Experiencing God

Jon M. Sweeney is an award-winning author and independent scholar who has been interviewed by the Dallas Morning News and The Irish Catholic, on radio with NPR and the BBC, and on television for CBS Saturday Morning, as well as NBC’s “Morning Blend” and CBS Sunday Morning—both in Milwaukee.

Jon’s books on Franciscan spirituality have sold a quarter million copies. Sweeney is also the author of thirty other books on spirituality, mysticism, biography, and memoir including Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart, coauthored with Mark S. Burrows, Thomas Merton: An Introduction to His Life and Practices; and Sit in the Sun: And Other Lessons in the Wisdom of Cats. His medieval history, The Pope Who Quit, was optioned by HBO.

Today Jon works in book publishing as an editor of spiritual books; editor of Living City magazine; and book review editor at SpiritualityandPractice.com. He speaks at literary and religious conferences, and teaches frequently online. He’s a Roman Catholic married to a rabbi; their interfaith marriage has been profiled in national media. He lives with his wife and daughter on Milwaukee’s East Side.

“Experience of God is what people need, want, and find in these examples from the life of one of my favorite saints. I love how Jon starts with ‘Freeing captive creatures’ and finishes with ‘Receiving motherly love,’ always with close attention to the sources.” —James Martin, SJ, author of Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle, new in paperback with a foreword by Pope Francis

“Experiencing God is an uplifting and deeply grounding invitation to encounter the Divine as Saint Francis did—through the simple, embodied, and radical acts of everyday life. Francis teaches us that the everyday, incarnate world matters, that the sacred is found in birdsong, in surrendering worldly power and comforts, and in loving those cast aside. With warmth and insight, Sweeney helps us feel close to St. Francis and shows how Francis' way of living—joyfully unattached yet profoundly rooted—offers us an antidote to the anxiety of our times. This book is a gift to all who long to experience God not in some distant heaven, but here, in the fullness of today.” —Kaira Jewel Lingo, Buddhist teacher, author of We Were Made for These Times; co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation

“I can give you one hundred reasons to read Experiencing God: 36 Ways according to Saint Francis of Assisi. The wisdom shared transcends centuries and is a roadmap for living today. From living in the present, praying alone in the woods, singing and dancing, overcoming fear, and turning emotions into actions, this holy masterpiece is one of Jon Sweeney’s best. It has given me a friend in Saint Francis for a lifetime. A divine encounter.” —Karen Kiefer, Director, The Church in the 21st Century Center, Boston College

For the author’s previous books:

“Beautifully written and expertly researched, this is a truly superb short introduction to the life of one of the great spiritual masters of our time—of any time.” —James Martin, SJ, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

“Sweeney succeeds…! Without such honest scholarship as we have here, I am afraid we will continue to drive people away from the beauty, hope, and mysticism of the Judeo-Christian revelation.”—Richard Rohr, New York Times bestselling author of The Universal Christ

“There is revelation in this book. I sincerely feel it will help one know more of God’s knowledge and love.”—Daniel Ladinsky, author of A Year with Hafiz, etc.

“Jon Sweeney is good at many things, but he is a master at retrieving the treasure of the Christian past and restoring it to currency for the Christian present. Francis of Assisi, a saint for every age, springs to life under Sweeney’s attentive care.”—Barbara Brown Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World