Chapter 1
The first stage of surrender consists of doing what in regards to God's Will?
Accepting and assenting to God's will. (pg. 13)
The second stage of surrender requires us to do what?
Actively obey / do God's will. (p. 45)
In the third stage of surrender, the Christian becomes what?
God's instrument / tool. (pg. 77)
Stinissen was born in what country?
Belgium
You're working on a tedious task at work, and your mind is wandering, worrying about the future and replaying the past. What should you do?
Focus on the present moment instead. (pg. 60–64)
Stinissen says we don't have to travel somewhere special to find God. Where, then, does he say we should look for God?
In our everyday reality / ordinary life. (pg. 18–23)
Stinissen says that without ......... , nothing can truly mature in a person's life.
Saying “Yes” to God. (p. 47)
According to Stinissen, why can't we expect to reach the third stage of surrender immediately?
It assumes a long practice of accepting and obeying God's will. (pg. 77–80)
Wilfrid Stinissen belonged to what religious order?
The Discalced Carmelites (O.C.D.)
Something happens that you strongly dislike and cannot change. What is the first thing you should do?
Accepting the situation as part of God’s providence rather than rebelling against it. (pp. 18–20)
What is often regarded as the least important of the 3 spiritual faculties? (Understanding, Will, ... )
The Memory (pg. 42-43)
When trying to discern God's will, Stinissen says we should listen in two directions. What are they?
To God speaking from without and from within. (pg. 51–54)
From without includes Scripture, the Church, circumstances, and duties. From within includes the Holy Spirit's interior attractions and promptings.
Stinissen uses this musical instrument to explain the third stage:
instead of playing it for God, we eventually hand it to God and let Him play.
A violin. (pg. 80–81)
In 1967, Stinissen left his home country and was sent to this country to help establish a contemplative community.
Sweden
You keep returning to a painful event from your past. According to Stinissen, what does surrender ask you to do with that memory?
Begin to see it with God’s eyes, remembering not only what happened but what God has done through it. (pg. 42–44)
Stinissen says faith doesn't simply add an invisible, spiritual world on top of the visible world. What does faith allow us to recognize instead?
The divine depth/presence of God within ordinary reality. (pg. 24–25)
According to Stinissen, what is detachment?
Not preferring one thing over another, but wanting only that God’s will be done. (pg. 58–59)
Stinissen says that when God acts through us, He doesn't erase our individuality. In the musical instrument analogy, what happens to the “instrument” when God begins to play it?
It remains the same instrument, with its own characteristics and defects, but God produces something greater through it. (pg. 80–81)
In the Preface, this Carmelite saint describes abandonment as her “compass”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux (p. 10)
You feel a powerful interior impulse and conclude, “God must be telling me to do this.” Should you trust that conclusion? Why or why not?
Not automatically. Not every inner attraction comes from God; it could be ego. It must be discerned. (pg. 53–54)
At Marah, Moses throws a tree into bitter water and the water becomes sweet (Ex 15:23-25).
Stinissen uses this story as an image of what God can do with our past. What can God do with it?
Transform our suffering/wounds into something meaningful and fruitful / transform bitterness into blessing. (pg. 41–42)
Stinissen says many people turn to God only when facing a major decision, almost as though God were a computer that gives answers.
What does he say is the real secret to being able to discern God's will in difficult choices?
Continually obeying/saying yes to God's clear will in everyday life / never leaving God. (pg. 55)
In the earlier stages of surrender, God’s will is like a light in front of us, showing us the way.
In the third stage, Stinissen says God seems to move “behind” us. What does he mean by this?
Instead of seeing clearly what God wants and carrying it out ourselves, we allow God to push us from behind/ act through us/turning us in whatever direction He pleases. (pg. 84–85)
Stinissen points to two moments in Christ’s earthly life to show that Abandonment/surrender is the “alpha and omega” in His life. What are the two moments?
Christ coming into the world to do the Father’s will (Heb 10:7), and His final surrender of His spirit to the Father on the Cross (Lk 23:46)
You're doing many good things for God, but you're constantly tense, hurried, and convinced everything depends on you. According to Stinissen, what might this reveal?
Too much reliance on the ego/self rather than surrender to God. (pg. 98–100)