Finding God Again

In our culture, so preoccupied with self-realization, human potential and spiritual practice, this book on spiritual transformation is both timely and solid. John Shea is extremely well-grounded in both psychology and spirituality. Using the wisdom of both, and with copious illustrations from the experience of real people, Shea offers a clear exposition of the inter-relationship between images of God's relationship to us and human maturity. This is not a simple self-help book. There are no easy fixes. What it offers is a penetrating and enlivening prospectus of why our images of God need to 'grow up', how this comes about and the impact such transformation has on our spiritual and psychological maturity and well-being. -- Philip Sheldrake, William Leech Professor, University of Durham, UK
Our experience of things is shaped by our capacity to experience them. This is true of our image of God. As human beings grow and change and develop, so too does their way of understanding and relating to the infinite self-gift of God. With wisdom and insight drawn from both theology and counseling, John Shea leads us from a 'God' who is a (more or less) benign despot to the living God who is the source of all our creativity and energy and capacity to love. This is a book that will be of importance for all spiritual directors, counselors, religious educators, and pastoral ministers. Those they serve will be grateful that they read it. -- Rev. Michael J. Himes, Professor, Theology Department, Boston College
This book is a wake up call: If we want to be truly religious, John Shea tells us that we must become adults capable of mutuality with God and others. We must move from the routine of religious practices to the engagement of a personal religion. -- Ana-María Rizzuto, training and supervising psychoanalyst, The Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, East
For so many of us, our God is too small—the one we learned about in first grade, alongside Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Tooth Fairy. If we don't grow beyond this, our faith can falter and fail to sustain us, especially in difficult times. John Shea's book invites us to grow up and to bring God with us, to recognize that all of our symbols and language for the Divine falls far short of the reality and yet to know more deeply the Ultimate Mystery who loves us. This book will sustain, renew, or jump start again the reader's journey in faith. -- Thomas H. Groome, author of What Makes Us Catholic and director of the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College