Wood You Believe: The Spiritual Self - a Spirituality of Healing and Integration for the Times We Live In

By Fr.Jim Cogley and Brian D'Arcy

A Spirituality of Healing and Integration, offers much needed wisdom for the spiritual landscape we find ourselves in at this time. The inspiring symbolism, intertwined with scripture, story and insights from psychology makes it a compelling read. It outlines succinctly and clearly where we have come from and where we find ourselves as church in Ireland today. But it doesnt stop there, it navigates us towards a spirituality of the future and offers a direction in which we can be orientating ourselves in religious practice.

Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. (Spe Salvi 49)

In Vol 6 of Wood You Believe, through scripture and sculpture, story and self-acceptance, Jim Cogley encourages his readers to face the turbulence of todays faith voyage and drop anchor in the Spirit of God within.

Shadow and light, wholeness and imperfection are embraced on the self-abandon voyage leading towards the living water welling up within to eternal life. (John 4:14)

Phrases such as, The Samaritan woman went away with the well; When we listen something new is born; Transformation; Under new management; Let go, let God; are like pop-ups that sparkle anew throughout A Spirituality of Healing and Integration leading the reader to Jesus, the true light, the sun that has risen above the shadow of history. (Spe Salvi 49)

Bishop Eamonn Walsh

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Apr 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491896129

Fr.Jim Cogley

Fr Jim Cogley was born in Wexford in 1954. He trained for the priesthood in St Patrick’s College Maynooth, where he took degrees in English, Philosophy and Theology. Ordained in 1980 for the Diocese of Ferns in Ireland, he has a deep love of the Sea and his work with symbols. Formerly based in Kilmore Quay for most of his pastoral life and now in Oylegate, he has many years’ teaching experience and is a counselling supervisor. As a psychotherapist, he trained in the Jungian tradition. His particular area of interest is that of Intergenerational Healing present. His innovative, self-taught woodworking skills, developed in recent years, provide a unique opportunity to present the age-old truths of life and spirituality in the form of symbols that speak to the soul. Many of the seminars he conducts throughout the country on topics such as those covered in the ‘Wood you Believe’ series involve the use of such symbols. His concept of a Memorial Trail and Garden to people lost at sea, located in Kilmore Quay, and the recently opened Tree of Life and Raphael’s Healing Garden in Oylegate are now major visitor attractions. A Spirituality of Healing and Integration is the sixth volume in the Wood You Believe series.

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© 2014 Fr. Jim Cogley. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/10/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9611-2 (sc)

978-1-4918-9612-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Table of Contents

Fr. Jim Cogley’s Other Books In Authorhouse:

Foreword By Fr Brian D’arcy

Praise For A Spirituality Of Healing And Integration

Introduction

Part 1 - A Faith Questioned

The Truth That Prevails

From Religious Practice To Faith Experience

The Faith Crisis Of Our Time

Our Current Schism

The Faith Journey

Unlocking Spiritual Truths

Part 2 - A Faith Legacy

How Did We Arrive Where We Are?

Lifeless Religion

Befriending Our Shadow

Wholeness

Spiritual Formation And Psychological Growth

Generational Healing

Family Tree Beatitudes

Incarnation – A Downward Path

The Call For Healing

The Enduring Legacy

In Search Of A Round Table

Part 3 - A Faith Experienced

The Need For Evangelisation

Christ As The Cornerstone

When The Judge Is My Friend!

A Dangerous Presumption

The Wonderful Legacy Of Charismatic Renewal

The Importance Of Surrender

True Self Or False Self?

Cross – The Place Of Transformation

Letting Go And Letting God – The Key To Abundance.

Living Life With Open Hands

Holding On And Letting Go – Exercise

Who Am I?

Meditation

The Place Of Nowhere

Acceptance Of What Is

The Transformation Challenge

Our Image Of God

God Of Love Or Justice?

Healing And Integration

Spirituality – The Art Of Homecoming

Relationships – Relating Or Reacting?

The Healing Of Abuse

Hurt – Harm – Hurt

A Survivor’s Perspective

Forgiveness – The Road To Freedom

The Practice Of Fear Or Faith

The Optimist Creed

A Checklist For Spiritual Growth

A Summary Of Contents

B-Attitudes For Today

Listening For The Word

Cover Piece Background Story

About The Author

Fr. Jim Cogley’s Other Books in AuthorHouse:

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Wood You Believe Volume 1 & 2

The Unfolding Self

The Emerging Self

SEE WOOD IN A NEW LIGHT

SEE YOURSELF IN THE LIGHT OF WOOD.

Allow you de per Self to unfold as you enjoy a fascinating journey of self-discovery and spiritual awareness with symbols and wisdom that speak to your soul.

These are just some of the topics covered in Volume One and Two of Wood You Believe, where Fr.Jim Cogley, with twenty-five years experience of working in this area, combines the wisdom of spirituality and psychology, with the discipline of woodturning, to provide a multitude of fascinating symbols and life changing insights.

Readers’ comments:

Filled with wisdom and insight this book is a masterpiece. It is well written, visually stunning and a feast for the soul.

From reading Wood You Believe I have learned to befriend the broken and fragmented parts of myself.

As someone who never read about psychology or spirituality before this book has transformed my life.

Reading Wood You Believe was a healing experience in itself.

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Wood You Believe Volume 3

The Ancestral Self

SEE WOOD IN A NEW LIGHT

SEE YOURSELF IN THE LIGHT OF WOOD

UNDERSTAND WHO YOU ARE

IN THE LIGHT OF YOUR FAMILY TREE

Don’t allow the past to determine

how your life should be in the future.

Free yourself from old scripts.

Bring healing to your family Tree.

These are just some of the topics covered in Wood You Believe - The Ancestral Self, wheere Fr. Jim Cogley, with twenty-five years experience of working in this area, combines the wisdom of spirituality and psychology, with the discipline of woodturning, to provide a multitude of fascinating symbols, life changing insights and some valuable resources of healing.

Readers comments:

The Ancestral Self adds an exciting new dimension to tracing your family tree.

For years I have been reading self-help books and searching for answers. Now I am finally asking the right questions.

The Ancestral Self is the book that many are waiting for. It contains so many keys for making sense of our lives.

I never realized that a lifelong burden was older than myself and could be lifted.

This is one book that delivers much more than it promises.

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Wood You Believe Volume 4

The Twinless Self

What we don’t know can still deeply affect us!

This book contains groundbreaking material that expands the horizons of self-awareness. For many people it has implications that are enormous and far reaching.

It is a medical fact that more than one in eight people began their journey into life not on their own. They had a wombtwin or were part of a multiple pregnancy.

It is a medical fact that for every set of twins born, at least on in five were triplets.

There is ever increasing evidence that the memory of this early loss can be carried through life as a form of psychological trauma that has previously been unrecognized and usually misdiagnosed. The symptoms of having experienced loss in the womb, or shortly after, include:

A sadness and sense of loss that persists

A loneliness that eats into the bones

A difficulty with close relationships

A burden of guilt that is irrational

A black hole that nothing can fill

A tendency towards isolation

A creativity that is stunted

A difficulty with letting go

A search that is endless

A depressive mentality

A restlesness of spirit

A poor sense of self

Whether the twin loss took place during the first few months, in the latter stages of the pregnancy, during or after birth, the symptoms seem to vary very little.

Could this be you or someone that you know? If so this book could shed light on the mysterious world of what its like to be a wombtwin survivor and point the way towards healing and recovery. Here are the stories of so many who discovered the key to the mystery that had plagued them all their lives. Written in language that is easily understood, the steps towards identification and resolution are clearly outlined.

Here is a book that could truly change your life

It could be the most important book you will ever read

Foreword by Fr Brian D’Arcy

For me the entire Wood You Believe series is insightful, helpful and challenging. Reading through Volume 6 I found myself highlighting and under-lining gems in every paragraph. This latest volume is an extremely important contribution to those of us struggling to find a healthy way through the present crisis in our beloved church. Healing and integration were never more needed in both society and church.

Father Jim explains what the basic problems are with clarity and honesty. Furthermore, from his experience in spirituality, art and psychotherapy, he provides a holistic and achievable process which might help bring about healing in the midst of the crisis which is tearing at the heart out of so many reflective people today. His insight that there are four common responses to a crisis – ignore, deplore, restore and explore – gave me a sense of solidarity and trust.

This is a book we are invited to reflect on and not just read. There are some serious issues dealt with – none more contentious than that of the sexual abuse of children. What the author proposes needs to be reflected upon deeply.

In an age when so many feel they have to leave their religion to find God, this superb work is at once accessible and profound. It challenges us to deal with the past respectfully so that we may discover our faith journey in the contemporary world.