Sensible Shoes: A Story about the Spiritual Journey (Sensible Shoes Series)

A 2013 Midwest Publishing Awards Show Honorable Mention Sharon Garlough Brown tells the moving story of four strangers as they embark together on a journey of spiritual formation: Hannah, a pastor who doesn't realize how exhausted she is. Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past. Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage. Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right. You�re invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation. Along the way, readers will be taken into a new understanding of key spiritual practices and find tangible support for the deeper life with God. If you want to travel this journey with others, you will find a group study guide and book club... "Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee." -Augustine Much is said in Christian circles about knowing God. But Christians throughout the ages have agreed that there cannot be deep knowledge of God without deep knowledge of the self. Discerning your true self is inextricably related to discerning God's purposes for you. Paradoxically, the more you become like Christ, the more you become authentically yourself. In this profound exploration of Christian identity, psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. He exposes the false selves that you may hide behind and calls you to discover the true self that emerges from your uniqueness in Christ. Freeing you from illusions about yourself, Benner shows that self-understanding leads to the fulfillment of your God-given destiny and vocation. "Christian spirituality," writes Benner, "involves a transformation of the self that occurs only when God and self are both deeply known." The self is not God, but it is the place where you meet God. Genuine self-knowledge revitalizes your spiritual life and opens the door to becoming who God has created you to be. Rest assured, you need not try to be someone you are not. But you will deepen your experience of God through discovering the gift of being yourself. Over 100,000 Copies Sold Worldwide!Four Strangers, One Retreat Center, A Story of TransformationSharon Garlough Brown tells the moving story of four strangers as they embark together on a journey of spiritual formation:Hannah, a pastor who doesn't realize how exhausted she is.Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past.Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage.Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right.You're invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation.Along the way, readers will find:Key spiritual practices that they can take into their own lives,A cast of characters that any reader can find themselves in, andTangible support for the deeper life with God.If you want to travel this journey with others, you will find a group study guide and book club resources at www.sensibleshoesclub.com. Over 100,000 Copies Sold Worldwide! Midwest Publishing Awards Show Honorable Mention Sharon Garlough Brown tells the moving story of four strangers as they embark together on a journey of spiritual formation: Hannah, a pastor who doesn't realize how exhausted she is. Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past. Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage. Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right. You're invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation. Along the way, readers will be taken into a new understanding of key spiritual practices and find tangible support for the deeper life with God. If you want to travel this journey with others, you will find a group study guide and book club resources at www.sensibleshoesclub.com. "Follow the moving stories of four women as they are drawn into a spiritual formation journey at a retreat center: Hannah, a pastor who doesn't realize how exhausted she is. Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past. Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage. Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right"--Page 2 of cover Meg Crane has never traveled more than two hundred miles from her home, but when she receives an invitation to the New Hope Retreat Center to travel deeper into the heart of God, she finds herself saying yes. What will she discover if she begins to walk the winding path through the broken pieces of her past? Arguing that true knowledge of God and true knowledge of oneself are inseparable, the author offers an outline for Christian self-knowledge, explaining the difference between authentic self-discovery and most psychological approaches, and showing how genuine self-understanding revitalizes one's spiritual life Psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. He shows how understanding yourself leads you to better discern God's purposes for you, and, paradoxically, how becoming more like Christ allows you to become more fully yourself. In the epigraph that opens this book (page 1), Thomas Merton tells us what he considers the most important thing in the whole world-that on which his entire existence, happiness and peace depend.