Sybil MacBeth
Sybil MacBeth is the author of the series of books called Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God. Sybil can’t remember a time when she didn’t pray; but sitting still and closing her eyes were not in her childhood-prayer skill set. She loved to memorize Scripture passages, the names of books of the Bible in order, and lots of traditional prayers and hymns. She carried those words with her as a growing vocabulary of faith and prayer.
As a kid in school, she loved math because she could do it watching television. Then she stopped watching television and discovered she could do math even better. She loved the visual and kinesthetic aspects of mathematics—the artistic display of numbers and symbols on the board and her hand moving and dancing around the page.
Sybil’s fifteen years of teaching experience as a community college mathematics professor prepared her for the Praying in Color® workshops and retreats she leads in person and on Zoom. Her workshops cater to multiple learning styles and focus on building community through prayer, movement, song, and play.
Sybil MacBeth loves to doodle, dance, sing, walk, read, and talk about God. When the pandemic calms down, Sybil and her husband Andy plan to spend a year in Jerusalem.
Books & DVDs
“MacBeth makes it astonishingly clear that anyone with a box of colors and some paper can have a conversation with God.”
Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
Drawing a New Path to God
by Sybil MacBeth
Like the original 2007 book, the new Expanded and Enhanced Edition introduces an active and visual prayer practice for the word-weary and restless pray-er. With a handful of colored pencils or markers, a black pen, and some simple doodling vocabulary, anyone can initiate a conversation with God. This book includes memoir, theology, and lots of how-to, step-by step instructions for praying in color. With 50% more material than the original book, readers can learn about praying Scripture (lectio divina), making “To-Do List” prayers, offering thanksgiving, celebrating Advent and Lent, confessing shortcomings, and more!
Available from these booksellers:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million
Indie Bound
Paraclete Press
“Praying in Color is, without exaggeration, the most important thing that has happened to my spiritual life in the last five years. When I pray as Sybil McBeth has taught me to pray – seriously, it is the only time in my life that an hour of prayer goes by and I think it has been 10 minutes. NB: I cannot draw a credible stick figure; fellow non-artists, fear not!”
Praying in Color
Kids Edition
by Sybil MacBeth
Kids can pray in color, too! This first-of-its-kind resource will change the way kids pray—and how adults teach them to do it. This is a prayer practice that makes sense to kids. With colored pencils or colored markers, children of any age can spend time with God.
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million
Indie Bound
Paraclete Press
“Dancer and mathematics instructor MacBeth’s charming book may be the first to combine the pleasures of doodling with a discussion of, among other things, lectio divina. Here, she shows how simple drawings-often hardly more than circles and lines with names or ideas or places sketched in and enlivened with color-can focus the praying heart, making prayer something better than a shopping list or a chore and helping the praying believer to carry the wishes and thoughts of the prayer through the day. MacBeth’s book is not for unbelievers or those who do not pray; it is directed to those suffering something more like spiritual attention deficit disorder. Still, it is one of the most appealing books on prayer to appear in the last five years. Highly recommended.”
Praying in Black & White
A Hands-on Practice for Men
by Sybil and Andy MacBeth
Praying in Black and White is not just for men, but for anyone who wants to wield a pen but forego the colored markers and pens. This “colorless” version of Praying in Color offers a simple, concrete way to pray. With a pen and a piece of paper, readers are free to bring their skepticism, task-orientation, self-sufficiency, and independence into a new conversation with God.
Available from these booksellers:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million
Indie Bound
Paraclete Press
Rezando En Colores
Praying in Color – Spanish Edition
by Sybil MacBeth
Prayer for the right side of your brain… Now in Spanish! It is rare to find a book that is so simple and profound. Praying in Color has forever changed the way that tens of thousands of people pray.
Available from these booksellers:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million
Indie Bound
Paraclete Press
“Readers of all ages, experience and religions will find this a fresh, invigorating and even exhilarating way to spend time with themselves and their Creator.”
Confessions and Practices of an Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Extremist
by Sybil MacBeth
The Season of the Nativity—Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany — sets the stage for the liturgical year, the Christian’s yearlong journey through Scripture and salvation history. With a little bit of memoir, some front=porch theology, and pages and pages of practices and activities, Sybil MacBeth invites individuals and families to enjoy this season in a way that has more peace, more Christ, and less chaos and guilt. She offers simple tools for busy people to reclaim a joyful, playful, and holy nativity season.
Available from these booksellers:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-a-Million
Indie Bound
Paraclete Press
Workshop DVD
by Sybil MacBeth
Everything you need to know to lead your own Praying in Color workshop, featuring author Sybil MacBeth.
Segments include:
- Arrival of participants and introduction to the practice
- Getting Started
- Beginning to Pray
- Bringing your prayer time to a close
“Praying in Color has been a valuable asset to my ministry for many ages, from 5th graders all the way through young adults. The book and DVD are straight-forward, easy to follow, and, more importantly, easy to teach and adapt to your own needs. I would recommend Praying in Color to anyone serious about expanding and improving their prayer life.”
Kids DVD
by Sybil MacBeth
Imagine a group of kids on the floor of a gym, or filling a classroom, or on a weekend retreat, praying in a whole new way–so silently that you can hear a pin drop! It happens everyday with Praying in Color. And now there’s Praying in Color Kid’s Edition and Praying in Color: Kid’s Edition DVD – a visual tool that guides you, the leader, step by step, in creating a simple workshop
Available for Streaming:
Paraclete Press Video Streaming