The Ordinary God: Notes from the Far West of Ireland

A bible discussion group, parishioners of various ages, was getting tied up in knots on a rather basic subject - God.

In frustration, one woman said to another, "But, what sort of God are you talking about?"

The other woman looked puzzled. "Just the ordinary, everyday God",' she said.

That is what this book is about. The ordinary, everyday God. The 'God' that comes instinctively to most of us. If we've had a religious education, from schools or parents, we may need to drop a lot of stuff that has been drilled into us. If what we think we know about God doesn't feel right, or doesn't feel true, then it probably isn't right and isn't true. Like love, this is a subject where we do better to trust our gut feelings.

The essays in this book come largely from that point of view. Most of them appeared in the Southern Star newspaper over a two year period beginning in September 2007. They were written for the ordinary people of West Cork, a people for whose down-to-earth-ness the author has had a huge respect since coming here in 1996 as the rector of the furthest south-west parish of the Church of Ireland.

These articles were written for Catholics and Protestants, and the people in-between and outside, for anyone who is interested in the difference between religion and spirituality, or in what our churches are doing ... or not doing ... or more importantly should be doing in the future.

About the Author

Hilary Wakeman is a founder member of the Open Christianity Network of Ireland. A retired member of the Church of Ireland clergy, she is the author of Saving Christianity: New Thinking for Old Beliefs (The Liffey Press). She lives in Schull, Co Cork.