This Blessed Mess: Finding Hope Amidst Life's Chaos

by Patricia H. Livingston

Offering hope and encouragement in the face of life's chaos, Pat Livingston's good-humored stories are sure to resonate with readers, especially women. Growing up, she believed that if you work hard and --do the right things-- all will be well. Then chaos happened, nothing universal--just ordinary, everyday chaos. Now, with wit and wisdom in Pat's personal stories, she shares with us her lifetime of taming chaos. This Blessed Mess not only invites readers to do the same but assures us that in the midst of all the "craziness" we can discover as she did the seeds of creativity and hope. Introduction: This is a book about struggle. It is about how struggle overtakes us without our permission. It is about what lies within struggle and beyond it. It is about what we can do with struggle and what it can do with us. Material for this book has been gathering in me for thirty-five years, since I first faced reality as a young adult and strained to comprehend the dynamics of life's difficulty. I write out of my experience, recognizing clearly that my life has been far less painful than the lives of so many around the world and across time. This book is simply an expression of my effort to understand my own events, shared in the hope that it might speak to the lives of others. A collection of what is especially meaningful to me is offered here--insights and images from my own life, from study and conversation, from songs and books. Mostly there are stories. All of them point to the same thing: Life is filled with struggle. Struggle is filled with Love. Life is, as the title says, "This Blessed Mess." The first half of the book is an attempt to describe how this process reveals itself: "The Interplay of Chaos and Creation." The rest of the book is about dealing with the challenge, offering practical ways to resist being deadened by the mysterious dance. What helps? How do we hold on long enough to know--it ain't over 'til it's over? The second half is: "What Helps Us Move to Creation." These understandings, wrung from my living, have made a difference to me. I offer them in case they might be of some encouragement to you. As you read, I hope that my stories will remind you of stories of your own; that my insights will confirm your own conclusions; that my activities and prayers will connect with ways, transcendent and pragmatic, you have found for "heartening." Sometime, perhaps, you'll pass yours on to me.

Genres: Spirituality, Religion

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Tara Humphries · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great topic but poorly written

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I heard Patricia Livingston speak at our church back in the fall of 2010 right before my daughter Penelope was born. I purchased three of her books and read the first right away. The other two ended up in my TBR bookcase. I finally pulled out This Blessed Mess during Lent and I vastly enjoyed it. It was a great book for Lent and for a particularly stressful time period in my life.

The subtitle of This Blessed Mess is “Finding Hope Amidst Life’s Chaos.” Part one of the book is the “Interplay of Chaos and Creation”. It discusses how chaos gets into our busy lives and has great examples from Patricia Livingston’s own life. Part two of the book is what helps you to move forward. This includes such items as “Holding on to a Core Beliefs,” “Caring for Ourselves and Others,” Laughing Amongst the Mess” and many more.

As a Catholic mother I greatly enjoyed this book. I read a chapter a day in the morning as I got ready for work. It is a slim book and really made me thing about how to embrace the chaos of life as a working mother and to make sure my Christianity is involved as well. A great book, I’m glad I finally read it!

Book Source: I purchased this at Patricia Livingston’s talk at Holy Rosary in 2010 and got it autographed!

This review was originally published on my blog at: http://www.lauragerold.blogspot.com/2...

[Jennifer Maddox - Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended for anyone who feels hurried. I would read it but I am too busy. Maybe later!