Customer Reviews

Interior Freedom

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This is the third book by Father Jacques Philippe that I have read, and already I wish there were more than 4 available in English. I am certain he will go down in history as one of the spiritual masters like Brother Lawrence, C.S. Lewis and others. This book is written in such simple and accessible language, yet with a message so profound any believer could grow from encountering it.

Fr. Philippe's main message is that freedom, true freedom, comes from God as the source. And that interior peace sought by so many people in so many ways, yet it only truly comes from learning to be content in where God has us. Yet by learning to trust in God despite external circumstances and situations beyond our control, we can find that oft-sought-after peace. He will show you how to appreciate what you can control, which is your response to what life brings your way.

This book seeks to teach us to live from a heart and mind that has been liberated and set free. But it is not the freedom that most seek. It outlines that freedom as being free to do whatever we want, but true freedom is choosing to live for others, living with our responsibilities.

Fr. Jacques draws from many sources to illustrate his points: Holocaust victim Etty Hillesum, Georges Bernanos, Henri J.M. Nouwen, Catherine de Hueck Doherty and many saints from both the eastern and western traditions as well as the Jewish wisdom tradition. He draws most extensively from Hillesum's journals An Interrupted Life which is the story of her life during the year leading up to occupation and leaving for the concentration camps, and her work among the Jewish children at the holding camp. He uses her life and transformation from a secular Jew to someone in touch with God and trying to live that in the most terrible of circumstances.

Fr. Philippe has written an amazing little book that will explain to you the freedom many seek in faith, and how that freedom can lead to Interior Freedom or as a title of an earlier book of his calls it Searching for and Maintaining Peace. Or as Douglas Coupland puts it "Now -- here is my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God - that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me to be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond able to love." in his book Life After God. So this is a little book by a little known author that is truly valuable for the spiritual seeker in this life.

(First Published in Imprint 2007-07-13 in the book review column.)

Jean-Pierre de Caussade wrote a stunning book called Abandonment to Divine Providence in the 18th Century which lays out a plan of life based upon total trust and reliance upon God. Despite the trials of life; despite tears and toil, the grace of the present moment once embraced will affect a momentous change in the believer, and all the tears of life will be like a communion with the Lord of all. This book, Interior Freedom is a brilliant successor to Caussade. It is a contemporary statement of the road to peace based upon a deep understanding of the virtue of Hope, hope in God as the source of our interior freedom that that can not be damaged regardless of the trials of life. I would be understating the greatness of this book to say that it is simply great. It is not only great to read and a source of great consolation and wonderful ideas, it is a life-changing book. This is a beautifully simply written book that is totally approachable regardless of the level of one's spirituality. Like the Caussade book it is very thin, only around a 100 pages. That is not to say that it is simple, in some ways it can be a bit challenging, challenging of our preconceived notions of interior freedom, and all freedom for that matter. I have read it four times and continue to get great insights from it. Some of the insights are immediate, others take time to sink in. Regardless, this book offers generous spiritual guidance to finding peace in a chaotic world, and not just a chaotic world but in our chaotic lives, families and our sometimes impoverished souls, which are all yearning for peace and hope. It is full of truth and inspiration and one sheds a few tears of joy and thankfulness for this book. Where the French Jesuit Caussade in his book spoke to the Catholics of the French Revolution, this book will touch more cold, cynical, frenetically torn modern hearts. There is not a false note here. This a beautifully translated book. There is a pure gift. Piilippe focuses beautifully on the virtue of hope-- practical spiritual hope which is only kind there really is. This book contains no placebos, not palliatives, this book is about the inner life of the soul in reliance upon the source of all creation and goodness. Any Christian searching for a book on hope and peace could do no better than to start here.

Interior Freedom came to me at a time when I needed to reflect on the concept of spirituality in my everyday existence. This little book helps you to reflect on where you are with God in the details of every moment. It teaches you how to look away from yourself so that you can be centered in the Holy Spirit. It is premised on our complete trust in God no matter what happens; so eventually that "trusting relationship" does become your life. I love this book, and refer to it frequently when life hurls its casual cruelty at me with a force that overtakes my sensibility. The chapter on "Consenting to the Life You Did Not Choose," was the most illuminating for me. It brings home that everything that happens to you can be made holy, when the truth of your heart, in all things big and small, is given first and foremost to the Lord.

Reading Fr Philippe's book is like being in a retreat of sorts, where he is the retreat master and gives advice on how one should trust in God. I would read his words usually when I am at our small Catholic chapel in my town, where there is Perpetual Adoration. His words are very reassuring (that God loves us and will give us what we ask for if we would only ask), and also for those who may have anxieties about things that are happening around them at this time, his advice is relevant and sensible. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain a deeper trust in God, who's prayer life is perhaps at a standstill and who wishes to find solace in the thought that God loves each one of us. I like this book so much that I will read it over and over, just for the consolation that his words bring me. I look forward to reading his other books.

A small gem that goes along way in showing and convincing that we always have, regardless of appearances and circumstances, a certain freedom which cannot be lost, manipulated or compromised. This then goes a long way to convincing us that we can be find happiness in places and situations where we would have never dreamed we could. Interior Freedom delivers what the title suggests. It shows that it is something we all can possess, not without effort, and not without some decent struggles.

Father Jacques Philippe makes it clear, "More often than not, we feel that our freedom is limited by our circumstances: the restrictions imposed on us by society, the obligations of all kinds that other people lay upon us, this or that physical or health limitation, and so on. To find our freedom, we imagine we have to get rid of those restrictions and limitations. When we feel stifled or trapped in some way by circumstances, we resent the institutions or the people that seem to be their cause. How many grievances we have toward everything in life that doesn't go as we wish, and so prevents us from being as free as we would desire!"

This is one type of freedom we may desire, but he explains that there is another type--another way of exercising freedom. Although it might be less exciting, poorer and humbler, he claims it is more intensely fruitful, both humanly and spiritually. It consists in "consenting to what we did not originally choose."

To achieve true interior freedom, he insists, means that "we must train ourselves to accept, peacefully and willingly, plenty of things that seem to contradict our freedom." This is not a matter of accepting things grudgingly, but truly consenting. The best example I think he gives us of this is the Sacrifice of the Cross. Jesus himself tells us, "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord"--freely! This, Father Philippe admits "is a paradox;" but, not without a logical solution. He explains, "His life was certainly taken from him: he was put in chains, condemned, led to Calvary, and crucified. But, as the liturgy says, this was `a death he freely accepted.' In his heart was deep acceptance of what his Father wanted. Jesus remained supremely free in his death, because he made it into an offering of love. By his free and loving consent, the life that was taken became a life given."

Anyone can see this is not simple stuff, but it is possible. It has given people the ability to go on in absolutely horrible conditions and circumstances. It's amazing stuff, however, because "externally there is no visible difference, but internally, everything is transfigured."

We will live quite differently and much better if we can follow the advice of this book. The alternative is "We risk finding ourselves forever dissatisfied. We shall always come up against painful restrictions. We can overcome a certain number, but some are inflexible: physical laws, the limitations of our human condition and of life in society, and plenty more."

This is a book that is important for anyone, especially any Christian who wants to truly find true freedom. The author shows that anyone can be free interiorly, even using the example of a couple of people who died in Nazi concentration camps as examples of people whose true freedom was never taken away from them, and they knew it. It is an easy read, but one is drawn to read it slowly, because each paragraph is filled with so much important advise and so much depth, that you will find yourself drawn to reading it over and over again. And you will find that when you put the author's advice into practice, you will find your life much less stressful, no matter what you are going through. Our modern world really needs the advice of Interior Freedom, instead of relying on pseudorelaxation techniques like yoga which leads you to nothing.

This is an excellent book. Easy to read and understand even for the lay person.

I have read this book twice now and I can not get enough of it. This is going to be a classic -- something that people can always go back to again and again. I have decided to buy 7 copies of these to be distributed as Christmas presents to family and friends. Some of the recipients are not even Christian, but I have no doubt the book will resonate with them as well.

My Priest gave me Interior Freedom and said it would be one of the best books I ever read. My original thought was... great another fluffy faith-based book that I will read a few chapters and grow uninterested. Too many authors write 200-300 page books that could easily be 100. This book was especially powerful because the concepts are easy to read and understand, yet you will find yourself being taken very deep. I found that I could not go more than a couple sentences at a time without having to digest it's richness. I can't wait to read this again and again.

I have read two of this authors books and i really love his style of writing and the sprituality of his writing.