The Naked Soul
God's Amazing, Everyday Solution to Loneliness
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Go ahead. Leave your loneliness behind.
We all want to matter to someone, but the risks of relationship can seem far too great. It’s easier to just keep our distance.
We fear embarrassment, misunderstandings, and even rejection, so we silently endure our loneliness. We work on trying to be nice–rather than being real–hoping that others will like us. Or we might simply give in to the path of least resistance–the life of hurry, impatience, and fatigue–which feels familiar and safe. We pay a terrible price to avoid authentic relationships.
It’s time to stop denying your deepest longing–the desire to be known and loved. The Naked Soul shows you how to know and accept others, and how to be known and accepted by others. You can exchange the familiar but deadly territory of loneliness for the exhilaration of giving and receiving love.
You don’t have to hide any longer. Break free from loneliness, be the person God created you to be, and start living a life that matters.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gardner, marriage and family counselor and author of Sacred Sex, provides the prescription for getting out of loneliness and into genuine relationship: "the God-given answer to loneliness is love. God calls us to love Him. He calls us to love our neighbor." Gardner demands that readers recognize that friends are vital for their emotional and even physical health, challenging them to reach out and realize that giving to others will often meet their own needs. He focuses on changes needed in the lives of those trying to get out of their lonely state: they should stop being artificial, truly love God, slow down, deal with their anger, turn off the TV, forgo casual sex, put aside selfishness and love others. All of these lessons are backed up by stories from Gardner's extensive counseling experience. Throughout the book, Gardner plays the role of coach rather than companion; he teaches largely out of what he has studied and observed rather than what he has experienced. He spends a good deal of time on topics that seem to be only tangentially related like helping the homeless and could provide additional practical steps in several chapters. Still, his advice is sound, and his counseling experience makes him an excellent coach.
