sort out complex issues and clarify how the Bible is relevant to real life in real time.
Mary holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University (Music), and Master of Divinity (Christian Formation and Discipleship emphasis) and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary.
She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where she serves as pastor-in-residence at a local Presbyterian church. Mary is married to the man she met in her Stanford freshman dorm in 1971. Together they have two grown daughters and have welcomed two sons-in-law and three grandchildren into the family.
Grandchildren, world travel, road trips, symphony concerts, and the San Francisco Giants offer seasonal diversions.
WHY I DON'T PRAY: Sharing the Struggle with Saints and Sages
This book is for anyone who wants to pray but doesn’t. Thirty-five years in the making, Why I Don’t Pray captures the struggles and frustrations of would-be pray-ers like me. My praying life comes in spurts and sputters, even now that I am “retired” and in full control of my time—NOT! But studying the great works of spiritual writers over the centuries, I discovered that even saints and sages have struggled to keep conversing with God in prayer. We are not alone.
The difference between them and me is that their life challenges did not stop them from praying. In fact, the more obstacles they encountered, the more they prayed! This book shares the insights from their stories and, of course, the Scriptures to encourage us to open our end of the conversation with God.
If you’re ready for a deep dive into what makes you tick spiritually, this book accompanies you through a review of body, mind, emotions, will, social context, and spirit to identify your prayer hang-ups and let them go. Like the saints and sages introduced in this book, you may marvel that your prayer obstacles become your prayer catalysts!
Available Now!
DEEP BREATHING: FINDING CALM AMID CANCER ANXIETY
Redemption Press
Fresh, daily insights into the unfolding experience of lung cancer, discovering in light of scripture that serenity and curiosity are more sustainable and life-giving than anxiety.
Deep Breathing enables readers to slow down, calm down, and get curious about what is happening to them physically and spiritually. The author demystifies lung cancer by sharing medical details of her own experience, and thereby encourages readers to ask questions and explore fearlessly the very thing that threatens their wellbeing. Eschewing the melodramatic or sensational, she writes from a positive and realistic view of life with cancer and a palpable awareness of God’s faithful presence and biblical encouragement. Readers discover that God is trustworthy and will help them face whatever outcome is in their future, whether healing, chronic management, and/or death.
Available Now!
Blog: Bringing the Word to Life
A Pastoral Prayer for Mothers
Gracious God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for the beautiful design of your creation, and the inclusion of mothers in your orderly world. Whether our mothers were accessible or aloof, nurturing or narcissistic, competent or overcome, in any case we are here today because of them and are grateful for life itself. So, we thank you for our mothers, and pray that we might live into their best vision for us: responsible, faithful, caring, and confident individuals. We pray for moms with children at home, going through the surprises, the difficulties, and the messes of motherhood. Please endow them
Prayer as a Practice
The question came up this week: Mary, how do you practice prayer? It’s a great question, because prayer is a practice and it takes practice. But “it”—the precise form of prayer—varies greatly from day to day, from person to person, from tradition to tradition. There are so many ways to pray! What’s very important, though, is to confirm that I
Walking a Labyrinth as a Prayer Practice
Imagine my surprise, while walking through a London Tube station, to discover a framed picture of a labyrinth hanging on the wall! No label, no instructions, just the picture seen here. Then imagine the frenetic times when you might need a calming prayer practice, and you realize a Tube station is the perfect place to position this ancient prayer prompt.
Reinventing a Woman of a Certain Age
In the fallout from breast cancer treatment last year, my physical strength and flexibility has taken a big hit. This setback has been debilitating at times and certainly disappointing. It’s one of my “cut tulips.” Some necessary changes or subtraction of meds has helped since August, and just this week with a new rheumatologist, I feel some hope that I