Synopses & Reviews
Discover a time-tested approach to making good decisions
Do I go to graduate school? Whom should I marry? Should I change careers? What do I do with my life now that I’m retired? All of us have important decisions to make—decisions that radically alter our lives. Yet without a sound process in place for making key decisions, we are likely to question whether or not our final decision was a good decision; more to the point, we will never feel fully confident that our decision was what God truly desired for us.
What’s Your Decision? presents a time-tested, trustworthy approach to decision making based on the insights of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and the author of the Spiritual Exercises, one of history’s most influential spiritual texts. Throughout this fast-moving and highly practical book, the authors present an “Ignatian toolkit” for making sound choices and provide answers to many common questions such as What’s important and what’s not when it comes to making choices? Do I trust my gut? What do I really want?
Ultimately, What’s Your Decision? helps us understand that a God decision always precedes a good decision: When we invite God—who cares deeply about what we do—into the decision-making process, we find the freedom to make the best choice.
J. Michael Sparough, SJ, teaches spiritual direction at Loyola University Chicago and is the founder of Charis Ministries. Tim Hipskind, SJ, has been leading retreats and workshops on discernment since 1996 and also has worked extensively with young adults. Jim Manney is a senior editor at Loyola Press.
Discover a time-tested approach to making good decisions
Do I go to graduate school? Whom should I marry? Should I change careers? What do I do with my life now that I’m retired? All of us have important decisions to make—decisions that radically alter our lives. Yet without a sound process in place for making key decisions, we are likely to question whether or not our final decision was a good decision; more to the point, we will never feel fully confident that our decision was what God truly desired for us.
What’s Your Decision? presents a time-tested, trustworthy approach to decision making based on the insights of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits and the author of the Spiritual Exercises, one of history’s most influential spiritual texts. Throughout this fast-moving and highly practical book, the authors present an “Ignatian toolkit” for making sound choices and provide answers to many common questions such as What’s important and what’s not when it comes to making choices? Do I trust my gut? What do I really want?
Ultimately, What’s Your Decision? helps us understand that a God decision always precedes a good decision: When we invite God—who cares deeply about what we do—into the decision-making process, we find the freedom to make the best choice.
Review
"
A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer is a valuable and thoughtful book, and a very practical one, which can be put with confidence into the hands of anyone who wishes to learn to pray the Examen and to find the presence and action of God in their lives."
-- Andrea Kelly, Thinking Faith
Review
"
What's Your Decision is a book for everybody who is convinced that God is active in our lives and cares about what we are doing. It’s a book for all those who desire to choose the good, to discern God’s will and to become 'free enough to make the best choices.'”
- Birgit Oberhofer, Catholics on Call
Review
"A helpful companion for someone about to make, making, or having made the Exercises."
-- Howard Gray, SJ
Review
“This is a really fine book, exceptionally well-written, informative, and inspiring. It will inspire readers to want to try the Spiritual Exercises.”
- Bill Barry, SJ
Synopsis
In The Prayer That Changes Everything, Jim Manney introduces Christians to a 500-year-old form of prayer that dramatically altered his concept of prayer and the way he prayed.
The prayer that Manney enourages us to pray is the examen, which St. Ignatius Loyola developed for the purpose of fostering a reflective habit of mind that is constantly attuned to God's presence and responsive to God's leading. At the core of the prayer-and thus the book-is the belief that God is not up there, but rather right here, fully present and detectble every moment. The prayer dispels the idea of a distant, uninvolved God and reminds us of the God who, as the doctrine of the Incarnation makes clear, wants to be personally caught up in the lives of those whom He created.
Synopsis
For most people most of the time, prayer is hard. It is especially difficult--not to mention unsatisfying--when people experience it as formal, dry, and repetitious. But what might happen if you discovered a simple prayer that changed all that? What if you discovered a prayer that changed you?
In A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, Jim Manney introduces Christians to a 500-year-old form of prayer that dramatically altered his perception of prayer and the way he prayed. The prayer is the examen, which St. Ignatius Loyola developed for the purpose of nurturing a reflective habit of mind that is constantly attuned to God's presence. What makes the prayer so powerful is its capacity to dispel any notion that God is somewhere "up there," detached from our day-to-day tasks and concerns. Instead, the examen leads us into a relationship with a God who desires to be personally caught up in the lives of those whom he created.
By following five simple yet powerful steps for praying the examen, we can encounter the God who, as Scripture tells us, "is not far from each one of us"--the God whose presence in our lives can make all the difference in the world.
Also available in Spanish Una oracion sencilla que cambia la vidaSynopsis
Break through the prayer barrier.
For most people most of the time, prayer is hard. It is especially difficult —not to mention unsatisfying—when people experience it as formal, dry, and repetitious. But what might happen if you discovered a simple prayer that changed all that? What if you discovered a prayer that changed you?
In A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, Jim Manney introduces Christians to a 500-year-old form of prayer that dramatically altered his perception of prayer and the way he prayed. The prayer is the examen, which St. Ignatius Loyola developed for the purpose of nurturing a reflective habit of mind that is constantly attuned to God’s presence.
What makes the prayer so powerful is its capacity to dispel any notion that God is somewhere “up there,” detached from our day-to-day tasks and concerns. Instead, the examen leads us into a relationship with a God who desires to be personally caught up in the lives of those whom he created.
By following five simple steps for praying the examen, we can encounter the God who, as Scripture tells us, “is not far from each one of us”—the God whose presence in our lives can make all the difference in the world.
Break through the prayer barrier.
For most people most of the time, prayer is hard. It is especially difficult —not to mention unsatisfying—when people experience it as formal, dry, and repetitious. But what might happen if you discovered a simple prayer that changed all that? What if you discovered a prayer that changed you?
In A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, Jim Manney introduces Christians to a 500-year-old form of prayer that dramatically altered his perception of prayer and the way he prayed. The prayer is the examen, which St. Ignatius Loyola developed for the purpose of nurturing a reflective habit of mind that is constantly attuned to God’s presence.
What makes the prayer so powerful is its capacity to dispel any notion that God is somewhere “up there,” detached from our day-to-day tasks and concerns. Instead, the examen leads us into a relationship with a God who desires to be personally caught up in the lives of those whom he created.
By following five simple steps for praying the examen, we can encounter the God who, as Scripture tells us, “is not far from each one of us”—the God whose presence in our lives can make all the difference in the world.
Synopsis
Break through the prayer barrier with this simple yet profound form of praying.
For most people most of the time, prayer is hard. It is especially difficult—not to mention unsatisfying—when people experience it as formal, dry, and repetitious. But what might happen if you discovered a simple prayer that changed all that? What if you discovered a prayer that changed you? In A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, Jim Manney introduces Christians to a 500-year-old form of prayer that dramatically altered his concept of prayer and the way he prayed.
The prayer that Manney encourages us to pray is the examen, which St. Ignatius Loyola developed for the purpose of fostering a reflective habit of mind that is constantly attuned to God’s presence and responsive to God’s leading. At the core of the prayer—and thus the book—is the belief that God is not “up there,” but rather right here, fully present and detectable every moment. The prayer dispels the idea of a distant, uninvolved God and reminds us of the God who, as the doctrine of the Incarnation makes clear, wants to be personally caught up in the lives of those whom he created.
Through a simple, five-step method for praying the examen, this book can lead us toward a potentially profound and enduring experience of a loving God. By no means is the examen the only way to pray, but, as Manney makes clear, it is a truly practical and powerful form of prayer that everyone can pray every day.
Synopsis
Ignatian spirituality is a way to pray, an approach to making decisions, a point of view about God, and a practical guide to everyday life.
An Ignatian Book of Days is the only 365-daily reading book written explicitly from the point of view of Ignatian spirituality; it is an invitation to help attune ourselves to the Ignatian conviction that we can find God in all things, that our personal experience can provide authentic knowledge of God, and that we can clearly see, feel, and experience God’s presence through an Ignatian lens in our daily lives.
Accessible, inviting, richly rewarding, and filled with insights and reflections from favorite Ignatian leaders, including James Martin, SJ, Pedro Arrupe, SJ, Margaret Silf, and of course, St. Ignatius, An Ignatian Book of Days sees God as actively involved in the world and intimately involved with us in every moment and place.
Synopsis
Discover a time-tested Ignatian approach to effective decision making in What's Your Decision?
Synopsis
Do you have an effective decision making process in place, one that you can consistently rely on to help you make good decisions? Most people don't, and as a result they are never quite certain if they have made the best choice, and if their final decision was truly a good decision.
In What's Your Decision?, a fast-moving, personal, and highly practical book, the authors introduce readers to a time-tested Ignatian approach to effective decision making. Based on the insights of St. Ignatius, the book addresses common questions such as What's important and what's not when it comes to making decisions? Can I ever trust my gut? What do I really want?
Ultimately, What’s Your Decision? helps us understand that a God decision always precedes a good decision: When we invite God—who cares deeply about what we do—into the decision-making process, we find the freedom to make the best choice.
Synopsis
Charged with Grandeur contains 365 insightful and inspiring Ignatian thoughts presented in a daily-reading format. Each spiritual reflection encourages us to draw closer to God and to live out the Christian faith in everyday life.
Synopsis
365 inspirational thoughts from the best and brightest voices in Ignatian spirituality
Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, famously wrote that “the world is charged with the grandeur of God.” This quote, from which Charged with Grandeur takes its name, points toward a key principle of the Ignatian tradition: that God is found in all things, in all places. Yet this is just one of an abundance of inspirational ideas that stem from Ignatian spirituality. To really understand what this unique yet highly practical spirituality is all about, it helps to look at it through many different lenses and to hear about it from many different voices.
Charged with Grandeur contains 365 insightful and inspiring Ignatian thoughts presented in a daily-reading format. As such, it is perfect for anyone who desires to learn more about this popular form of spirituality within the context of daily reflection and prayer.
The hundreds of short entries, grouped under 12 different Ignatian themes, cover the gamut of the spiritual tradition begun by St. Ignatius Loyola. From James Martin, SJ, to Margaret Silf, from Maureen Conroy to David L. Fleming, SJ, each author’s entry allows us to dip our toes into the deep, rich heritage that is Ignatian spirituality. More importantly, each spiritual reflection encourages us to draw closer to God and to live out the Christian faith in everyday life.
Synopsis
In God Finds Us, author Jim Manney makes the Spiritual Exercises more accessible than ever by revealing his inner monologue of thoughts while he did the Exercises and giving everyday, relevant examples of sin, discernment, and meditating on the love of God. In his previous book, A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, Manney presented the daily Examen to readers in a way that made them feel empowered to make it a part of their regular prayer life. Now he offers God Finds Us to share his experiences of making the Spiritual Exercises in a down-to-earth, accessible narrative. Manney includes pertinent biblical examples that help us make the connections between how we pray, view sin, and make appropriate life decisions today.
About the Author
J. Michael Sparough, SJ, teaches spiritual direction at Loyola University Chicago and is the founder of Charis Ministries. Jim Manney is a senior editor at Loyola Press. Jim has written five books, and his articles have appeared in many magazines. He blogs at http://ignatianspirituality.com/dotmagis-blog/. Tim Hipskind, SJ, has been leading retreats and workshops on discernment since 1996 and also has worked extensively with young adults.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface ix
1 First Principles 1
2 Why Are Good Decisions So Hard to Make? 17
3 Ignatius of Loyola’s Big Discovery 29
4 The One Thing Necessary (And a Few Other Things That Are Very Helpful) 43
5 Making Sense of Inner Spiritual Movements 55
6 Ignatius’s Rules for Discernment of Spirits 67
7 Rules for Subtle Discernment 85
8 Five Pillars for Sound Decision Making 97
9 Decision Making in Mode 1: “No Doubt about It” 109
10 Decision Making in Mode 2: Spiritual Movements 115
11 Decision Making in Mode 3: Calm Deliberation 129
12 Signs of a Good Decision 143
A Final Word 153
Handy Reference:
How the Rules of Discernment Help Us Make Good Decisions 155
The Three Approaches to Making Decisions 159
Acknowledgments 163