The Seasons of a Restless Heart:
Spiritual Guidance for Living in Transition

Most people dread transitions. Those times in life when everything seems upside down, when we’re not sure what's next or what we're supposed to be doing are more often than not uninvited guests in our lives. Divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, a serious medical diagnosis and other major transitions are events to be avoided, and when that's not possible, events to be endured. Even changes undertaken consciously-a new job, a move, the birth of the first child-tend to strain the physical, emotional, and spiritual limits. Other writers have explored the psychological aspects of living in the midst of transition, but few have asked where is God in all this upheaval.

In The Seasons of a Restless Heart popular writer and retreat leader Debra Farrington explores transitions from a spiritual perspective. Without denying the difficulty of change and the resulting chaos, Farrington invites readers to look for God’s invitations in the midst of change. Basing her analysis on the stories on the Israelites’ search for God’s promised land in Exodus and Numbers, Farrington helps readers explore God’s actions thousands of years ago, and how God continues to invite us toward the Promised Land today.

Farrington’s interest in the subject is far from academic. In the past few years she has moved across the country to take a new job, lost loved ones, and been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Using her own stories, along with other stories from contemporary life, classical and modern literature, and from the Bible, Farrington explores what we need to do to care for ourselves in the midst of change. She also provides simple spiritual practices, such as reading, journaling, meditation, and prayer, as resources for anyone struggling through or contemplating a major life change. Written without jargon, this book serves as a gentle and encouraging companion to those on a desert journey who aren't yet sure where they’re going or who God calls them to be.

Reviews

It is no insult to Farrington to say that her unpretentious but frequently insightful and creative guide is a self-help book, in the best sense of that term, for the soul of readers navigating significant life changes. An Episcopal publisher and author of six other books, Farrington uses the Old Testament narrative of the Exodus and the ancient Israelites’ “desert years” to thread her essays on the various stages of transition, from encouraging those in transition to “make a space for God on the journey” instead of building idolatrous golden calves, to entering “Canaan,” or the new home to which God has brought us. Divided into chapters with comfortably colloquial titles like “Eat, Sleep, Bend and Stretch,” the book has an engaging mix of practical advice on self-care and spiritual counsel on making the most of even painful transitions. Farrington’s own recent diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and other changes in her life provide the subtext for some of her meditations, reassuring readers that she knows her subject personally and well. Interlaced with suggestions for spiritual practices and prayers, Farrington’s work should appeal to Christian readers seeking a context in which to build bridges between their own experiences and those of other believers in a time that can be both exhilarating and scary. —Publishers Weekly, April 8, 2005

“In this work, Debra Farrington has done a beautiful job of Christian interpretation by building a bridge between the ancient stories of the Exodus and our contemporary experiences of transition. She shares most eloquently what she has learned from others, and more importantly, what she has experienced personally. Her words will both enlighten and inspire.”
—John R. Claypool, Episcopal priest and author of The Hopeful Heart

“Debra Farrington has always been a deeply practical, realistic, and honest writer whose work is companionable and full of stories. In The Seasons of a Restless Heart she is all these things and much, much more. In ‘the times between ending and beginning,’ Farrington finds the poetry as well as the agony of change; and in the act of reporting on them, she allays our fears and charms our spirits back to faith, hope, and—yes—to charity. This is the handbook of choice for every life in transit.” —Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours

“The reflections, suggestions, scriptural insight and practical ways to wrestle with changes and challenges in our lives is unusual reading. It is realistic, yet relaxing; quietly reflective yet renewing for personal transitions.”
—Booknotes, a publication of Education Liturgy Resources

“Transitions are those pesky wrinkles in life’s fabric. An illness is diagnosed, a loved one dies, a job is lost, the moving van arrives, and children leave for the college dorm. No matter the terrain of transition, it is a season when one must learn to listen to the restless heart rather than stifle it. With compassion and clarity, Debra Farrington identifies the bewilderment that marks this uncertain territory. She does so with piercing honesty, offering no pat answers or sentimental solutions….This is inspiring, yet practical, material.”
—Presence, the journal of Spiritual Directors International

“The Seasons of a Restless Heart…offers practical and realistic advice for the unsettling times that transitions can produce. Noting that many people would rather ignore or rush past the initial shock of change and move directly into the new stage, Farrington urges us to embrace the in-between time of the transition journey….[She] looks to the ancient stories of the Exodus and compares her own experiences of transition to the experiences of the Israelites. Together the lessons learned by the Israelites and Farrington are offered to us as we learn to celebrate what was, to live meaningfully through the uncertainties of the present, and to move into a healthy and whole future.”
—Interchange, a publication of the Women of the ELCA