Finding Hope
Cultivating God's Gift of a Hopeful Spirit
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Discover the freedom and joy that come when you open your heart to Hope
This practical guide gives you the inspiration, encouragement and practices you need to cultivate a hopeful spirit and thus live a more fulfilling and joyful life. Writing from personal experience and her broad knowledge of many faith traditions, Marcia Ford helps you recognize—or develop—your own personal images of hope and create a place where you can go to see the many evidences of hope in your life any time despair seeps in. She provides important learning tools that you can apply to everyday life experiences, inspiring personal stories of hope from the famous and not-so-famous and realistic exercises for creating the overall balance and peace you look to achieve in living your life connected to God. Drawing from Christian and Hebrew scripture and the wisdom of spiritual teachers from all traditions, Ford helps you realize that we all can receive a gift of hope and grace from the Divine—we just need to be open to accept it.
Topics include: Dealing with Disappointment It’s Not Wishful Thinking Impossible SituationsRecovering from LossHope amid Suffering Overcoming Hopelessness Real and Imagined Threats The Heart of Healing Cultivating a Hopeful Spirit Freedom’s Fascinating Power And more …
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a time when cynicism seems to reign, a book about finding hope is refreshing. Ford, a religion writer (The Sacred Art of Forgiveness), PW freelancer, and hospice worker, has hope to spare. Writing in the midst of a chronic illness and the aftermath of an electrical fire that damaged her home, Ford manages to communicate the essence of hope with intelligence, humor and grace. Her premise is that "when your ultimate hope is in God, your underlying philosophy of hope is based on the unshakeable belief that no matter what happens, God will see you through it." She illustrates this with stories from her own life, popular culture, history and the Bible. At the end of each chapter, Ford offers short questions to ponder along with simple practices to restore hope. She suggests some typical things, like journaling, meditating and decluttering, but also ventures into unusual recommendations, like blogging. Ford's gift is not only her accessible writing style, but also her life experience as a Christian. She has obviously spent time with different facets of Christianity and possesses an understanding of other spiritual paths. What results is an inspiring, broad-based look at sound theological, spiritual and practical principles to cultivate hope.
