Simple and compelling metaphor | A Friendship Like No Other: Experiencing God's Amazing Embrace

Hard to Resist | A Friendship Like No Other: Experiencing God's Amazing Embrace | William A. Barry

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	• A Friendship Like No Other: Experiencing God's Amazing Embrace William A. Barry Loyola Press, 2008 - 203 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good - But Not What I Expected

This was a helpful book, but I guess I expected it to be more "warm and fuzzy" in terms of developing a friendship with the Lord. The book was more theological, focusing on Bible passages, etc. I did find these scripture verses to be helpful, but the book has a much more serious tone than I was expecting. I am not against this kind of tone for a religious book, but for a book focusing on FRIENDSHIP, I did expect a little more warmth. I'm not disappointed in my purchase as there was much wonderful content in this book and it did help my friendship with the Lord grow. Just not as much as I was hoping.

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Simple and compelling metaphor

It is easy to get lost or confused when trying to love God or feel loved by God. Religions provide so many rules. Father Barry gives us a simple metaphor, a loving relationship. He asks us to consider how much we live as if God is out to punish us; he urges us toward a new understanding of God and Jesus. The path to a closer relationship with God is the same as the path to a closer relationship with another person. In thinking this way, I can come up with all kinds of ways of loving God more and feeling more loved by God. This book is also a modern interpretation of the Ignatius Spiritual Exercises. Almost all 21st century Christians will find Ignatius's 16th century exercises daunting and altogether politically incorrect. Barry's exercises blend imagination and scripture reading in a most Ignatian way. Although specifically Christian in some chapters, the book is written in an open way to invite anyone who believes in God to build a closer relationship with their higher power.

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Hard to Resist

Friendship with God seemed to be a lofty ideal until I read this book. Fr. Barry's work reveals an abiding friendship with God so true as to evoke, in the reader, Jesus' prayer to His father, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." Infused with passages from Scripture and excerpts from gorgeous poetry throughout, Fr. Barry shares the insights and wisdom of his own deeply-lived faith. There is a sense of urgency about this book, as there is much to be done in the face of the many harsh realities of everyday life. Exercises sprinkled throughout the book invite the reader into companionship with God: that we all might become contemplatives in action. The invitation is hard to resist.

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A beautiful book....

Fr. Barry has done it again. I fell in love with his writing in his book
God and You and it has proved to be a constant source of spiritual refreshment. Now A Friendship Like No Other rests on my night table and offers peace and new insight every evening. His fine mind asks us to tackle the most provocative questions honestly: why God allows bad things to happen; where are the "thin places" in your world, places where the Irish say the border between heaven and earth is thinner, more porous, and God is able to "leak through." His allusions to victims of the Holocaust are especially poignant. Another beautiful, accessible book from Fr. Barry. Mary Claire Richardson PS I have sent it to my 88 year old Aunt and my 40 year old friend suffering from a brain tumor.

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Insightful

Fr. Barry has provided so many insights into ways to further friendship with God especially by asking the reader to pause, imagine, and reflect on a scriptural experience. His encouragement to "talk" with God about any situation is particularly helpful to this reader.

A Friendship Like No Other offers three well-supported and practical sections: prayerful exercises to help lead the reader to the conviction that God wants them for a friend; a close look at objections to this idea; and reflections on experiencing the presence of God and discerning those experiences. These sections are enhanced by brief, personal meditations woven throughout.

Grounded in biblical tradition but with clear focus on Ignatian spirituality, this book offers a fresh approach to becoming a friend of God and understanding this special relationship.

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