Healing stories of the author's painful images of God mainly developed through her childhood. Bondi is a professor of church history and steers the reader to many helpful resources she discovered in her readings of the church fathers/mothers that led the way to her discovery of a God of absolute love.

Benner is a Christian psychologist who counsels that surrendering to God, in his extravagant love, enables us to let go of our immobilizing fear and find the liberation to embrace our created humanity. A Personal Growth Finalist in the 2004 Word Guild Canadian Writing Awards.

A gem of a small booklet that examines the many types of fear we let rob us from basking in the unconditional love of God. Bennett has a pastoral psychotherapy practice and much insight into the human condition.

The Linns harness the insight of Erik Erikson's eight-stage theory of the human life-cycle to counsel how to find healing for hurts that occurred at the various stages of one's life. But really the heart of the book is finding healing in the ever-present love of God that can nurture us to wholeness.

This may be a good read for those coming from an evangelical background. Jacobsen wonderfully coaxes the reader to open up to the lavish love of God, while not abandoning his fidelity to many of the traditional tenets of evangelical belief.

Smith writes much in the manner of Manning (above). He exhorts that Christians, who experientially discover the state of their sinful depravity, can find liberating transformation in the ever abundant love and forgiveness of God. I think his discussion of sin needs a bit more nuance but the focus of the book is helpfully upon "the furious love of God" that fully accepts and embraces us as we are.

Many of the church's great mystics are great resources for learning how to live in the effusive love of God. Julian of Norwich is one of my favorites. This is a bit-sized book of devotions from her "Revelations of Divine Love". If this whets your appetite there are many fine translations of the full work.

Zaleski is an expert on NDEs (see her "Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times") and also a Christian. This is an excellent read, along with Berman, to entertain the idea that death may be the final frontier that enables us to more fully encounter and realize the radiant love of God that we comprehended so dimly.

A collection of love poems from various spiritual greats, both East and West. These aren't really translations but more like renderings from Ladinsky. Not everyone's cup of tea but I absolutely love the image of God he presents through these poems.

An Amazon fictional top-seller that does a good job, I believe, in opening up our imagination to the reality of God's ever present, redemptive love amidst even our deepest tragedies. Definitely not on the level of Tolkein, Lewis or L'Engle but I am VERY glad I read it.

A helpful treatment from the Open Theism perspective. An attempt to make love entirely consistent with the whole of biblical thought. This will have it's widest appeal to evangelicals.

Trinitarian theology has blossomed over the last half century. Because relationality and love are at the center and heart of the Godhead, trinitarian thought posits this dynamic of love is the very identity and intent for humanity, even all of creation. Downey's book is an accessible introduction that combines substance with a devotional flair.

The book details Borg's pilgrimage from believing in the God of unilateral power, who exists above and also removed from us (theism) to the God who dwells amidst us, suffering and rejoicing WITH us (panENtheism). The nuance means all the difference in the world and how progressive Christian thought is making LOVE it's central, consistent theme.

Jesus is the icon of God, revealing to us the luminous face of God. Borg's book combines first rate scholarship and lucid writing skill to offer a portrait of Jesus in his first century context that evidences his great love and compassion for humanity.

Essentially the sequel to the work above. Responding to the question: "What could our world look like if we took seriously God's love for all people?" the authors see that true world transformation is only possible based on this dynamic reality in God.