If I have got the wrong end of the stick, perhaps someone would enlighten me or direct me to another book that might have a better chance of starting me on a journey. I was particularly taken with a simple yet profound definition of sin - the refusal to let God be God in my life. At the end of the chapter, he presents some biblical texts which could be useful for imaginative contemplation.

That’s a long way removed from my own evangelical charismatic background, so I’m impressed how well Hughes is able to present his message to the church as a whole, even though quite a lot of it is based on the teachings of Ignatius of Loyola. God is a ‘God of Surprises’ because He is not remote or distant, dwelling only in tabernacles and temples of stone, but near to us. The booklet includes extracts from the original book plus new material written by Hughes for the course, and ends with suggestions for different ways of praying. This truth is illustrated in a letter written by an imaginary parish priest complaining of the disruptive behaviour of one of his parishioners. It's a great book for people who dismiss spirituality out of hand because of prominent religious extremists and lumping most of the world in with them.

The remainder of his thesis is essentially a guide to a personalised and internalised adaptation of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises as a way of `finding' this hidden treasure. That the world often misuse 'the name of God' - and use it as an excuse to do something seemingly good but creates destruction and division (e.

Hughes' premise in this book is that all people, as God's cherished creation, have a treasure hidden inside them, which is their unique identity and relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. This book took apart what I thought I knew, challenged my apathy, correctly anticipated most of my doubts and areas of weakness, and gave me a new way to explore my faith. Chapter Five shows how the journey is not only made with our minds and with the religious part of ourselves, but involves our whole being and affects every aspect of it, our relations to other people, our attitude to health, wealth, reputation, power, and our reactions to the economic, social and political structures in which we live. This book is very practical yet so often exposes a deep thought in a completely new light and utter simplicity. In the Seventh Chapter, the author gives some exercises that will help us recognize the action of God in our lives and give him praise, thanks and glory for it.