Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life [Hardcover]

Debra K. Farrington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2002

Only through learning to hear with our hearts tuned closely to God can we discern how we should find our way through the crowded and confusing thickets of our lives. In Hearing with the Heart, popular writer and retreat leader Debra Farrington leads you through a gentle process for discovering how to invite God's presence into every aspect of your daily life. Her story-filled discussions of key practices such as prayer, meditation, reading and reflection, and attentiveness to your body, your studies, and your relationships with your friends and family, help you discover how to be open to discerning God's will. Filled with a wealth of exercises, guidelines, and tools, Hearing with the Heart gives you the practical help you need to bring you closer to God. As you put these suggestions into practice you will find yourself opening more and more to God's infinite possibilities for you.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Farrington's touch is indeed gentle as she guides readers through the steps of discernment. Rather than relying on cautionary tales of the bad things that will happen if people fail to discern God's will, Farrington emphasizes God's love throughout the book. She makes the case that God's will for humanity matches perfectly with the heart's deepest desires and enables people to do the most good for those around them. Her emphasis on the positive is enhanced by her balanced use of scripture, personal anecdotes, and stories from the lives of Christians throughout history, such as the Desert Fathers and the Society of Friends (Quakers). Perhaps most impressive is Farrington's ability to use scripture and Christian orthodoxy as the primary basis of her insights (she is an Episcopalian), but at the same time honor less orthodox and even non-Christian traditions. Staunch evangelicals will have trouble with some of her language (such as referring to people as God's "co-creators") and her ambivalence about certain portions of the Bible. But everyone from the most conservative Christian to the most spiritual-but-not-religious folks will find her tools for discernment useful. They include the Quaker practice of settling into silence and waiting on God as well as Lectio Divina, a method for meditating on scripture. Farrington's final section invites readers to go through the process of discernment, but one need not be at a crossroads to appreciate this book.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Farrington's touch is indeed gentle as she guides readers through the steps of discernment. Rather than relying on cautionary tales of the bad things that will happen if people fail to discern God's wi11, Farrington emphasizes God's love throughout the book. She makes the case that God's wi1l for humanity matches perfectly with the heart's deepest desires and enables people to do the most good for those around them. Her emphasis on the positive is enhanced by her balanced use of scripture, personal anecdotes, and stories from the lives of Christians throughout history, such as the Desert Fathers and the Society of Friends (Quakers). Perhaps most impressive is Farrington's ability to use scripture and Christian orthodoxy as the primary basis of her insights (she is an Episcopalian), but at the same time honor less orthodox and even non-Christian traditions. Staunch evangelicals wi1l have trouble with some of her language (such as referring to people as God's "co-creators") and her ambivalence about certain portions of the Bible. But everyone from the most conservative Christian to the most spiritual-but-not-religious folks will find her tools for discernment useful. They include the Quaker practice of settling into silence and waiting on God as well as Lectio Divina, a method for meditating on scripture. Farrington's final section invites readers to go through the process of discernment, but one need not be at a crossroads to appreciate this book. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly, December 23, 2002)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (December 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787959596
• ISBN-13: 978-0787959593
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discernment as practical art, March 21, 2003

By 

Mary C. Earle (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life (Hardcover)

Debra Farrington's book offers sage, practical, insightful direction to those seeking to know more about discernment and how to practice this art. The language is accessible--in my experience, people from high school students to octogenarians engage the material and actively learn from it. The book is a valuable resource for anyone teaching courses on Christian spirituality. The author mulches the text with scripture, stories from the tradition, anecdotes from personal history and other sources. Consequently, the reader is artfully drawn into an ongoing conversation about the practice of discernment, and emerges from the conversation with tools, hope and common sense.
While keeping us mindful of the infinite mystery of God, Farrington reminds us that we have been given capacities to respond to God's desires for us as persons, community, nation, world.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wealth of information and inspiration, January 3, 2007

By 

Kathleen "Peaceful Drummer" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life (Hardcover)

Debra Farrington presents a rather complete compendium of a variety of discernment tools in an easy reading, inspiring and thought-provoking manner. Whether you are hoping to find a path toward a specific goal or simply looking at how God is working in your life, this is a very helpful and enjoyable book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, January 13, 2010

By 

Anne Koch (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life (Hardcover)

I found "Hearing with the Heart" to be everything I expected - a thoughtful approach to identifying a way forward in your life. I found a new way to view my past experiences and to have them impact my future journey.