How Do We Know When It's God?: A Spiritual Memoir - Softcover

How do we know when it's God? That's a tough question, explains Dan Wakefield, whose memoir gives a painful account of fabricating God's will in order to justify his personal desires and delusions. Wakefield's accounts of stumbling through a brutal "EST" seminar, the soul-snuffing world of Hollywood screenplay writing, and bouts of despair will reassure Christian readers that they can make mistakes (the same ones--over and over again) and still find comfort in faith. "In fact, this memoir of mine could more aptly be titled When Good People Do Bad Things--or at least stupid things, things that hurt themselves and others," Wakefield confesses.

The most painful stories come from Wakefield's failed love affairs and marriages--perhaps because he still seems confused and squeamish when it comes to loving women. Nonetheless, the man has earned his badge of wisdom, mostly because he is not afraid to hold himself up to the light of God honestly. This is a thoroughly engaging memoir, written by an accomplished storyteller, revealing all the blunders humans make when we try to honor (and secretly ghostwrite) the master plan. --Gail Hudson

In 1988, Wakefield (Going All the Way) thought he had set his feet firmly on the spiritual path. He had just published Returning, an inspiring memoir about his return to faith and health after decades of heavy drinking and serious despair. He was happily running workshops around the country, helping people recognize the way the spiritual manifested in their own lives. As detailed here, when he then meets up with an old high school crush on a visit to his hometown in Indianapolis, he feels that the overwhelming attraction they share is a sign from God that they should marry and live happily ever after. As soon as the ceremony is over, however, Wakefield realizes that he has made a major mistake. Divorced within months, he's left feeling as if the joy and balance he has treasured has "collapsed within me, like a tent brought down in a high wind." Step by step, Wakefield finds his way to a new kind of openness to himself and to God. He turns to yoga, "going back to the body to find the spirit," and learns in other areas of his life to listen more deeply to the truth of his physical and emotional being. Moving from Boston to New York to Miami Beach, Wakefield learns that discerning God's will starts with paying attention to what is, without rushing to facile conclusions. Wakefield offers readers an engrossing story as well as a guide to spiritual maturity. With breathtaking honesty, he shows that real spiritual faith requires that we be explorers, open to the possibility that our wrong turns and mishaps might lead to the richest territory of all. (Aug.)
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