Just as You Are: Opening Your Life to the Infinite Love of God

I just finished reading Just as You Are, and previously read, How Big is Your God by Paul Coutinho, SJ.In my humble opinion these books have been life lines for breaking the chains of traditional Christianity and the scars they leave. I was raised Catholic and left that religion a long time ago. Frankly, that church left some deep wounds on my soul.The beauty of this author's verse is that he transcends narrow and hurtful parochialisms and gets to the heart of what the ineffable is without all the narrow moral relativism.Paul's key thesis is that you are loved by God for who you are, and not by some artificial and unachievable standard that can never be met. He tells you the best of what love is, and what it is not. He provides an achievable road-map of how you can love God.Since God's nature is care, love and concern for all, it is never predicated on some form of perfection on our part in confluence with outdated norms. In other words, if you are in a hurtful marriage situation void of love, God does not expect you to continue in it.The author uses the metaphor of "seduction" to describe God's efforts to work in our lives. Furthermore, he tells us that loving God is a gateway into finding the edge. This relationship is not about unlimited prosperity, good health, or sainthood. Rather it is about unseating one's comfort zones. It is about looking deeply at one's life without guarantees or promises.The human God encounter is about finding yourself again. It is about acting and overturning the places inside that have encapsulated, and insulated oneself from embarking into the deep waters of life where one risks all for the sake of loving God.This book is a powerful rejoinder against what most churches teach - and this is especially true about the Catholic Church.If you are interested in taking a deep look inside your life choices and looking truthfully at where they have taken you then this book is a primer; and moreover, if you think that you can face with absolute courage toward making changes which might overturn your past history, this book is an invitation to let God unseat you comfort zones.This author is a breath of fresh air. He does not promise salvation, but freedom: freedom to embrace God's love in a way that shakes you to your core. This type of freedom is the most authentic since one's life becomes a process toward personal transformation and completion.Many are called, few take the narrow path.

When I finished reading Just As You Are, my initial inclination was to buy numerous copies to give to friends/family who would benefit from Paul Coutinho's words. That never works, so all I could do was be grateful that this book had been written, that I had read it, and allow God to take over.Coutinho is honest in revealing his personal journey towards falling in love with the Divine. He reveals how he came to love himself by discovering his mantra: I am precious, beautiful and important; and finding his true identity, seeing himself created by and in God, based in Sacred Scripture. He began to fall deeper in love with God, with himself and with others. Most importantly for the reader, Coutinho leads her toward practical and believable ways of being in a romance with God, and an understanding of prayer and its role.One of my favorite lines is this: "Being so in love with the Divine that lives in us, we are able to accept ourselves at the core of our being, with our light and our shadow, with that which is bright and that which is dark, with our strengths and our weaknesses--and we feel good, we feel happy to be ourselves. We don't want to be anybody else." (Page 151)Just As You Are is full of good, great news. In 2008, Coutinho's last book, How Big Is Your God? received the Eric Hoffer Book Award in the category of Self-Help/Spirituality. Just As You Are is also worthy of this honor.

Great read, very insightful—highly recommended

This is a very special book; easy to read by an author who keeps his words simple yet brings all the truths to our heart and mind. He shows us the way to incorporate the love of God into our heart and soul in an ongoing relationship with Him and the Holy Trinity. In so doing, he helps us to understand the vital need for all people to spread this love so that we recognize our common human bonds and the possibility of real love and peace in our lives and the lives of our fellow beings. He brings forth the knowledge that God is for all of us in whatever way we choose to celebrate Him; whether it be Muslim, Christian, Jew, or any faith. God is in us all.

Great book. In Just as You Are, Paul Coutinho offers his unique, profound, and powerful insights to life as a spiritual experience and adventure. The book has added to and enhanced my spiritual understanding. I have been studying spirituality for over 20 years and read many books and articles. Coutinho's book has added new depth and dimensions to my explorations.

This book was very well-written, and offered rich reflections. It is a book that I recommend you really taking the time to sit and read at length, however. Every page was filled with rich material that I jotted into my journal, and it gave me things to reflect upon in relation to my faith and my relationship with God.

I have Paul Coutinho's book "How Big is Your God" as well as "Just as You Are". These books are wonderful for meditation time as well as being informational. Paul shares his spiritual journey with us but he does not try to convert us to his point of view. His eastern approach is refreshing and has put me in touch with a loving Creator. I give this book to many people but I do not give away my personal copy.

The message in this book is so plain and simple, just as it is to have a relationship with God, no hoops no cartwheels. This is exactly what Jesus was teaching us. Thank you Paul!

An excellent book to be read over and over again.

An excellent book really gets to the meaning of relationship with God and how we fall in love with God A book for life

Bought copies for my friends as well.

I love it