THE EYES OF GOD: DISCERNMENT, BRIAN GALLAGHER MSC, NEW BOOK

While Brian had written a number of books on prayer and discernment over several decades, in the last year he has been more prolific, drawing on the research work she did on spiritual direction and discernment for his doctoral thesis. The material drew on Brian’s experience as the founder of the Heart of Life spirituality centre and his establishing the program for training spiritual directors, SILOAM.

The book of his thesis was called Set Me Free, Spiritual Direction and Discernment of Spirits. He also drew on his thesis for a new addition of Communal Wisdom: A Way of Discernment for a Pilgrim Church.

These themes continue with The Eyes of God, endorsement by Sue Richardson from the Foreword, and from Paul Beirne, Director of the Heart of Life Centre for Spiritual and Pastoral Formation.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit,but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. 1 John 4:1

God’s Spirit permeates all life from the first moment of creation. Response to that Spirit is often compromised by counter spirits, spirits not-of-God, drawing us away from God. This is a book about these different attractions in our lives, their sources, their power to affect our decision making for good or ill. It is a book about human freedom and human limitation, about the need to acknowledge the unconscious places of unfreedom in our lives, and about the quest for inner freedom and wholeness for the sake of discerning choices that are life-giving.

This is a unique book, blending quite revealing personal experience of God and sound, helpful teaching about the ways of God’s Spirit in individual lives and in community. The book will be of value to spiritual directors and pastoral ministers, indeed, to all people who take God seriously and are committed to living a discerning way of life.

                                     From the Foreword by Sue Richardson pbvm

Part personal reflection, part erudite and intimate sharing of the role discernment occupies in the sacred space where humanity and Divinity meet, part guided meditation, Brian Gallagher’s memoir The Eyes of God is a first class example of a scholar-practitioner embodying Ernest Larkin’s description of discernment: ‘hearing and responding to the word of God by one who knows the language’.

                                    Paul Beirne, Director: Heart of Life Centre for Spiritual and Pastoral Formation