Sacred Chaos: Reflections on God's Shadow and the Dark Self

ISBN: 0919123651

Author: O'Kane, Francoise

Condition: New

God's shadow, or the dark Self, provokes unspeakable suffering in individuals whose life it touches. It is connected to death, destruction and madness. But, paradoxically, it is also indispensable to life. Can we accept that God has a shadow, that He docs not simply love us? Or that love and hate arc indissoluble components of our relationship to the divine? What attitude must we adopt in order to find meaning, knowing we are lost in a cosmos ruled by both loving and destructive powers? The reader is invited to follow the path with heart to the Garden of Gethsemane. Here the question of God's apparently destructive intentions is given an unexpected answer. The truly unfathomable suffering of the individual who, like Christ at Gethsemane, despairs in God's shadow finds an answer in the psyche itself. Enduring a dark night of the soul in which time stands still helps one discover a peace that provides containment and guidance. At a time when our highest values and abilities are turning against us, when we are destroying our own vital environment, and when "just" wars are being fought under the banner of Go(o)d, the message of this book is a beacon of hope.

• Sacred Chaos: Reflections on God's Shadow and the Dark Self