The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

“It’s not a guide to understanding everything about everything (thus the Almost). Rather, it’s a guide to discovering how God can be found in every dimension of your life.”

Martin positions Ignatian spirituality as applicable to everyone’s life, and ultimately concludes that the goal of such practices is God. He sets out this assertion early in the book and continues to touch on various elements of everyday life and how to foster a spirituality that is present in all aspects of a person’s existence.

“So I’ll do my best to make Ignatian spirituality understandable, useful, and usable for everybody, no matter where you are in life, but I’ll also be clear about the centrality of God in the Ignatian worldview, and in my own, too.”

One of the key themes of this book is that Ignatian spirituality is universally applicable, even across faith traditions. However, Martin approaches it from a Catholic perspective, meaning that language of God will remain prominent in the book, though he consistently uses examples from other traditions to show this applicability.

“The benefits of walking along the path of belief are clear: faith gives meaning both to the joys and struggles of life. Faith in God means that you know you are never alone. You know and are known. Life within a worshipping community provides companionship. During times of hardship, faith is an anchor. And the Christian faith also holds out the promise of life beyond this earthly one.”

This quote touches on the way that Ignatian spirituality is very apt for the modern world, even though it stems from a tradition that is over four centuries old. Throughout the book, he relates the ways that Ignatius discusses joy and struggle in the Spiritual Exercises and how it is still applicable in contemporary society.