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Finding Jesus, Discovering Self: Passages to Healing And Wholeness

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This beautifully conceived book appropriately combining Gospel passages, personal experiences and insightful readings, casts new light on reasons to travel with Jesus as our companion. Stirred by his total commitment in helping others as he carries out his mission, we can become encouraged to devote our full spirit towards a positive outcome when wrestling with a problem. Often it is through the throes of struggle that we discover self and can venture toward new truth, new possibilities.

What Bill Dols and Caren Goldman have done with the stories of Jesus' ministry are nothing short of liberating. What Jesus said, what he envisioned as the Kingdom of God, how those around him experienced him--all these are released from the dogma that often imprisons them. The lens through which we have seen Jesus becomes kaleidoscopic as the texts come to new life in the thoughtful reflections of the writers. As readers we are invited to bring our own lives into dialogue with these stories, and if we are courageous enough to do so, we sense the deepest wisdom and truths entrusted to these scriptures.

Finding Jesus, Discovering Self is a lovely, thought-full, beautifully written, splendidly spiritual book created by two authors (Goldman and Dols) who bring a well-rounded, universal perspective to Jesus the Rabbi/Teacher....Jewish/Christian, female/male, journalist/clergy. They use the wisdom of literature and their own personal life stories to illustrate and guide us into an encounter with the Gospel (Synoptic and Gnostic) revelations of Jesus, so that we may meet and understand them in a completely new and internal way.

Schweitzer said: "...they shall learn in their own experience Who He is."

This book is an unfolding of that Truth. Bring your own unique experience and perception to it and you will, as promised in the title, Find and Discover.

"Finding Jesus, Discovering Self "shows how our darkest moments can become our brightest ones in that these are the times we are most alive, most available to God and relationship with others. Bill Dol's poignant story of his biopsy and cancer and then being told that he was well again is must reading for anyone trying to understand Jesus' life and purpose as well as their own. This is a thoughtful, compelling work, long enough to inform but short enough that you are drawn back to read and re-read each passage so that its truths and inspirations remain with you.

FRESH, ENGAGING AND PROFOUNDLY PERSONAL, THIS BOOK IS ALSO INFORMATIVE AND UPLIFTING FOR ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF JESUS. CLERGY WILL DISCOVER SEVERAL SERMONS, ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL. ALL READERS WILL BE MOVED TO CONSIDER ANEW THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THEIR LIVES.THE BOOK OPENS EYES AND HEARTS TO WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN ALL ALONG.

Finding Jesus, Discovering Self by Caren Goldman and William Dols is a book about passages to healing and wholeness, using passages about Jesus's life from the Bible as meditations and illustrations for handling daily problems. The book is written by the unlikely team of Goldman, a Jewish journalist, and Dols, and Episcopal priest. They are excellent writers and bring two different perspectives to each scripture and add guided meditations and questions to answer about your perspective and insights gained. The book is an excellent study, no matter what stage your spiritual development is.

This remarkable book gave me that rare gift, an inventively presented opportunity to see old ideas in new ways; to turn off the philosophical autopilot and reconsider long-held values and operating principles; to realize yet again that I don't necessarily know what I think I know. I took advantage of the authors' permission to skip the exercises this time through, because I'm getting ready to move and don't have time to engage at that level. In some future peaceful season I'll be back, to consider their questions. Great quotes from a lineup that includes a range of talent from Oscar Wilde to the Thomas of that other gospel, combined with the authors' personal experiences that relate to the stories of the life of a wise Jewish man from Nazareth, provoked enough thought this time through.

The authors have provided me "food for the journey."This outstanding book is most helpful for a fifteen minute quiet time in the middle of a busy day, as well as for a contemplative read to begin or end the day. Bill Dols is creator and Editor of Bible Workbench and Caren Goldman is an Associate Editor of this 52 week program that is a valuable resource that provides a life-changing process for us to engage scripturre in the same way the authors have done in this book: Scripture, Questions, Stories, and Poetry that reflect the relevancy of the Biblical text to our lives today.

I've looked forward to Caren Goldman and Bill Dols new book and it has surpassed all expectations. It is a wonderful guide that encourages us to see the world thru the eyes of Jesus. By doing this, we can see how the events in our lives correlate to the challenges Jesus faced. Using this very workable format we can become more aware of how our sorrows, questions and fears can be faced and overcome. Looking forward to the next book!!!!!!

Caron Goldman and Bill Dols invite us to explore the Jesus story and our personal stories from fresh, new, sometimes challenging perspectives. To help us, they generously share their own stories, struggles, joys and questions in "Reflections." They invite us to go deeper with more questions and creative imaginings in "Wonderings and Wanderings." Then they hold up "Mirrors" for us to catch another glimpse of the Jesus story and our own with poetry and prose from many sources. In the process of "living" the questions about Jesus and his story, as well as our own stories, one discovers universal life connections and truths. This book is one all seekers will want to own and keep close for guidance on the path. The more I found about Jesus the more I discovered about self and life.