Focusing on what's important

Most of us have seen—and many of us wear—those brightly colored band bracelets that have a few printed words. Designed to raise awareness, they enable us to proclaim to the world the causes we support.

What if a bracelet enabled us to focus on what is most important in our lives? Such a bracelet would be more than a statement: It would be a spiritual practice. The Pearls of Life, a bracelet of 18 glass beads, is turning into that for us.

Martin Lonnebo, bishop emeritus of the Linköping Diocese of the Church of Sweden, was hunkered down on a small Greek island during a storm when he came up with the idea for a prayer practice with beads—first called “Our Savior’s Wreath.” The beads became, for him, a catalyst for inner spiritual work and a richer devotional life. Using Lonnebo’s explanations of each bead, Swedes Carolina Welin, a communications expert, and Carolina Johannson, a journalist, wrote Pearls of Life: For the Personal Spiritual Journey; an insert in the cover includes one set (Augsburg Books).