Experiencing God in a Time of Crisis.

Thomas, James R.

Experiencing God in a Time of Crisis. By Sarah Bachelard. Miami: Convivium Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-9349-9632-4. 113 pages. Paper. $11.91.

Recalling the damage done on Christmas Day 2004 when an earthquake--measured on the Richter scale at a magnitude of 9.0-struck offshore of Banda Aceh, at the northern end of Sumatra, David Bentley Hart wrote:

   Considering the scope of the catastrophe,
   and of the agonies and sorrows
   it had visited on so many, we should
   probably have all remained silent for a
   while. The claim to discern some greater
   meaning--or, for that matter, meaninglessness--behind
   the contingencies
   of history and nature is both cruel and
   presumptuous at such times. Pious
   platitude and words of comfort seem
   not only futile and banal, but almost
   blasphemous; metaphysical disputes
   come perilously close to mocking the
   dead. There are moments, simply said,
   when we probably ought not to speak. (1)

Sarah Bachelard attempts to address such critical times in our lives. Times, conceivably, where there are experiential horrors too immense to be reconciled with belief in a loving and omnipotent God. Times, perhaps, when we remain silent. How can we use silence? Sarah Bachelard asks how it is possible, through the practice of meditation, to integrate the distinctive suffering of crisis in such a way that it leads us into a deeper wholeness and truth. She suggests that the practice of meditation and contemplative living may help us endure and integrate such turning point experiences, and bring our life and identity into a deeper wholeness.

This small volume, measuring 4.5 inches wide by 6 inches tall is part of the Meditatio Series, books on contemporary spirituality which seek to help us enter the world of meditation and a greater closeness with God.

James R. Thomas

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

(1.) David Bentley Hart. The Doors of the Sea; Where Was God in the Tsunami? (Grand Rapids: Erdmann's, 2005), 5-6.