The Inner Chapel: Embracing the Promises of God

by Becky Eldredge

Overview

2021 Illumination Book Awards, Gold Medal: Spirituality

What is the “inner chapel”? The place within where God meets us. We can trust God—and we can trust in God’s promises to us, including:

• We are never alone.
• We are loved—unconditionally.
• We have a companion in our suffering.
• Each of us has a unique call.

But how do we experience all that God has given us? By going to the inner chapel, that sacred place within each person where God waits to love us unconditionally. There, God gives us all we need to find our way to a life of hope instead of despair, peace instead of continued restlessness, and joy instead of anxiety.

Becky Eldredge offers readers down-to-earth stories, prayer experiences to try, and enthusiastic encouragement for spiritual growth and a deeper friendship with God. The Inner Chapel will inspire individuals but also provide excellent material for small groups and people going on retreat.​

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780829449334
Publisher:	Loyola Press
Publication date:	04/13/2020
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	313,600
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

BECKY ELDREDGE is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer who helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life. She is the author of Busy Lives & Restless Souls. She lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with her husband and three children.​

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: “Promise Me You’ll Tell People That They Are Not Alone”

I knew something had changed when I realized I was the one holding the spoon. My grandmother lay flat on her back in the hospital bed, with only her head tilted. She was approaching the end of hour two of six following strict instructions to lie on her back as still as she could because of the excessive bleeding in the recovery room after her aortic-aneurysm surgery. I paused midscoop with the spoon that held her favorite treat, Blue Bell light vanilla ice cream, to peer into my grandmother’s crystal-blue eyes. She and I held each other’s gazes without speaking a word. During this long pause, we exchanged our love in silence. Love welled within me to the point of bursting as my blue eyes held the loving gaze of her blue eyes. How many times—from the days of my early childhood when she had spoonfed me treats—had my eyes stared into hers and a deep understanding come over me that I was loved, deeply loved. Today, the same exchange was made, except I was the one holding the spoon. As I finished scooping the bite of ice cream, I glanced at her hands that told a thousand stories of gentle acts of kindness and love. Those hands had scooped bites of baby food into my mouth, stirred the large spoon in the cast-iron pot as she stood at her stove making a roux or crawfish étouffée, and joyfully fed her great-grandchildren the very treat I was feeding her today. She sheepishly accepted my offer of the  bite of ice cream, the role reversal apparent to her as much as to me. She smiled and joked about this being her job when I was little.

I had no idea that holding the spoon in my hand that day marked the beginning of a life-changing journey. Three weeks later, my grandfather learned that he had a brain tumor. Two days before his surgery to remove this tumor, I submitted the manuscript for my first book. A week after his surgery, my hometown, Baton Rouge, experienced a flood that local news reporters called the thousand-year flood. The waters rose so quickly and suddenly that no one was prepared for the impact. My husband, brother, and uncle rescued my parents out of their home by boat. It was only a day later that we maneuvered our way through the wet, devastated streets of Baton Rouge to meet with my grandfather’s neurosurgeon in New Orleans, to receive the news that the tumor they removed was indeed cancer: glioblastoma. After I’d spent hours on the Internet prior to this appointment, researching the possibilities, that word—glioblastoma—hit me in the stomach and literally took my breath away. Aggressive, terminal brain cancer.

We drove back through the water-soaked streets of Baton Rouge to my home. I could not process all that we were holding in this moment. The uncertainty of whether my parents’ home was destroyed. The devastation of thousands of homes flooded around us, including those of neighbors, family, and friends. The people immediately in front of me needing help. The continued recovery of my grandmother from a life-threatening aortic aneurysm. The news of my grandfather’s terminal cancer. I tried to wrap my head around the enormity of all that had happened in just a month’s time while my mind raced through the various roles and responsibilities related to the calls of my life. Marriage. Motherhood. Ministry.

If I’m honest, I don’t even know if I prayed that day in the car. I was overwhelmed to the point of feeling numb. The prayers came, though, in the days, weeks, and months after that car journey through my town. I cried out to God like never before as Baton Rouge fought its way through recovery again, as my grandmother healed, and as I accompanied my grandfather to his final breath.

Table of Contents

Part 1 The Inner Chapel 1

1 "Promise Me You'll Tell People That They Are Not Alone" 2

2 Spiritual Growth Is Like Stepping into the Ocean 6

3 The Gift of the Inner Chapel 12

4 Prayers and Recipes, Teachers and Cooks 20

5 Practical Prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola 31

6 The Importance of Longing-Ours and Gods 38

Part 2 Embracing the Promises of God 49

7 Jesus Invites Us into Relationship 50

8 There Is Rest for the Weary 64

9 We Can Find Shelter and Intimacy 89

10 We Are Never Alone 107

11 We Belong to Someone 117

12 We Are Loved-Unconditionally 131

13 We Are Seen Fully-and Offered Mercy 146

14 We Have a Companion in Our Suffering 166

15 Each of Us Has a Unique Call 181

Epilogue: Reasons for Our Hope 201

Acknowledgments 209

About the Author 213

What People are Saying About This

Paul Jarzembowksi

I am constantly busy, overwhelmed with all sorts of to-do lists and tasks that often stretch me beyond my limits. In the midst of that craziness, this book seems like exactly what the doctor ordered. This book has helped me to find God speaking with me from within my very soul... often the place I forget to look for grace and peace (as I am always searching for it externally).

I also enjoyed the fact that, in the second half of the book, Becky gets at what Jesus is trying to say to us... and I found echoes of countless spiritual teachers in her words of wisdom, especially St. Ignatius of Loyola (and his companion and Jesuit brother, Pope Francis) who help us to hear God speaking them to us. These lessons are so incredible: so simple and obvious but also so profound and central to who we are... you need to rest, you are safe, you belong, you are never alone, you are loved, you are forgiven, and so on.

If you need to take a much-needed break, this is the medicine you've been looking for. I loved this book and I think others will too.

Editorial Reviews

The Inner Chapel is filled with personal stories from Becky Eldredge's own life, puts into words so much of what I've experienced the past couple years as I've been pulled into this amazing relationship with Jesus. But also, each chapter ends with prayerful reflection questions and scripture verses with which you can pray - so you too can discover that God resides within you and is longing to be in relationship with you. THIS BOOK IS A RETREAT you can do at your own pace, on your own time in your own space.

Early Morning Coffee with Jesus - Jennifer Scheuermann