The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God's Love
By Colette Lafia — May 2021 from Monkfish Book Publishing.
Spiritual director Colette Lafia tells us that at the core of our being there is an ever-flowing love relationship with God, and it’s here we find meaning in our lives. Beautifully expressed, with examples and awakenings from the author’s own journey, The Divine Heart offers seven “invitations,” principles of spiritual practice that awaken us to the ever-abundant flow of Divine love.
Nautilus Book Awards, recognizing Books for a Better World, selected The Divine Heart as a 2022 Silver Award Winner in Religion/Spirituality of Western Thought.
Book Free Divine Heart Events Available
by Spiritual Director Colette Lafia, author of The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God’s Love
- Events and talks available for your group or organization through ZOOM
- Talks can be tailored for 60-90 mins, depending on your interests.
- All events include short book reading, a contemplative practice, and Q & A.
Contact Colette by email at colette.lafia@gmail.com.
TALKS AVAILABLE:
Join author and spiritual director Colette Lafia to explore and strengthen our connection to Divine Love. Drawing from her new book, The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God’s Love, Colette will give a short reading, offer a guided meditation, and lead you in spiritual journal writing. This will be a time to deepen your intimacy with God and awaken to the abundance of Divine love at the core of your being.
The movement of our hearts towards Divine Love is the essence of spiritual experience. It’s the basis of who we are and all we do. Spiritual director and author, Colette Lafia, will offer practices, prayers, and spiritual insights that will help you grow love-centered and Divinely inspired relationships with everyone and everything around you.
In her new book The Divine Heart, spiritual director Colette Lafia shares how our intimacy with God not only impacts our intimacy with self, others, and nature, but how our intimacy with others and the world around us also shapes our relationship with God.
She draws on the wisdom of St. John of the Cross who consistently spoke of divine love as the template and model for all human love, and human love as the necessary school and preparation for any transcendent encounter, as Father Richard Rohr has pointed out.
We’re all created from and for love. In The Divine Heart, Colette Lafia describes the ways we can more fully explore and experience this relationship of love—with God, with ourselves, with others, and with creation. Once we awaken to God as a dynamic force of love within ourselves and in the universe, we gain a new perspective and begin to cultivate a spiritual identity. Being in the flow of God’s love is, for Colette, the very purpose of life. The Divine Heart presents seven “invitations” that can awaken us to this abundant flow of love at the core of our being.
ENDORSEMENTS FOR THE DIVINE HEART BY COLETTE LAFIA:
"During these turbulent times, we need the steadying voice of feminine wisdom more urgently than ever. In this luminous book, spiritual guide Colette Lafia offers the fruits of her tenderly cultivated inner life to feed people of all genders who thirst for a direct encounter with the embodiment of love, which she recognizes as our own true nature."
— Mirabai Starr, translator of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, author of Wild Mercy
"In The Divine Heart, Colette Lafia invites us to enter the vastness and intimacy of God's love, offering seven simple yet powerful ways to deepen our awareness and open our hearts. This small book with a big heart shows us how to live in the flow of Divine love."
— Richard Rohr, author of The Universal Christ, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation
"In these seven invitations, Colette Lafia leads us into the depths of the heart: our own heart is hidden within The Divine Heart. With wisdom born of life experience, she is a loving and compassionate guide."
— Veronica Mary Rolf, author of Suddenly There is God: The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture and two award-winning books on Julian of Norwich.
"A generous offering of insights and encouragement that lend themselves to pausing and resting in God’s presence, a state of sustained attentiveness infused with love. Lafia includes a host of practical suggestions to help us carry this Divine love into the graces and challenges of each day."
— James Finley, Ph.D., contemplative teacher and author of Merton's Palace of Nowhere.
"Beautifully written and deeply contemplative, The Divine Heart is more than just a rich and nuanced meditation on the heart – although it certainly is that. It’s a love song, inviting us into ever-deepening intimacy with the One who is the source of all Love."
— Carl McColman, author of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Eternal Heart.
"Colette Lafia’s new book is intimate, accessible, and consoling. The Divine Heart offers us profound insight and a way to deepen the path of love in our own lives. Its design is the ripened fruit of slow thought and attentive action. A continuing student in the school of her life, Colette has proven a reliable study partner in the school of my own inner experiences. I do not doubt her book will earn your gratitude."
— Jonathan Montaldo, coeditor of Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton and The Intimate Merton: His Life from His Journals
"The Divine Heart offers simple yet profoundly elegant pathways to deepening one’s love relationship with God, and Colette Lafia lays out each step on the path with exquisite promise. Recognizing that we navigate the depths of our spiritual lives directly in the midst of life as it is, Colette brings God to life for those seeking to deepen or establish living with greater humility, reverence, and faith—qualities that can serve us immeasurably in the world and times we are navigating. Readers can trust that each of the seven pathways that are laid out in The Divine Heart lead to the very center of what matters most—love in life and love for life."
— Kristi Nelson, Author of Wake Up Grateful and Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living
Quotes from The Divine Heart
Excerpts & Inspiration for The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God's Love
As we reach the end of May with summer around the corner and celebrations and graduations in the air, I’m finding myself celebrating, too! I’ve had a couple of things that have brought me joy this month, which I’m feeling grateful about. 1. The Divine Heart receives a 2022 Silver Nautilus Award! I’m so delighted and…
In a stance of self-acceptance, pray with the question: How can I let myself fall, finally, freely into Love’s arms? Notice what you are being invited to let go.
At the end of your day, ask yourself, “How did I let God love me today?” (Use whatever language for God opens your heart–the Divine, Spirit, Mystery, Radiance, etc)
Using the gift of imagination, pause for a few moments and feel yourself as a plant absorbing the waters of trust. Sense how deep this trust goes, penetrating the soil of your being.
Engage in “Savoring Prayer.” Rest your hands on your lap, and for a few minutes simply savor the energy of delight within. Slow down and be fully present for a few breath cycles. Breathing in, I am God’s delight. Breathing out, I savor this moment.
Enter the space of enough, and find God waiting there, happy to see you. Practice the mantra, “I am enough. I’ve always been enough.”
Practice “Seeing Prayer.” Simply look more deeply at things. Notice the colors, textures, and shapes of the strawberries at the breakfast table, the roses in the garden, the faces of those around you. Bring depth and delight to your seeing today.
Gently place your hand over your heart, Repeat the mantra: I’m at home in the Divine. As you sink more deeply into yourself, Add the mantra: The Divine is at home in me. Close your eyes and take it all in.
Take a listening walk. Really listen to the sounds that come in and out of awareness— a bird’s song, the whoosh of the wind, your shoes making contact with the pavement. Become receptive to the sounds around you, even ones you usually think of as unpleasant. Can you hear the stirring of the Divine? Practices…
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Colette Lafia’s reflection “Love is Our Anchor.” This past Spring, when wildflowers and poppies were blooming everywhere in Northern California, I felt my heart sing every time I saw a display of…