When Faith Becomes Sight: Opening Your Eyes to God's Presence All Around You
Ebook
- 2019 IVP Readers' Choice Award
Where can I turn to see God? How can I more clearly recognize God's nearness and initiative in my life?
These are vital questions if you desire to know and experience the living God. As spiritual directors, Beth and David Booram have guided many people into deeper awareness of this living, present God at work within their lives.
When Faith Becomes Sight will help you grow in confidence that God is attentive to you and involved in your life as you learn to recognize God in and around you, reflect on your experience, and respond faithfully to God's presence and action in your life. Along the way you may venture across new streets and encounter unfamiliar terrain as you notice how God is speaking and what God is doing.
In those silent, shimmering moments, you will be invited to greet the One who has been seeking you your entire life—the Divine Presence who is all around you.
Preface
Part I: Looking For
1. Shimmering Attractions
2. Recurring Themes and Symbols
3. Transcendent Moments
4. Slender Threads
5. The Fertile Void
Part II: Looking Through
6. The Face of God
7. Imagining Jesus
8. Expectations and Assumptions
9. The Holy Flame
10. God's Big Book
Part III: Looking Within
11. (Dis) Orientation
12. Befriending Desire
13. Endlessly Inventive Resistance
14. Essence and Illusion
15. Night Work
Conclusion: God on the Lookout for You
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: A Word about Experience
Appendix 2: The Unique Stance of Spiritual Direction
Notes
"From shimmering moments to synchronicities to following the threads of our lives, Beth Booram and David Booram have written a truly lovely guide to paying attention to those moments of the divine breaking into ordinary moments. This book sparkles with possibility and gives language and practices to help us recognize and savor those moments."
"We have often thought of spiritual direction as not only a beautiful kind of ministry but also a fruitful lens through which to view our lives and relationships. Through imagination, creative engagement with Scripture, and real-life stories, Beth and Dave take us deeper into the heart of spiritual direction. What a joy to find ourselves there in the loving heart of Jesus for us. We encourage you to embark on the invitational journey of When Faith Becomes Sight."
"When Faith Becomes Sight is an invitation to taste and see the wonder of God in daily life. Beth and David Booram guide Christ-followers on a multidimensional spiritual adventure, enabling readers to experience the shimmering moments and sacred threads of God hidden as priceless treasures in what many see as mundane moments of life. This resource is biblically faithful, spiritually formative, historically grounded, and psychologically sound. In short, it is a gift."
"Beth and David Booram bring us the fruit of their mature life and spiritual experience in helping the reader to recognize, reflect on, and respond to God's loving and guiding presence in their lives. The many examples of how this shows itself in people's lives who come to them for spiritual direction provide much concrete help in understanding how God's presence uniquely shows itself in our experience, even in times when that presence feels totally absent. The authors also offer fresh interpretations of many scriptural passages where people speak of their transcendent experiences. . . . The lucid, personal, and honest writing style of the authors contributes a lot to the book's readability. I think it is a valuable complement to other contemporary books about the spiritual journey and the ministry of spiritual direction."
"If you have ever pondered your ability or willingness to slow down and notice God around you, you may simply need a nudge from a trusted guide to help open your eyes. The Boorams are such guides and offer wisdom for finding God in all things. With an invitation to linger, their writing not only gives permission for the contemplative in each of us to slow down and simply be present but to also move toward wonder and anticipation with God. As wonderfully trained companions on the spiritual journey, that companionship translates beyond the page for the reader in When Faith Becomes Sight. Be prepared to open your eyes to God's presence with their relatable stories, imaginative Scripture interaction, and practical reflection."
"With the rich fruit of years of Beth and David's companioning others in soul attentiveness, When Faith Becomes Sight glistens with wisdom and shimmers with the ways of our self-revealing God. Winsomely illustrated with examples from the Scriptures and from spiritual conversations and offering thoughtful reflection questions that help the reader to live into the invitations of each chapter, this book becomes its own burning bush experience!"
"When Faith Becomes Sight is a modern-day Practicing the Presence of God for those of us who aren't vocationally washing dishes in a monastery like Brother Lawrence. . . . Anchored in on-the-ground application and wisdom, When Faith Becomes Sight mines the deep tradition of the historic church and builds a modern spiritual architecture. This is a field guide to cultivating a mysticism in the mundane, the power of God always present and at work put at your fingertips. We will be recommending this book as a resource to every person who goes through our training with Gravity Leadership Academy."
"Beth and David masterfully and creatively awaken our deeper longings for an authentic relationship with God. Offering insights and practices from their own experiences as spiritual directors, this book is a gift to all of us who desire not only to grow in awareness of God in our day-to-day life but also to help others do the same."
"A world full of noise and distraction dulls us to the subtle movements of God and our own hearts. Dave and Beth Booram have shared generously from years of accompanying others to invite us to an awakened, discerning life. This book is like being in the room with them as they creatively guide us to a world-contradictory, God-responsive life."
"It's all too easy for us to lose track of God's presence with us in our daily lives, especially when we are blinded by trauma, grief, or other challenges of life. Beth and David Booram are wise and hospitable guides who use stories from their many years of spiritual direction to show us how to recognize God's presence with us. By calling our attention to the Giver of all life, When Faith Becomes Sight is a life-giving book, one that will undoubtedly transform the lives of all who read it."
"Spiritual direction is in high demand. So many are seeking, but few know how to find what they're looking for. When Faith Becomes Sight is an extraordinary book that guides the reader to the center of their heart where direction for life's journey reveals itself. This is a helpful resource for anyone looking to sharpen their discernment."
"When the sacred and the secular meet we open ourselves to the transcendent power of the Holy One. Beth and David Booram take us to the brink of those moments when our faith becomes sight and we find ourselves transformed by the inherent holiness of each moment of life."
"When Faith Becomes Sight lovingly calls us with tender care yet intense focus to awaken all our senses to discern God's presence and activity in our lives. It is an ongoing work that requires us to stay in tune with what is happening within and around us as we cultivate our capacity to be still and know how God is working in our midst. This book is a gift to anyone who is ready to take the next step of seeing God anew and, in the process, seeing oneself anew as well."
"As its title suggests, the wisdom and words of the Boorams usher the reader from the place of faithful understanding to a place where God can be seen and known—particularly, individually, incarnationally. This book isn't just about the life with God, it is something I have rarely experienced: When Faith Becomes Sight is spiritual direction in book form. It is a companion on the journey, a reminder of the ways God speaks and moves, an encouragement when times are dark, and a reminder that we all need a soul friend (or two) who will point us to the sparks of the divine within and around us at all times. I will return to it often, and I encourage you to, as well."
"Beth and David have given their readers the equivalent of spiritual LASIK, offering improved vision in When Faith Becomes Sight. Particularly in chapter seven, "Imagining Jesus," the Boorams use the ancient practice of St. Ignatius of Loyola to guide us into uniquely imaginative ways of being with Christ and experiencing him as fully present, alive, and engaging us through the use of Scripture. Oh, how we need this imaginative gift of the Spirit, especially now, when life is filled with so many optical illusions and the vision for being with Christ has at times become blurred by the speed of life. Here the Boorams have invited us to pause and to be enlarged and enlivened by Christ's presence available to us and to know Christ's active love for us in our very here and now."
"Beth and Dave Booram are experienced and trustworthy guides for exploring the complex landscape of the inner life. When Faith Becomes Sight is an honest, gentle, and engaging invitation to become increasingly attentive to the God who sees us with love. Filled with practical insights and opportunities for prayerful reflection, this book facilitates a journey deep into the heart of God. I hope many will say yes to the journey."
Product Details
- Title : When Faith Becomes Sight: Opening Your Eyes to God's Presence All Around You
- Authors:
- Booram, Beth A.
- Booram, David
- Publisher: IVP Books
- Publication Date: 2019
- ISBN: 9780830848379
David Booram is the cofounder and director of Fall Creek Abbey, an urban retreat center in Indianapolis, where he and his wife Beth lead The School of Spiritual Direction and offer individual and group spiritual direction. He is the founder of Direction 4 Life Work, through which he is a career counselor.
Beth A. Booram is the cofounder and director of Fall Creek Abbey, an urban retreat center in Indianapolis, where she and her husband David lead The School of Spiritual Direction and offer individual and group spiritual direction. She is the coauthor of Awaken Your Senses and the author of several books including Starting Something New.