Wait with Me - by Jason Gaboury (Paperback)

About the Book

Jason Gaboury has wrestled with loneliness ever since he can remember. But when he was challenged to see loneliness as a context for friendship with God, things began to change. In these pages God invites you to stop and wait with him in your ownmoments of isolation and anxiety, journeying from loneliness into a deeper life with God.

Book Synopsis

"To be human is to be lonely." When his seventy-something spiritual director Friar Ugo spoke these words in a voice cracking with age, Jason Gaboury felt a deep sense of their truth. To the observer, Jason, a campus minister, active church member, and father with a young family, might not have seemed lonely. But it's how he felt. He has wrestled with loneliness ever since he can remember, perhaps before he can remember . . . through childhood, college, and into adulthood.WhenFriar Ugo challenged him to see loneliness as a context for friendship with God, things began to change. In these pages God invites you to stop and wait with him in your own moments of isolation and anxiety. It's an invitation into a journey throughloneliness into a deeper life with God.

Review Quotes

"At first glance, loneliness and solitude look a lot alike. But upon a closer examination, loneliness is mostly just alone, and solitude, as a spiritual practice, is alone with God. That makes all the difference. In Wait with Me, Jason helps us see how our own places of loneliness could became places of solitude in the Presence. I love the way his writing is so well-rooted in Scripture stories."

Alan Fadling, founder and president of Unhurried Living, coauthor of What Does Your Soul Love?

"In these pages, you won't find an easy solution to the 'problem' of loneliness. What Wait with Me offers instead is far wiser and more daring: an invitation into deeper life with the God who eagerly inhabits our isolation and lingers with us there. For anyone who knows firsthand the slow-bleeding pain of loneliness, this honest and hopeful and paradigm-bending book is worth pondering, worth lingering on."

Gregory Coles, author of Single, Gay, Christian

"It is not easy to find biblical, relevant, practical, and emotionally engaged content that presses us into the tension of existence as opposed to showing us how to manage or get away. This book is not a roadmap on how to escape something that is core to being human but a testament to how rigorous engagement with loneliness can free us to live more fully as people made in the image of God. This isn't just a book you should buy; it is a book you should read."

Jonathan P. Walton, poetand author of Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive: And the Truth That Sets Us Free

"Jason and his wife, Sophia, have been mentors to my wife and me for several years. Their depth of wisdom in marriage, parenting, and faith is remarkable. They have shared many life-shifting words with us over delicious meals in tiny NYC apartments."

Andy Mineo, hip-hop recording artist

"Jason Gaboury has written a masterful book, Wait with Me, on the theme of loneliness. He takes us on a journey that is biographical, exegetical, and imaginative. From Genesis to the Gospels, Jason describes loneliness as a human condition God uses for our transformation and his transcendent purposes in us. This is an invitation into the ultimate antidote for loneliness--communion with God and biblical community."

Mac Pier, founder of Movement.org, Lausanne catalyst for cities

"Jason Gaboury knows the ache of loneliness from the inside and agrees with God's assessment of his good creation: it is not good for us to be alone. But what if loneliness can enlarge not only our compassion and empathy for others but also our devotion and love for Christ? What if loneliness becomes an opportunity not only to know God's presence in our affliction but to know Jesus in his? With skillful exposition of Scripture and an undaunted naming of pain, Gaboury invites us into a paradigm shift that is both hope filled and liberating."

Sharon Garlough Brown, author of the Sensible Shoes Series and Shades of Light

"Jason Gaboury's witness to the disturbingly universal experience of loneliness cuts right to the heart of what it means to be human--what it means to enter this unwelcomed, unavoidable, yet potentially sacred meeting place. He guides us to consider loneliness as a fount from which spiritual intimacy flows as we exchange empathy with God, both offering and receiving from the other. Readers will be drawn into authentic prayer and reflection, and then gently sent back into a world drowning in the confusion of loneliness with new vision for the possibilities of this strange phenomenon's dark gifts."

David L. Booram, cofounder and director of Fall Creek Abbey, coauthor of When Faith Becomes Sight

"Like an adept theater director, Jason Gaboury weaves together the fallibilities and surprising strengths of biblical characters into a compelling performance that leaves readers astonished to discover they are staring into the face of their own hidden stories. Reading this book is like having a companion on life's journey who knows the pain of isolation but whose gentle presence creates spaces for discovering new possibilities for spiritual development and emotional maturity. For anyone whohas ever felt lonely, this eloquent book is a must-read."

Sarah Dunlop, lecturer in practical theology, Ridley Hall, Cambridge, UK

"This, thankfully, is not a book that promises to solve loneliness. It's not a how-to guide for 'getting out there' or a formula for ensuring God will erase your sense of isolation. This book is something very different: a poignant, wise, at times searing invitation to attend to our loneliness as a call from God. This is spiritual writing that is at once urgent and patient, honest and inviting."

James K. A. Smith, Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview at Calvin University, author of On the Road with Saint Augustine

"We're lonelier than ever, and we don't like it. Instead of avoiding or escaping this all-too-human condition, this book honestly and refreshingly invites us to stay with it and find Jesus in the spaces and places where we'd rather not be. Read and find healing for your soul."

James Choung, vice president of strategy and innovation for InterVarsity/USA, author of True Story and Longing for Revival

About the Author

Jason Gaboury is a regional ministry director with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He's also an Anglican friar (Anglican Order of Preachers). He has contributed to a number of books, including Drama Team Handbook. He and his wife, Sophia, live in New York City with their two children.