Encounter Grace
Moments of Hope, Joy, and Peace
Encounter Grace is a pragmatic, navigable workbook of microexercises for prayer that leaves open different possibilities for interacting with the divine.
Grounded in the imaginative spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola and the mystical practices of the Jesuit order, Becky Eldredge’s Encounter Grace is an accessible beginner’s guide to Christian meditation.
Revealing a system through which believers can improve their prayer lives by visualizing themselves within an imagined “inner chapel”—a mental space of comfort and sanctuary where God’s presence, in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit, can be engaged directly—the book stresses the idea that such sanctuary is available at all times to all believers. Throughout, it seeks to empower faithful Christians to see prayer as a process that is intimate, straightforward, and approachable. Its work consists of page-long chapters, each encouraging consideration of independent, though related, themes of Christian life; they end with reflection prompts to relate their content to individual faith experiences.
Many of the chapters cover familiar territory, though. They consider topics like wrestling with sinfulness and forgiveness and the importance of reading the Bible. The deep importance of rest, fulfillment, and comfort is reemphasized throughout, said to be achievable through the daily practice of inner communion with God. Supporting references to the Bible are infrequent; in their place, the book encourages reflecting on one’s own storehouses of memory and daily experience. The result is a pragmatic, navigable workbook of microexercises that leaves open different possibilities of interaction.
The book’s hyperaccessible layout leads to some structural tensions, though. Whereas the book requires no prior familiarity with the Bible or with the specifics of Ignatian spirituality, it also stops short of sharing a unified vision of how its unique approach fits in with, and stands out from, broader Christian practices. Its sparse, everyday language invites intimacy while also creating a barrier to more sustained intellectual engagement; and the open-ended nature of the reflection prompts creates an inclusive, seeker-sensitive atmosphere while also leading to occasional theological fuzziness.
St. Ignatius and his famous spiritual exercises receive frequent mention, but the mentions are brief and short on context, as when the book invokes the benefits of “the Ignatian way” without explaining them for newcomers. Even as these elements frustrate deeper reading, though, the book excels in its functional purpose as a spiritual workbook. It is meant to be digested in small portions, and the standalone nature of its chapters encourages sampling and deliberate pauses rather than a sequential read-through. What the book loses in historical density it makes up for in clean, clear language meant to draw out a more manageable approach to prayer.
Encounter Grace is an accessible guide to daily Christian meditation in the Jesuit tradition.
Reviewed by
Isaac Randel
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
