Ten Evenings With God, by Ilia Delio, OSF, This small book is composed of ten essays on life and our relationship with God, entitled Awakening, Prayer, Desire, Choices, Sifting Out of God’s Love, The Gravity of Love, Love’s Sweet Surrender, Tides of Love, Freedom in Faith and Alive in Christ. As a theologian and chair of Spirituality Studies at Washington Theological Studies, she often writes about theology, Franciscan theology, especially the theology of Bonaventure. At times, “pure” theology is difficult to comprehend, but here her concepts and language are easily understood, even by those without a theological background.
She speaks of God’s will, God’s love for us, and the darkness and confusion we often experience when we are not attuned to God and our mutual relationship and desires. She says that discernment is necessary for understanding God’s will, how we can best relate to God and others, even understand ourselves; and essential to wise discernment are the virtues of humility, charity and courage. She speaks with much wisdom and gentleness, in a spirit of prayer. She ends each chapter with personal reflection questions to make her message a part of our everyday life.
It is impossible to adequately convey even a small part of her wisdom. For a deeper understanding of God and the divine element in our lives, her book must be read slowly, prayerfully and with care. It will deeply enrich you and your comprehension of God, and also vastly improve your prayer life and your relationship of love with the God who loves us unconditionally. ( Sister Ruth Nistler, OSF.)
