God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila
No one can teach a Christian to pray, like Teresa can.
This lively little book introduces postmodern readers to one of Christianity's most endearing prayer warriors, and guides them through her most radical teachings. Here, Teresa of Avila is not a lofty, inaccessible saint; she's a companion, taking readers on a rollicking journey through their own interior castles. The secrets of Teresa's intimate devotional life are revealed, and readers learn practical ways to abandon complicated contemplative prayer techniques, and simply "enjoy" God.
This journey through the life and writings of Teresa of Avila will engage Christians who would have never before considered encountering a post-Reformation Catholic nun. Mair Burney makes Teresa accessible—and essential—for understanding what it means to come to know God, and how it's possible.
"I've been waiting for some time for the Ragamuffin Diva to write us a book about her own spiritual quest. And what she has delivered in God Alone Is Enough is beautifully written, winsome, and touching. Hers is a voice to which we all should listen. And the fact that she brings Teresa of Avila right into our own backyards makes it even better."
-Tony Jones is the author of many books, including The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community"
"Reading God Alone is Enough was an absolute joy…I experienced it as the gift of two older, sassy, rib-tickling sisters - one Teresa of Avila and the other Claudia of Burney – who sat their kid brother (me) up on the washing machine and said ‘look junior, this is what love is all about.' You trust them because you believe they care for you, but moreover because they have that glorious foolishness in their eyes."
- John Blase, author of Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas
"This is the kind of book that a serious Christian has to thank God for. It only illuminates and opens St. Teresa of Avila in a profound and intimate way. I cannot recommend this book too highly or, I suspect, even adequately. Read it and you will see what I mean."
-Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours
- Vinita Hampton Wright, author of Dwelling Places
"Claudia Mair Burney writes with courage and compassion, capturing the best of Teresa and offering it to her readers with clarity and humor. God Alone is Enough is an invitation and a celebration. Expect to swoon, prepare to feast."
- Jenny Schroedel, author of Naming the Child
Product Reviews for God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila
| This is Burney's (Amanda Bell Brown mystery series) first nonfiction title. She uses her practiced skill as a writer and narrator to tell the story of this 16th-century Spanish mystic and nun, expounding some of the trickier points of Teresa's mysticism and offering a good deal of her own story in the process. VERDICT: This refreshingly unstuffy book revitalizes Teresa and will appeal not only to African American women but to Christians across race and gender lines as well. |
| Library Journal, School Library Journal |
| Immersed in her own "dark night of the soul" brought on by seasonal affective disorder and fibromyalgia, Christian novelist Burney (The Exorsistah and the Amanda Bell Brown mystery series) discovered the 16th-century mystic John of the Cross and, through him, his spiritual contemporary Teresa of Avila. In her first nonfiction book, Burney tells how Teresa taught her to pray in a way totally unlike the method she had learned from the "church mothers" in the Church of God in Christ congregation in which she grew up. She invites readers on a pilgrimage to "meet my friend Teresa" and offers a fresh take on the Spanish nun and saint. Employing humor and a chatty style, Burney gives readers a short, light course in contemplative prayer, one that is sensitive to the possible reactions of those who, like her, come from a Protestant background. Although readers with a serious interest in Teresa will need more than Burney provides here, her book is a fine introduction to the weighty realm of contemplative prayer. |
| Publisher's Weekly |
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