Book Description
Who am I? Such a question is far more than just a philosophical one. Instead, the question goes right to the core of our individual struggles to define our selves apart from the labels our lives have place on us. Who am I apart from my profession? Who am I apart from my relationships? Who am I apart from my very humanness?
In God’s Call to Be: When Being Precedes Doing, acclaimed pastor and author Al Cadenhead, Jr., helps us to peel back the layers of our selves to discover the beings that God intended us to be. “The place to begin,” Cadenhead writes, “is to claim that I am convinced that at the center of my soul is life, not life that is determined by the beating of my heart, but life that comes to me by the Creator God who gives to us the small, but important, piece of His divine image. We may be created out of clay, but through that clay runs just enough of the divine image to make us always long for Him.”
God’s Call to Be will help you rediscover a sense of peace in your life through your own natural connections to God.
Book Reviews
Having covered faith in the Carolinas for more than a decade, I have seen noisy, overworked congregations stress “doing” over “being.” In this thoughtful, accessible book written for us all, Al Cadenhead reminds us that we can feel the power of God’s love in the quiet moments. In that quiet, we learn not just to appreciate God’s love but to more deeply appreciate the life he gave us.
— Ken Garfield
Religion Editor
The Charlotte Observer
Amidst our 24/7 fast paced, high-tech world, we find ourselves overstimulated, overscheduled, hurried children of all ages. We fear that we would be a “nobody” without position and prestige, office and authority, and power. Somehow we have come to believe that our being is totally defined by our doing. Moving beneath the layers of profession, geographical address, financial resources, health and aging, Al Cadenhead takes us on a journey to the spiritual headwaters of being a child of God. It is a journey from the head to the heart. If your occupation has become an overwhelming preoccupation and your identity is dependent on your job, then this book is for you.
— Jim Pitts
Chaplain and Professor of Religion, Emeritus
Furman University
We often get so caught up in day-to-day 'doing' that we lose sight of the deeper issues about the people God is calling us to be and to rest in that discovery. In these important and thoughtful reflections, Al Cadenhead takes us on a significant journey that challenges our culture of "self-worth as accomplishment." His insights don't ask us to do more, but rather to be more—to be more present to God, and thus to ourselves.
— L. Gregory Jones
Dean and Professor of Theology
Duke University Divinity School