Customer Reviews

How Can I Find God?: The Famous and the Not-So-Famous Consider the Quintessential Question

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Believing in God and growing in faith are not once in a lifetime activities. Rather, belief in God and faith are something that grow and change over time. James Martin, editor of How Can I Find God? offers the reader many opportunities to reflect on who God is and how God can be found in life. Most of the people included in the book are from the Judeo Christian tradition, and most are Roman Catholic, which is logical since the publisher is a Catholic publishing house. Some of the people included are theologians, but others are writers, activists, political leaders, parish priests, and simply ordinary people--all trying to find God in life. Each entry gives the reader the sense that finding God is both a journey and a task, and no entry claims to have the correct answer. Readers can get a sense that as we search for God, we are not alone. Others have the same questions and concerns as we do. For this reason the stories are very helpful.

The book is a great selection for a religious reading group. People who are in a preaching or teaching ministry will also find the book helpful. This book would probably not be helpful for people trying to prove God's existence, but it is very helpful to show that even if we do not always feel God's presence, God is in fact real and very much at work in our world.

A varied and interesting discussion of individuals' view of God and his/her role in their lives. Where else can you find the late Cardinal Bernardin's thoughts intermingled with a Native American storyteller's or a prison inmate's? Truly inspirational.

James Martin, as usual, has edited a wonderful book. I cannot say enough good things about this volume of insightful nuggets of faith-in-action. Each person, whether you know of them or not, provides a human vision of his or her relationship with the Creator of all. What is very nice about the way this is edited and presented is that it lends to many short reading opportunities. If you are someone who doesn't like to read very much or finds that the day is too busy to read any spiritual book of substance - fear not. This is an excellent book for any schedule. Each testimony is prefaced with a brief biography of the individual author and then you have the short text which is often not longer than 3 pages in length.

Pick up this book and carry it with you. Leave it by the bed. Read a story now and then. Take it for the quiet time before church. Just read it!

I love books that make me feel good (with no moralizing). Contributors are rightfully humble in addressing the ultimate question. Good to hear the spirit alive in people of varying faiths. I passed it on to my mom and my friends, who loved it.

What an excellent job the editor has done in terms of bringing together the thoughts of philosophers, clerics, farmers, and even a jailed, cocaine-addicted young man all with their own story to tell and their most intimate thoughts to share. Mr. Martin's well-conceived cross-section of some 60-plus respondees to "the quintessential question" deserves special mention. I can recommend this little treasure highly.

Fr. James Martin is a master of the contemporary idiom! He's got us pondering ultimate questions like the man on the street... curious, respectful, considering all varieties of belief, ages, and backgrounds... He even asked the question, through teachers, of school children! The question is a key to spiritual discovery, "How can I find God?" The reader is not easily disappointed or bored with the answers, including some responders who turn the question back on the inquirer. Over a hundred responders take the bait, and their answers are most thoughtful.... well worth considering. Thanks, Fr. James, for another winning work!

This is a stimulting book for daily reflection. Each chapter identifies a person writing the essay. All essays are short. some less than a page, others 3 pages or so.
The range of people and the array of their topics means that there is something interesting that should appeal to every reader.
I read one essay a day. It is easy to find the time, and generates wonderful ideas all day long.

Fr. Jim Martin presents these short essays of people with a variety of faith experiences and religious affiliations.. He gives brief introductions for most of the contributors, many of whom will be familiar to readers of contemporary religious literature. Among those included are Sister Helen Prejean,, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Robert Coles, Cardinal Avery Dulles, Elie Wiesel, Stanley Hauerwas, Sister Joan Chittister, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, Frederick Buechner, Rev. John Eudes Bamberger, Father John McNamee, Father Theodore Hesburgh, and Kathleen Norris.

I was very interested to read pieces by those whose writings I was familiar with or actually have met. However I was especially moved by those I didn't know of, particularly the "unknown" authors, whose experiences and reflections so often touched on the commonplace I could so easily relate to. One might not expect to find the convictions of seventh grade schoolchildren and a prison inmate included. For me their testimonies were among the best.

If you would like to have some brief passages to read--perhaps daily--to mull over as you reflect on your own consideration of the book's question, try this book. Martin requested that his authors consider that they are talking to some dear friend who is searching for the answer to his question. You could easily be one of those friends who will be rewarded by reading this book.