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Summary: Reveals how God can lead people in very different paths.
Review: Some people are called to a life of pure faith where they will only know the darkness of God. Others are called to a life fo pure love where the will often experience God's presence. Caussade says that both paths can be equal before God. The challenge of following Christ is not to replicate another's experience but to allow the Holy Spirit to guide me. I learn to yield to God's divine will in each moment. This book should never be confused with quietism, which suggest I can do nothing but wait before God. Caussade suggests some are called to active lives and some are called to lives of stillness. We are all called to pursue the Lord by yielding to the SPirit in the present moment. I find this book an excellent companion to Martin Buber's I and Thou.
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Summary: This book contains enlightening and sound revelations.
Review: The book has a simple message: the abandonment of your will to the will of our Lord. Jean-Pierre de Caussade eloquently explains this process, when if we just close our eyes for a moment, and love Jesus, we will be there. He says, "Come enter My rest." It is about the practical application of loving the Lord with all of your heart, body, soul and mind. Yet, de Caussade also lived in the world and had many challenges set before him , as we all do. I highly recommend this book, and especially so, considering the times in which we live. Great blessing will be had by considering prayerfully the premise put forth herein.
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Summary: The secret of the saints.
Review: There are a few thousand books to help you learn - about God. This is one of the very few that helps you - know God. Let God Himself change you.
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Summary: A reader from Dayton, OH
Review: There are just a few books that a person will keep on his or her shelve over the years and read again and again. It takes a special quality. I have found that unique quality in DeCaussade's "Abandonment to Divine Providence." It is the simple gospel message that Jesus lived each and every moment of his life. "My meat is to do the will of my Father in heaven." DeCaussade has a way of saying the same basic truth in so many ways but it never seems to tire the reader. I believe the reason is simply because one never gets tired of hearing the truth. In fact, for all its simplicity, it serves as a companion to the gospel itself. When the reader is open, DeCaussade's words touch the heart urge the person to take the words of Jesus to the young man...."give up everything and follow me." It is the decision that doesn't bring instant transformation; it gives the direction for the journey and the words to pray each moment. "All is your's Lord. I want what you want in all things." I would recommend this classic for anyone who has felt a growing desire to make the self offering to the Lord. DeCaussade's words are not just the theology of self-giving but they also treat the specific joys and struggles that come with that self-giving to the Lord. It is a book which will never grow stale or old.
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Summary: Full of problems
Review: This book is usually on everyone's list of great spiritual classics but I have never had high regard for it. Deeply influenced by the quietist/pietist movements of time (they recommended complete passivity in the spiritual life so that God could supposedly do all his work by grace without any of our participation), it doesn't avoid the very excesses that this orthodox catholic priest hoped to correct in an effort to keep people within the church. The theme of the book is that we should all simply abandon the outcomes of all of our actions to God and live in trust. Simple enough, but the book seems to advocate a passivity that, I think, can become a self-fulfilling prophesy of bad outcomes. You have to have some sort of goal in your mind in order to work toward something worthwhile. It is fair enough for a believing person to deal with disappointment by accepting failure with peace and humility-"it just wasn't God's will that I succeed at X. God wishes me to do something else" but this book crosses that line into the following philosophy: "Everything is in God's hands. There is no use having any goals or striving for anything since only God can bring success and to be ambitious for anything is to set yourself up for failure or sacriledge. Better to just be a passive fatalist and see what God brings me". This book does away with the sense that we are also active in creation and our lives. Instead, God becomes the only active agent and we are "spiritual" to the degree that we become passive observers of our own lives and God's grace. It is a prescription for fatalism, passivity, and the complete neglect of our talents and prsonalities. What would have been so much better would have been an approach that encourages all of our efforts but with a sense of humility as we strive to succeed, making clear that disease, disaster, disappointment can strike at anytime and that only time will tell how much and to what degree our plans and God's plans matched (usually not very closely!).THEN, and only then, should we stop fighting the inevitable and accept what is now clearly God's will with peace, humility, and tranquility. But to give up all striving beforehand is bad advice and presumptious.
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Summary: This is a different type of book on the spiritual life.
Review: This book was written as a book of spiritual guidance, and an unconventional book, in that it writes about "saints", or those who have surrendered to God's will, yet outwardly do not appear to be remarkable, or seem to fall into the category of "very famous" spiritual people. He discusses things like: the traps and dangers the world imposes on such people, the fact that they are often abused and spied on diligently (and unjustly), their apparent "childishness", the face that they present to the world (often seen as laughing stocks or incompetents), versus the truth of God's workings in their lives, the nature of the world - that those who outwardly appear to be "great princes" are presenting a false face to the world, that Satan enlists regiments of scoundrels for these visible positions who wage war relentlessly against those who love God, and, in fact, that behind all this falsification stands the whole battle of human history. And, of course, that in the end the last shall be first, and God's servants shall triumph. While not in the league of some of the greatest saints' writings, it still has invaluable insights to offer, and so I recommend this book.
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Summary: This is a different type of book on the spiritual life.
Review: This book was written as a book of spiritual guidance, and an unconventional book, in that it writes about "saints", or those who have surrendered to God's will, yet outwardly do not appear to be remarkable, or seem to fall into the category of "very famous" spiritual people. He discusses things like: the traps and dangers the world imposes on such people, the fact that they are often abused and spied on diligently (and unjustly), their apparent "childishness", the face that they present to the world (often seen as laughing stocks or incompetents), versus the truth of God's workings in their lives, the nature of the world - that those who outwardly appear to be "great princes" are presenting a false face to the world, that Satan enlists regiments of scoundrels for these visible positions who wage war relentlessly against those who love God, and, in fact, that behind all this falsification stands the whole battle of human history. And, of course, that in the end the last shall be first, and God's servants shall triumph. While not in the league of some of the greatest saints' writings, it still has invaluable insights to offer, and so I recommend this book.
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Summary: Direct and to the point...
Review: This is a short little book that is easy to read, but it packs a powerful punch. The author gets right to the point, and reiterates his message again and again for different situations. This book will definitely change (for the better) the way you look at the day to day events of your life. Excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Direct and to the point...
Review: This is a short little book that is easy to read, but it packs a powerful punch. The author gets right to the point, and reiterates his message again and again for different situations. This book will definitely change (for the better) the way you look at the day to day events of your life. Excellent.
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Summary: Excellent spiritual book that balances contemporary thought
Review: What is Divine Providence? Shakespeare writes that "there is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will." (Hamlet) This book expands on the theme of allowing providence to shape our ends and trusting in the wisdom of providence. Taken on its own, this book may inspire some readers to be passive regarding life's outcomes, as other reviewers have suggested, but we read this in light of so much contemporary preaching and Christian writing about being proactice and successful and prosperous and "blessed" in all we decide to do that reading this book gives us a different view that will provide balance to our spiritual lives. It is a view of contentment at the feet of God, a view of trusting in God's presence and compassion. I was thrilled while reading this book. It is a book to inspire us all to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to him, as Mary did, rather than asking Jesus to bless our busyness from a distance. One must remember that this is a book of compiled letters to nuns and notes for lectures to a similar audience. These are exhortations to nuns who have devoted their lives to Christ. The casual Christian may find the exhortations extreme and that they do not fit into our Christian America mindset. The structure of the book does create a more laborious read than modern books that flow better due to proper formatting. I recommend this book as I recommend Imitation of Christ by Thomas a'Kempis. They are books that are relevant and I think necessary to modern Christians, especially those caught up in the "Purpose-Driven Life" movement. I bought a copy for my pastor to read, because we plainly do not hear of this kind of devotion today. It is not a movement but a sacrificial life the author promotes.
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