Recognizing God’s Many Voices with Liz Ditty

Last updated on: August 21, 2018 at 6:42 am by Cara Meredith

Recognizing God’s Many Voices with Liz Ditty 2018-08-20T10:29:41-07:00 Cara Meredith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When a friend launches their book into the world, I can’t help but cheer them on by pointing YOU to their writing. Liz Ditty is one such friend: she and I met when we were both just dipping our toes into the writing water. We wondered if our words mattered and whether we even had books in us (turns out, we did). Well, Liz’s book baby, God’s Many Voices, releases today and I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. Check out this interview with her and leave a comment to win a copy of the book!

—

Tell us a bit about yourself, will you? I’m a Spiritual Director and an author and speaker, I also serve on the teaching team at my local church. I love telling the stories of God as much as I love listening to people’s God-stories. I’m a survivor of fundamentalism who believes that doubt and mystery are their own special kind of grace. I’m also a very normal person who has lost the Hamilton ticket lottery too many times to count and loves a good latte.

Let’s talk about your book: what, in a nutshell, is your book about anyway? God’s Many Voices is about learning to listen and to recognize the voice of God and then expecting to encounter Him around every corner in our daily lives.

Do tell, what was the inspiration behind it? In my work as a Spiritual Director and brief stint as a volunteer jail chaplain, I listened to people at every stage of faith who were really wanting to hear God’s voice, but didn’t think He spoke to them. People love to tell big miraculous stories about God’s voice that are so amazing but no one else can relate to them. Every time someone says “God told me…” someone else wonders why God never told them anything.

I wanted to write a really approachable book that people could actually relate to, about the ways God speaks in our everyday lives and how we can pay attention so we don’t miss what He’s already saying. God says in the Bible that we have His Spirit with us, alive and at work, so the question isn’t “Why doesn’t God speak to me?” it’s actually “What is God saying?” and this book is a friend to explore that very real question with.

How do you hope readers will be changed by your words? The cover of the book is covered in a starry sky because of an incredible secret the stars have. Did you know that scientists think that the stars may be making music that we can’t hear through the vacuum of space? Now that they are expecting to hear something, they are developing tools to try to listen.

I hope that everyone who interacts with this book will grasp on to an expectation, that they are loved by a good God who wants to be with them in all the messiness of real life. That they will listen and wonder and question and explore all of it with the community around them. I know God has words and grace for each of us, and I hope we can all help each other notice them.

Lest we forget to ask, how have YOU been changed by writing the book? Stewarding the sacred stories of people I knew and telling my own story, my past my present and my in-between…without tying bows or leaving out bad parts was a radical act of honesty. I had to name things and forgive people and be honest with myself in ways I did not anticipate.

From the beginning, I had serious imposter syndrome and kept waiting for the email from my publisher to tell me “hold on a minute, we finally realized you’re an unqualified fraud.” But it never came, and the worrying that I couldn’t be perfect finally gave way to the realization that real is better than perfect. In telling my stories I discovered this ridiculous permission to be myself that I hope I can hold on to (but I’m sure I’ll have to learn again).

How and where can we find you on the internet? I’m easy to connect with at www.LizDitty.com and my book can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com, or Target.com.

—

I know …isn’t she fantastic? Leave a comment telling Liz why you’d like to win a copy of her book, God’s Many Voices. You can also visit my Instagram account on Thursday for more chances to win. Winner will be drawn Friday. Good luck!

*Post contains Amazon Affiliate links

Previous Post

August 17, 2018

Basking in Surreal Moments

Next Post

August 24, 2018 A Tale of Mismatched Earrings and Merciful Kindness

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2026 June 2026 December 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 September 2023 June 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 November 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz