BOOK REFLECTIONS
Spiritual Presence
The
truth is that every sheet of blank paper by its very emptiness
affirms that nothing is as beautiful as what does not exist. . .
. This presence of absence both spurs on and, at the same time,
paralyzes the pen’s commitment. There is in all beauty an
absolute that forbids touching it . . .
~ Paul Valery
In the general introduction to his four-volume series on The
Presence of God: The Foundations of Western Christian Mysticism
Bernard McGinn explains that “Christian mystics over the centuries
have never been able to convey their message solely through the
positive (italics added) language of presence.” (p. xviii)
Mystics such as Teresa of Avila speak fervently and eloquently about
their quest to attain a special consciousness of the divine
presence. But, as McGinn points us, the pursuit and experience of
presence tells only half of the story: in fact, mystical language of
necessity employs a paradoxical dual strategy of presence and
absence. “Positive” or cataphatic mystics such as Origen and
Bernard of Clairvaux present the alternating rhythms of presence and
absence in terms of the comings and goings of the Divine Lover, as
in the “Song of Songs.” “Negative” or apophatic mystics have tended
to emphasize the “no-thingness” of God; that is that our
consciousness of Divine Presence proceeds by way of negation. God
is not an object, not just one more thing apprehended by focal
consciousness. Indeed, we must empty our mind (consciousness) of
concepts, images and words. Simone Weil conjectured that if
“contact with human creatures is given us through the sense of
presence . . . contact with God is given us through absence.”
McGinn also calls upon the particularly powerful negative language
of The Cloud of Unknowing:
Leave aside this everywhere and this everything,
in exchange for this nowhere and this nothing. . . . A person’s
affection is remarkably changed in the spiritual experience of this
nothing when it is achieved nowhere. . . .
McGinn correctly points out that the modern
consciousness of God is of an absent God, though for the religious
person absence does not suggest forgetfulness of the Deity. Two
contemporary works of spirituality have dealt sensitively with the
experience of absence in modern times. Martin Marty’s A Cry of
Absence speaks for those whose experience has primarily been
negative, believers who long for God’s presence yet are often left
in want, deprived of the spiritual consolations they have
been led to believe should be theirs. Doris Grumbach’s memoir
The Presence of Absence is an eloquent case in point. After
experiencing a transformative religious epiphany, she finds herself
thrown back to a place of utter absence and desolation. The
condition of loss and absence becomes a school of formation for her:
Leave aside this everywhere and this everything,
in exchange for this nowhere and this nothing. . . . A person’s
affection is remarkably changed in the spiritual experience of this
nothing when it is achieved nowhere. . . .
The “practice of presence” takes many forms
and is practiced with different ends in view from spiritual
tradition to spiritual tradition and even within a given tradition
itself. The “object” can be a deepening and enhancing of personal
presence—a greater ability to “be” in the moment; it can foster
attentiveness to others, as in social presence for service and
ministry, or greater formative presence as a parent, teacher,
preacher or counselor; or the practice can take the form of a
discipline and discipleship that opens our spirit to gain contact
with the ever-present Divine Presence. The following titles
represent time-tested approaches to the practice of presence:
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the
Resurrection; The Sacrament of the Present Moment by
Jean-Pierre de Caussade (available in several translations);
Practicing the Presence: the Inspirational Guide to Regaining
Meaning and a Sense of Purpose in Your Life by Joel S.
Goldsmith; Our Appointment with Life: The Buddha’s Teaching on
Living in the Present by Thich Nhat Hanh; What Is
Meditation? By Osho; The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey
through Anguish to Freedom by Henri J. M. Nouwen (a dialogue
with depression opening up to the spiritual horizon of God’s loving
presence); Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation
in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
