I was drawn to the phrase "listening for the Heartbeat of God," when I encountered this book. June is the month of the Sacred Heart.

Amazon Editorial Review

Listening for the Heartbeat of God presents a spirituality for today, modeled on the vital characteristics of Celtic spirituality throughout the centuries. The emphasis is on the goodness of creation and of humanity made in the image of God.

Newell presents a carefully considered history of Christian Celtic Spirituality, which is based on a Johnian vision of life and worship. St. John was the disciple Christ held over his heart at the Last Supper. The image of listening to the heart of God comes from that reference in the Gospels. Newell argues that originally the vision within the Church of the Celtic world was the mystical vision of John, which is based most on love and creativity and is expressed in the Gospel of John. The Roman, rocklike spirituality of St. Peter, which depends more on the law and is expressed in the Gospel of Matthew, is more characteristic of the Roman Church generally and with time was to overshadow the Celtic sense of Christianity. St. Patrick's breastplate and the prayers from the reaches of Iona in remote Scotland, translated from the Gaellic in the 19th Century by Andrew Carmichael, are beautiful and moving to me. So I was grateful that Newell so intricately grounds this devotional style in the history of the Church as manifested and moulded by the Celtic people of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall. He lost me however in his final chapter when he used his vision of this historic tradition to argue against the contemporary Church. That's the problem I often find with admirers of Celtic spirituality. There's a tendency to use it to challenge what is. This seems historically out of context and wrong to me. That said, I am glad I read this book. I will look at it again for Newell's historical notes. This is a valid presentation of this largely lost history.

St. Patrick's Breastplate:

I arise today through
God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to see before me,
God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me, God's host to secure me –
against snares of devils,
against temptations and vices,
against inclinations of nature,
against everyone who shall wish me
ill, afar and anear,
alone and in a crowd...
Christ, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Bookcrossing is all about keeping books moving. I enjoyed this one and saw it on a friend's wishlist. Off it goes.

Received yesterday. Thank you!

I am currently reading The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan but will get to this one some time soon hopefully.

This little book was fascinating. I have sent it to a friend in Mudgee.

Next, I'm reading Homer's Iliad. I couldn't obtain it from Bookcrossing, so have signed it out of a local library.