For Crying Out Love

About this book

For Crying Out Love begins where many prayers live-in suffering that persists, with Love abiding. Through its stories of abiding Love amidst ongoing challenges, this book offers comfort and inspiration. These stories reflect a loving approach to prayer that is natural to use when facing the pain of those you care about, as well as your own pain. Written especially for those who have suffered over long periods, this book speaks to difficult relationships, long-term physical or emotional illness, injustice, and the enduring consequences of tragedy.We know that Jesus didn't heal everyone of everything forever. The most obvious example is his beloved friend Lazarus who died again and possibly suffered before that second death.Picture Jesus welcoming people and their families, people whose suffering remains, has returned, or has had difficult consequences. Those encounters would be challenging, yet full of abiding love. Now imagine how Love relates to all of us who pray for relief from suffering for ourselves or for others, even as that suffering continues.For Crying Out Love invites you to read and enter into Gospel stories that have been imaginatively transformed in line with ancient spiritual traditions like those of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis of Assisi, and Jewish midrash, as well as with other contemporary narratives. With a focus on chronic suffering, each chapter explores the calls and responses that shape ongoing relationships and the relationship of prayer.Prayer heals and leads to wholeness the way love heals.