Many of us go through life thinking and acting as though we can somehow, in some way, earn God’s love and favor. If only we do this, or that, or both, or more, God just might offer us at least a small bit of Divine approval or acceptance. Eventually realizing the impossibility of “getting right” with God through our own efforts, and tired of futilely going ’round and ’round in spiritual circles, some of us turn away from the Divine.

When we stop struggling to find God and instead allow ourselves to experience life, we will be drawn into the Divine presence and essence.
In Just as You Are, Paul Coutinho, SJ, helps us move forward in the confidence that God already loves us and simply asks that we embrace this amazing love and live in it on a daily basis. Fr. Coutinho insists, “When we stop struggling to find God and instead allow ourselves to experience life, we will be drawn into the Divine presence and essence.”

A native of India, Fr. Coutinho combines Eastern sensibilities with Ignatian principles and practices to show us how we can stop acting as though we can somehow earn God’s favor and love, and instead move forward in our unfathomable love of God already present in our lives.

Fr. Paul Coutinho, SJ, divides his time between India and the United States. He currently conducts an international ministry of speaking, retreat work, and spiritual direction from a base at St. Louis University. He is the author of How Big Is Your God?: The Freedom to Experience the Divine.

For more information or to interview Paul Coutinho, SJ, please contact Michelle Halm.

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