Julie Davis sent me a preview copy of her new book, Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life, and I am very thankful to have read it. I’m mildly abashed to find myself in it, but I’ll take it.
What is this book?
When people talk about “having a relationship with Jesus” other people are left a tad lost. A friend had a relative who’d just turned to God for the first time in the midst of a serious end-of-life crisis, but now what? How do you help someone who’s ignored God for a lifetime to even know how to pray? I recommended this book.
Starting with “Beginning to Pray” as the zero point, Julie walks the reader from I’ve-got-nothing all the way into the depths of the Christian life. Each page has a quote from Julie’s epic quote journal, and then her reflection on what we weak-kneed penitents might do with that idea. You can see sample pages on Amazon to get the idea.
Who would like this book?
Because it is such a true and grounded and approachable way to learn, or re-learn, to relate to God, I’d consider it a go-to for most new Christians.
As someone who knows and practices a whole pile of Catholicism, but often poorly, I found it helpful to start from the beginning and pray through the book a bit at a time.
I suppose the answer is: Are you ready to hit the reset button on your practice of the faith? Here it is.
Is it true Julie lets just about anybody into her quote journal?
Yeah, I think so. She seems to follow the Adam’s Ale “Finding the Truth Wherever it May be Found” rule.
In contrast to her first book of quotes from films and other pop-culture sources, which I recommend for different reasons, this one is a collection of quotes from spiritual writers. The contributors include some ordinary people like me, some super-big names from all the centuries, and a fair bit of God Himself. It’s just whatever she’s read and found helpful, so there will be runs of this or that author.
The book doesn’t attempt to be a representative tour of the Greatest Hits of All Time; rather, it’s a tour of the human soul, and the quotes are ones that shine a light on this or that experience common to most ordinary Jesus-seeking Christians.
I’m quite certain, giving my presence there, that to be quoted is not an endorsement of every single thing a given author ever wrote (God excepted), it just means she found that particular quote helpful in some way.
Two Final Fun Things:
#1: Fellow Conspirator Will Duquette’s review of Seeking Jesus in Everday Life is here.
#2: My favorite quote from the book, from Fr. James Libone and stuck in my head since the moment I read it:
“Everyone wants the key to finding God. But there is no lock!”
Cover art courtesy of Niggle Publishing.