Synopses & Reviews
It’s Time to Say “Yes” to the MessFrom satisfying work to sudden unemployment. From a happy marriage to a hurtful divorce. From caring for the kids to caring for an aging parent. These are just a few of the countless ways that life hurls us into the chaos of change, where our certainties are shaken and our faith may even begin to falter. But what if we saw the chaos—the “mess”—of our lives not as something to fear or eschew, but as something to be embraced?
In The Other Side of Chaos, best-selling author Margaret Silf looks closely at the subject of chaos—and the intrinsic transition it brings—through the lens of Christian spirituality. Through Scripture stories and verses, personal accounts, and other anecdotes, Silf helps us develop an authentic “spirituality of transition” that leads us to live out life’s inevitable changes constructively, creatively, and confidently.
Ultimately, The Other Side of Chaos gives us the courage to trust God when life is breaking down and to see our messes not as something to be rescued from, but as something that will help us break through to a place where God makes all things new. It’s Time to Say “Yes” to the Mess
From satisfying work to sudden unemployment. From a happy marriage to a hurtful divorce. From caring for the kids to caring for an aging parent. These are just a few of the countless ways that life hurls us into the chaos of change, where our certainties are shaken and our faith may even begin to falter. But what if we saw the chaos—the “mess”—of our lives not as something to fear or eschew, but as something to be embraced?
In The Other Side of Chaos, best-selling author Margaret Silf looks closely at the subject of chaos—and the intrinsic transition it brings—through the lens of Christian spirituality. Through Scripture stories and verses, personal accounts, and other anecdotes, Silf helps us develop an authentic “spirituality of transition” that leads us to live out life’s inevitable changes constructively, creatively, and confidently.
Ultimately, The Other Side of Chaos gives us the courage to trust God when life is breaking down and to see our messes not as something to be rescued from, but as something that will help us break through to a place where God makes all things new.
Review
Life is rarely orderly.
The Other Side of Chaos is a strongly recommended pick for any Christian who finds the rapid changes in their life to be one of the tests they don't think they can pass.
--The Midwest Book Review
Review
"One of the best parts of last summer was discovering Margaret Silf. If you’re going through any kind of transition in your life right now, this book is a fabulous companion. And her chapter called 'Will You Save Your Life or Spend It?' is truly amazing. I wish I could make it required reading for every person I know."
--Ginny Kubitz Moyer, RandomActsOfMomness.com
Review
"This resource, which fits in poclet or purse, is filled with useful insights and practical ideas for deepening our relationship with God day by day."
- Carol Blank, WritingWorks
Synopsis
This refurbished edition of Inner Compass is being published as a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the acclaimed English-language primer on Ignatian spirituality. The new edition features a new introduction and personal invitation to the reader, a greatly expanded resource section, and a new design aimed at a new generation of spiritual readers.
Silf brings to the book both a laywoman’s perspective and a gifted writer’s literary skill. The entire work exudes a congenial, practical outlook and a thoroughly modern sensibility. As Silf says, the book “grew out of questions rather than certainty, discovery rather than doctrine, the experience of everyday living rather than academic study.”
All readers seeking to deepen their relationship with God will benefit from Silf’s dynamic presentation of Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.
Synopsis
This refurbished edition of Inner Compass is being published as a celebration of the tenth anniversary of this acclaimed English-language primer on Ignatian spirituality. Written for lay people, Inner Compass is a practical and experience-based guide to greater self-knowledge and spiritual awareness through incorporating the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This updated edition features a new introduction and personal invitation to the reader, a greatly expanded resource section, and a new design aimed at a new generation of spiritual readers.
Synopsis
Whatever path you’re on, God is there to guide you . . .
Anyone seeking to deepen his or her relationship with God will greatly benefit from Inner Compass, Margaret Silf’s dynamic presentation of the profound insights of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. While reflective, the work exudes a congenial, practical outlook and a thoroughly modern sensibility. As Silf points out, the book “grew out of questions rather than certainty, discovery rather than doctrine, the experience of everyday living rather than academic study.”
This tenth-anniversary edition of the acclaimed Inner Compass features a new introduction and personal invitation to the reader, plus a significantly expanded resource section. Devoted followers of Ignatian spirituality and spiritual seekers alike will find that wherever life has led them, Inner Compass offers renewed direction and purpose and helps them recognize the will of God within their own hearts.
Synopsis
The Other Side of Chaos gives us the courage to trust God when life is breaking down and to see our messes not as something to be rescued from, but as something that will help us break through to a place where God makes all things new. Discover a new way to navigate chaos and to find meaning in the messes of life.
Synopsis
In
Simple Faith, author Margaret Silf encourages us to rethink many of the teachings on faith that end up holding us back from experiencing the joy and freedom that a simple faith offers. In short but compelling chapters, Silf provides answers to many important questions of faith: Does life really have meaning? Why do bad things happen to good people? For all who struggle with conventional religion,
Simple Faith is a simple way to help them draw closer to the Divine and find life-changing meaning in a new kind of faith.
Synopsis
For many people, faith is based on creeds, doctrine, and head knowledge. It's about mastering the "facts" and having the "right" answers. But best-selling author Margaret Silf believes that faith is not about mastery but about mystery, and that living in that mystery allows us to properly shift our focus from religion to relationship—a relationship with the Divine.
In Simple Faith, Silf encourages us to rethink many of the teachings on faith that may be holding us back from the joy and freedom that can be found only in a meaningful experience of God. Through her thought-provoking, even surprising, answers to common questions about faith—Is it true that God is love? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why did Jesus have to die?&mash;she advocates radically simple yet profound beliefs that are based in a new, liberating understanding of faith itself.
Ultimately, Simple Faith, moves us beyond the complexities of conventional religion and clears the path for us to grow in a life-changing relationship with God.
Synopsis
Four women authors provide inspiration and spiritual sustenance for every day of the year.
Synopsis
Women everywhere are invited into a moment of inspiration and reflection with The Daily Inspiration for Women. Relevant and fresh, this book is a collection of shared wisdom among four women in various stages in life, providing the reader with an abundance of experience, knowledge, perspective, and support. Told through the lens of changing seasons, four women share their individual, spiritual wisdom in this daily source of strength, solace, and celebration that happen in the seasons of a woman’s life.
About the Author
Vinita Hampton Wright is a Loyola Press editor and the author of many books, including
Days of Deepening Friendship,
Simple Acts of Moving Forward, and most recently,
The Art of Spiritual Writing. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her husband, a dog, and two cats.
Jessica Mesman Griffith is the author, with Amy Andrews, of Love & Salt: A Spiritual Friendship in Letters, and a regular contributor to Good Letters, the Image blog. She lives in northern Michigan with her husband, writer David Griffith, and children.
Ginny Kubitz Moyer is a contributor to several print and online publications, including U.S. Catholic magazine, BustedHalo.com, and CatholicMom.com. Her most recent book is Random MOMents of Grace. Moyer blogs at RandomActsofMomness.com
Margaret Silf is a popular retreat director and the author of many books, including The Other Side of Chaos, Inner Compass, Close to the Heart, and most recently, Just Call Me Lopez.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by Gerard W. Hughes / vii
Preface / ix
New Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition / xv
The Invitation . . . / 3
1. Meet Your Guide: St. Ignatius Loyola / 7
2. Where Am I? How Am I? Who Am I? / 21
3. Finding Our Past in God / 35
4. So What Went Wrong? / 51
5. Letting God Be God / 67
6. Tracking Our Moods / 79
7. Making Our Way in the Dark / 97
8. The Deepest Desire / 109
9. Why Don’t You Answer My Prayers? / 123
10. Recognizing Our Attachments / 141
11. Pathways to Detachment / 155
12. Recognizing the Enemy, Trusting the Friend / 171
13. What Is Freedom? What Is Truth? / 187
14. To See You More Clearly / 205
15. To Love You More Dearly / 225
16. To Follow You More Nearly / 243
Benedictus / 261
Taking Your Ignatian Journey Further . . . / 265