The Connected Life

The Art and Science of Relational Spirituality

Todd W. Hall

Foreword by Curt Thompson

I dedicate this book to my wife, Liz,
who has selflessly helped me, in countless ways,
to grow toward living a connected life.

Contents

Foreword by Curt Thompson, MD

Introduction: The Power of Loving Connection

Part One: The Connection Crisis

1 The Causes of Our Connection Crisis

2 The Spiritual Effects of Our Connection Crisis

3 Misguided Spirituality

Part Two: Relational Knowledge

4 We Know More Than We Can Say

5 Once More with Feeling

Part Three: Attachment Bonds

6 Born to Connect

7 Becoming Attached

8 How We Connect to God and Others

Part Four: Transformation

9 Born to Love

10 Deep Love

11 Understanding Deep Growth

12 Cultivating Deep Growth

13 Suffering Well

14 Born to Belong

Acknowledgments

Praise for The Connected Life

About the Author

Like this book?

Foreword

Curt Thompson, MD

“THIS NAGGING SENSE OF EMPTINESS.” If ever there were five words that distill our current moment’s travail, here we have them. If we pull back the curtain to reveal what is behind the burden of our souls, be that the violence on the world stage; the traumas that visit us in our families, schools, and churches; or the unspoken torment swirling in the privacy of our own minds; we will see that the stage on which it all performs is indeed this nagging sense of emptiness—emptiness that itself is rooted in the malignancy of our profound disconnection. Disconnection within and between us has reached its own pandemic proportions, and we are in dire straits, desperately in need of wisdom and guidance to find our way.

Thanks be to God, with The Connected Life Todd Hall delivers for us not only a thoughtful, comprehensive understanding of our problem, but also the hope to be found in the biblical narrative as he deftly interweaves it with insights from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and theology. For indeed, disconnection—as well as its repair and healing—is something that Todd knows about in his bones, and from which he has emerged with good news that we very much need to hear.

When I was first introduced to Dr. Hall and his work, I discovered that here was someone whose giftings were not limited to those of a researcher and teacher of the domains of psychology and Christian spirituality. He is no mere distant observer of these fundamental features of what it means to be human; rather, he is an active and direct participant in the hard work of the life of the soul. Without that, he would be unable to offer you the treasure you hold in your hands. As you will see, there is no stretch of the painful journey of which he speaks—from wounding and isolation to the hope and healing of community—that he has not traveled. Beyond the boundless trove of information about the intersecting fields of neuroscience and spiritual development in which you will soon find yourself immersed, you also will be in conversation with someone who clearly loves those for whom he has ...