Deepen connections with the people you love. Build relationships with the people you meet. "We can go through each day—or a lifetime—as sleepwalkers while awake, tossing and turning on pillows that are as hard as appointment books, wandering a paved spiritual wilderness from bank window to house of worship to hospital bedside. But if we are fortunate enough to happen upon a vision of the Divine—in a chance chat with a semi-stranger or a lingering conversation with a good friend—we can awaken to the spirituality between people that Martin Buber called I-Thou." —from God in Our Relationships It is possible to infuse every moment of life with meaning—from the routine act to the once-in-a-lifetime situation—and this first-of-its-kind introduction to Martin Buber's I-Thou shows you how. Drawing on Jewish tradition, the science of human behavior, Buber’s ideas and the Hasidic stories that he loved, Rabbi Dennis Ross illuminates a theology of relationships in easy-to-understand, accessible language. You will clearly see how to use the principles of I-Thou to create new answers to critical issues in life, such as: How do I react to others in times of stress? How do I relate to strangers? How can I take full advantage of the time I have to spend with my loved ones? By unlocking the depths in Buber’s concepts for spiritual growth, Ross supplies you with the tools you need to communicate better, love more completely and find the sacred in everyday life.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: Our Daily Encounters Always Unexpected From I-It Experience to I-Thou Encounter Some Differences between I-It and I-Thou Buber's Theology of Relationships I-It: The Cradle of I-Thou I-It and I-Thou in Professional and Helping Relationships I-It: Limited and Seductive I-It Darkens and Hardens Part Two: I-It: A Spirit in Eclipse—Seven Stories Eclipsed by the Race Eclipsed by the Equipment Eclipsed by the Pace Eclipsed by Itself Eclipsed by Possessions Eclipsed by the Past One Voice Lifts Another The Afterglow Part Three: I-Thou: When One Voice Lifts Another Chance Encounter Voices Rise between People Rising Voices Are Transcendent Rising Voices Obscure Time, Space, and Cause Voices Rise Here and Now Rising Voices: Unpredictable, Arriving by Grace, and Unique Rising Voices: A Capella and Accompanied Rising Voices Leave an Afterglow Part Four: I-Thou on the Narrow Ridge Risk Mismeeting, Blurring, Oscillation, and Enrichment The Narrow Ridge Growing into I-Thou Over and Against The New Thinking Imagine the Real Community, Strife, and Holy Insecurity The Last Row Part Five: Eternal Thou: A Leap of Faith Entering the Eternal I-Thou: Delicate and Eternal All Living Is Meeting Eternal Thou Eternal Thou: Jewish Roots The Jewish Mystical Tradition Urgency Becoming the Master Epilogue: At Day’s End Notes Further Reading