God in the Dark

Contemporary Christianity is afflicted with two problems: First, spiritual life is often bland and lukewarm. Distracted and fragmented by daily lives, and malnourished on conventional piety, Christians feel out of touch with the God described in the Bible as a 'consuming fire.' Second, Christians don't know how to make sense of suffering, especially the pain of spiritual darkness and aridity. The answer to both of these problems is passion. In God in the Dark, Susan Pitchford explores the two faces of passion: desire, the mutual attraction between the soul and God; and suffering, especially people's confusion and grief when they find themselves in dark places. Times of darkness are often misinterpreted, being assumed to imply failure and God's abandonment. Pitchford suggests that darkness is not a place of abandonment but a place of intimacy and a special call to a deeper relationship with the God who desires His Children. Once this is understood, the dark will not be feared, and when the night closes in, it can be experienced as an embrace.