James Harlow Brown

Living Well in the Presence of God James Harlow Brown

Are you seeking a way to live more closely with God? How, in practice, can ordinary Christians follow Jesus's commandment to love God with our whole mind, heart, soul and strength? This is especially challenging in the twenty-first century because we bring our postmodern mindsets and knowledge with us, as we try to relate with and follow Jesus. We cope with this challenge by carving out periods in our busy lives -- 'God-time' - to place ourselves in God's presence, in prayer, in church, in service. But what about the rest of the time, which I call 'me time'? God is present, loving us, but most often we are not aware of his presence. I describe a process to become aware of and collaborate with the Holy Spirit as he transforms our 'me time' into 'God time.' There are many beautiful books that help Christians understand different perspectives and issues of spiritual formation. My book is written for ordinary Christians who are serious about finding ways to live well in God's presence continually everyday - but find the visions and insights of spiritual writers difficult to implement in their harried and distracted life. Jesus tells us that we must love God with our whole mind, heart, soul and strength. Many Christians ignore this commandment, but that leaves nagging doubts about the authenticity of calling oneself a serious Christian. My book is a practical guide to obeying Jesus' 'hard' commandment 24/7, 365 days per year; of seriously following Jesus when it seems impossible. I use examples from my own life to make the steps in this process clear and invite people to find the Spirit's presence in their own life. I first describe my experiences of the presence of God in my life. I also examine the conflicts I experience between a mindset formed by the secular-scientific culture we all live in and a mindset shaped by a personal relationship with Jesus. Then, I present a practical solution to handling these conflicts in real life - a five step process I call Everyday Spirituality. This easy to understand process is based on the central happy truth that the Holy Spirit is continually present in our lives, giving us gifts of love and support to transform our shaky efforts at obedience into loving intimacy. Finally, I cover the 'we dimension' of spiritual formation, as members of the church. I also demonstrate practical ways that Christians can transform the church and the 'system of he world' bottom-up. I lived an ordinary life as a US Marine, NASA contractor, IBM executive and Management Consultant. Later in life, I encountered God and developed an intimate relationship with Jesus, obtained a Certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University, and finally made the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises last year. Based on Kevin O'Brien's The Ignatian Adventure, that retreat led me to write this book.