Remembering God

Remember God is a book from veteran author Annie F. Downs reminding readers, especially in times when it is difficult to believe, that God is kind.

Remembering God is a devotional book designed for Christians to read daily to remind them of the importance of God’s Word.

Winner of the Association of Catholic Publishers 2017 Excellence in Publishing Award: Inspirational Books (First Place). In the first book to explore how memories impact and are affected by faith, bestselling author Dawn Eden offers a guide to the process she used to heal the pain of her past. Through her own story, as well as the examples of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Peter Faber, and Pope Francis, she shows how the mercy of God, who holds all of events of our life in his own memory, can bring you healing and inner peace. Dawn Eden’s My Peace I Give You helped thousands find peace after abuse and established her as the leading Catholic authority on recovering from traumatic stress. In Remembering God’s Mercy, Eden—who suffered childhood sexual abuse that left her with PTSD—describes how she was inspired by the example of Pope Francis, St. Ignatius, and St. Peter Faber, all of whom suffered from their own painful experiences and followed a similar path to healing. Pope Francis has spoken openly about how a life-threatening bout of pneumonia affected his relationship with God, saying that recognizing and accepting the power of memories to color perceptions is essential to seeing God in all things and experiencing inner peace. The pope was influenced by the examples of Ignatius and Faber. Ignatius suffered the loss of his mother at a young age and was sent by his father to live with another family. He also fought as a mercenary soldier as a young man and experienced the trauma of war and physical pain. Faber, a student of Ignatius and among the early members of the Society of Jesus, suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety for years. He wrote in his diary how he applied Ignatius’s spiritual practices in a way that enabled him to rise above his mental suffering to grow closer with God. Through the wisdom of these three Jesuits, Eden developed an Ignatian model of healing: Acknowledge your memories. Accept that they change the way you see God, your fate, and other people. Allow God to transform your memories by coloring the past and present with his story of salvation. Eden examines how Jesus’ wounds can bring healing to your own hurt through prayer, Mass, the Sacraments (particularly confession), and the life of the Church. In each chapter, she will engage you with specific steps to take using the most famous Ignatian prayer, the Suscipe—Latin for “receive”—to transform your past traumas into an offering to God that is united with Jesus’ own self-offering.

This book started as letters to an unknown friend. I was told she needed encouragement. Her life was filled with so much unhappiness she would sometimes just forget the joy and peace that was available to her. So, I wrote letters to her, to remind her of God’s power, love and peace. Now these letters have been turned into a book to help you remember. Stroll with me down memory lane, walk with me through God’s creation and open His word with me and let’s explore ways in which we can remember God.

In this workbook companion to Forgotten God, author Francis Chan reminds us of the true source of the church’s power—the Holy Spirit. Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and that without Him, we operate in our own strength, only accomplishing human-sized results. Offering a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives the workbook is designed to initiate and facilitate both individual study, and small group discussion, interaction and practical application of the message of Forgotten God. The workbook will stand alone, or can be used alongside the Forgotten God DVD Study Resource. Francis’ thought-provoking teaching makes this a valuable workbook resource for individual study, a seven-week small group study, churches, youth groups, and college campus ministries—and perfect for retreat weekends.

Although the primary focus is Bible and Ancient History, the impressive student notebook includes a drawing course, a structured creative writing course, speech and drama. In addition, geography, anthropology, archeology and linguistics are studied. The ultimate purpose of each element is to give the student a better understanding of the Bible. The focus is not on the individual subjects, but on studying issues, playing with concepts and mastering skills while learning discernment and logic.

I know God is loving; I know He is good; I believe He is big and powerful. But sometimes I wonder if He is really kind— really deeply always kind. Is He? Christians love to talk about how God is in control, but that’s harder to grasp when things aren’t going like you thought they would, when your life looks quite different than you imagined. For centuries, God’s people have been building altars to Him—to remind themselves and the people around them of His work. His goodness. His kindness. Stacks of stones. Altars. Temples. Cathedrals. Why? Because they believed God and wanted to remember Him. In the back of my mind, God reminds me that He is the same trustworthy God—the One who always finishes the stories he starts. And this is my story—of wrestling with our God who gives a limp and a blessing. A God who is always kind even when my circumstances feel the opposite. God is who He says He is. He is kinder than you imagine. In a world where it is easy to forget who He is, we will not. We will remember God.