Wrestling with the absence of God...

For the next few weeks I will be speaking and teaching about what the experience of God's "absence" might mean for us as people of faith. I am drawn, of course, to Peter Rollins' insights about the gap between empirical knowledge and our encounter with the divine. He makes it clear (to me) that while we can't prove the reality of a healing and loving God, he is deeply drawn towards the heart of God.

(When) ‘belief’ takes on the idea of a wholehearted commitment and ‘God’ becomes connected with the idea of generosity, love and grace... (when) the ideas that God should be described as love and that belief in God is intimately connected to how we treat our neighbor... (then there is a new relationship) but these are, of course, deeply heretical and one must be wary of even suggesting them. They are incendiary ideas that are unlikely to find a home in any institution where Christian belief is disfigured into gnosticism (where belief is about accepting certain knowledge claims). So the question remains… as a Christian, do I believe in God? Well, while I am drawn to the idea that there is a Supreme Being I must confess that I don’t believe in God, at least most of the time. But if you ask me whether I aspire to believing in God then, with all of my being I say yes, yes and again yes…
(http://peterrollins.net/blog/)

I have also been influenced by Moltmann's "crucified God," the writings of John Douglas Hall, Thomas More as well as the insights of poet Scott Cairns where he considers the role of being shocked or awakened by anguish to a new awareness. Here is one part of my on-going reflection...

credit: www.michelkeck.com/Contemporary_Cross_Art_Modern_Giclee_Print_p/ca81705-48x24giclee.htm