Just as You Are: Opening Your Life to the Infinite Love of God

Description

Stop spinning your spiritual hamster wheel. Start living in the limitless love of God. Many of us go through life thinking and acting as though we can somehow, in some way, earn God’s love and favor. If only we do this, or that, or both, or more, God just might offer us at least a small bit of Divine approval or acceptance. Eventually realizing the impossibility of “getting right” with God through our own efforts, and tired of futilely going ’round and ’round in spiritual circles, we may even be inclined to permanently turn away from the Divine. In Just as You Are , Paul Coutinho, SJ, helps us move forward in the confidence that God already loves us and simply asks that we embrace this amazing love and live in it on a daily basis. A native of India, Fr. Coutinho combines Eastern sensibilities with Ignatian principles and practices to show us how to open our lives—now and always—to the infinite, unfathomable love of God. Filled with thought-provoking stories, inspiring anecdotes, and memorable metaphors, Just as You Are makes clear that experiencing the joy and freedom of the Divine journey is the only “work” we need to do. Being in love with the Divine is God’s gift that is always available to anyone who is looking for it. We have all had a taste of Divine love and our spirits hunger for more. But then other voices muffle the unconditional gift of Divine love—voices that speak of fear, guilt, anxiety, and unworthiness. Falling in love with God begins with an infatuation that penetrates those negative voices, and we respond to this either by being more and more attracted to the Divine or we are repulsed by the experience. We come closer or we fight to get away. In either case our focus is the Divine energy that is drawing us to itself. The Divine seducer never gives up but continues to draw us in many different ways to a deeper union and communion with the Ultimate. But when all is said and done, the falling in love will be up to you. So if you really have the will to experience life as one who is in love with the Divine, it will happen. If you want it, you’ll find it. In fact, love will find you.Are you willing? Are you ready? Review: recognizing our divine identity - When I finished reading Just As You Are, my initial inclination was to buy numerous copies to give to friends/family who would benefit from Paul Coutinho's words. That never works, so all I could do was be grateful that this book had been written, that I had read it, and allow God to take over. Coutinho is honest in revealing his personal journey towards falling in love with the Divine. He reveals how he came to love himself by discovering his mantra: I am precious, beautiful and important; and finding his true identity, seeing himself created by and in God, based in Sacred Scripture. He began to fall deeper in love with God, with himself and with others. Most importantly for the reader, Coutinho leads her toward practical and believable ways of being in a romance with God, and an understanding of prayer and its role. One of my favorite lines is this: "Being so in love with the Divine that lives in us, we are able to accept ourselves at the core of our being, with our light and our shadow, with that which is bright and that which is dark, with our strengths and our weaknesses--and we feel good, we feel happy to be ourselves. We don't want to be anybody else." (Page 151) Just As You Are is full of good, great news. In 2008, Coutinho's last book, How Big Is Your God? received the Eric Hoffer Book Award in the category of Self-Help/Spirituality. Just As You Are is also worthy of this honor. Review: Quick Reader - This is a very special book; easy to read by an author who keeps his words simple yet brings all the truths to our heart and mind. He shows us the way to incorporate the love of God into our heart and soul in an ongoing relationship with Him and the Holy Trinity. In so doing, he helps us to understand the vital need for all people to spread this love so that we recognize our common human bonds and the possibility of real love and peace in our lives and the lives of our fellow beings. He brings forth the knowledge that God is for all of us in whatever way we choose to celebrate Him; whether it be Muslim, Christian, Jew, or any faith. God is in us all.