Listening For God: A Ministers Journey Through Silence And DoubtThroughout the past two decades, Renita J. Weems has been noted and praised for her writing, galvanizing national speaking, and pioneering scholarship in the field of Old Testament studies. Yet in the midst of her celebrated work, she was experiencing a profound spiritual crisis permeated by a hollow, painful silence that seemed, at times, to mark an irreparable rupture in her communication with God. In this deeply affecting book, Weems addresses the believer's yearning for God through periods of inconstancy, vacillation, and disenchantment. Her own spiritual disquietude will be familiar to all who struggle to maintain faith while the details of daily life -- negotiating with children and spouses, caring for ailing parents, living up to professional expectations, developing hobbies, managing finances, and planning for the future -- compete for energy with one's relationship with God. In sharing her own strategies for redefining mundane rituals so that they contribute to reverence and devotion, Weems offers a beacon of light for all believers struggling to listen for God amidst the din of worldly demands and distractions. |
Contents
Preface | 15 |
Stumbling in the Silence | 25 |
Surrender to the Silence | 33 |
A Chance Encounter | 42 |
Teach Us to Pray | 50 |
Ordinary Time | 63 |
Saint Fallow | 70 |
Come Sunday | 76 |
The Tap of an Angel | 105 |
The Itinerant Journey | 117 |
Mothers Day | 133 |
IfI Knew Then What I Know Now | 152 |
Fidelity | 160 |
Eternal Life | 171 |
Lord Theres Been a Great Change in Me | 177 |
The Last Day for Miracles | 187 |
And the Word Became Flesh | 85 |
Revival | 91 |
Too Have a Dream | 98 |
When the Bush Stops Burning | 196 |
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Common terms and phrases
altar angel asked Baal Shem Tov Betty Shabazz Bible blessing burning bushes child church CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTES comes daughter divine dream Elizabeth Eckford encounter evangelist experience eyes face faith feel felt Frederick Buechner friends girl God's silence grace Hazel Bryan Hazel Bryan Massery hear heard heart holy hope husband inner journey intimacy itinerant Jesus journal knew learned leave lessons listen live look Lord LORRAINE HANSBERRY MADELEINE L'ENGLE marriage memory Methodist Methodist Episcopal Church mind minister ministry miracle morning mother mystery never ourselves Pentecostal pray prayer preach preacher pulpit quiet remember remind Renita Sabbath Savannah seasons solitude someone sometimes soul speaking spiritual journey stand story Sunday sure T. S. ELIOT talk tell There's things thought tion trying voice wait walk week winter woman women wonder words worship writing