The remainder of his thesis is essentially a guide to a personalised and internalised adaptation of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises as a way of `finding' this hidden treasure. It's a great book for people who dismiss spirituality out of hand because of prominent religious extremists and lumping most of the world in with them. False images we may have of God, constructs of our upbringing, experiences or ideas can disturb and stifle us.

God is a ‘God of Surprises’ because He is not remote or distant, dwelling only in tabernacles and temples of stone, but near to us.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The exercises given at the end of each chapter helps to interiorize and work on the insights gained. We move towards the field and dig towards the treasure through the decisions we make in everyday life. I am now going to work my way through more slowly looking up the scriptural passages as well as the exercises. Definitely a book to read slowly and probably one to be re-read multiple times to get the full effect.

Hughes finishes by writing on the nature of the growing relationship with Christ one should expect as one becomes more aware of, and able to influence, the orientation of one's desires. The Final Chapter applies the insights of the book to a very real situation- the threat of nuclear war.It is a pity that Hughes never mentions the great value of asking others for help and companionship in one's spiritual journey. Even if you take God out of it, as I did, it provides amazing insight and structure into how to know yourself better, to stop trying to take all your worries and deal with them yourself, and ultimately giving you tools to be able the understand how to live a more fulfilling life. In terms of content and presentation the book is very good and will give you an awful lot to think about, it certainly changed my view on a lot of topics, especially the seeking guidance chapters. The developmental stages of spirituality: the institutional stage, the the critical stage, and the mystical stage. That wherever there is love, joy, and peace, that is where God is, regardless of your background and beliefs.