"Pray as you can, not as you can't" advises Jean Gill as she encourages readers to expand their notions of prayer and to seek and explore new prayer ways. Her concern is with a common difficulty experienced by those who want to pray, one that often leaves them frustrated and feeling isolated from God-that is, their limited expectations about what prayer should be, who God should be and who they themselves should be.
Jungian in its orientation, Pray As You Can distinguishes between the conscious or ego-self and the inner or unconscious self. The author encourages her readers to explore new forms of prayer. She suggests ways to enable them to let go of their ego-self control, free their imaginations and trust their inner selves to seek God in creative and vibrant ways.
Drawing on her experiences in retreats and as a spiritual director, Gill opens new windows of prayer in the house of the self. She shows her readers the picture windows of imagination and dreams, the rattling windows of distractions and feelings, the stained glass windows of scriptural prayer, and the bay windows of outward expression such as art, writing, music and dance. And she provides guidance for discerning the direction of the Spirit of God.
Gill uses colorful examples from her own experiences of prayer and those of others. Readers looking for a way to renew and refresh their prayer lives will find inspiration and spiritual excitement in her creative approach.