Reviews

The Presence of Absence by Doris Grumbach

pattydsf's review against another edition

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4.0

As someone who gets a lot out of corporate worship, it was fascinating to hear Grumbach's concerns about worshiping in community. I am at the very beginnings of my private prayer life and I am learning all the time. This book was a real blessing and I expect to read it again.

rtq66's review against another edition

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3.0

Less a guide to the spiritual life in terms of how to, Doris Grumbach offers a raw, honest account of the life of prayer and the experience of absence without any resolution other than persistence on the journey.

ajlewis2's review

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I can recommend this book to one who is going through a process of seeking more of an experience with God. By that, I mean a felt experience, especially if they have had a profound past experience that has left them wanting to repeat the experience or find more. This book does not give answers, but is a slow-moving set of notes telling part of the author's seeking and struggling. A big part of her question is whether her seeking needs to be a solitary journey or one in a community such as a church. Much of what she writes is during a time when she is also in a lot of non-ending physical pain. I often saw where I had been in her shoes and there is something beneficial about reading how another person walked through it, and it would seem continues to walk it as do I.

pattydsf's review

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4.0

As someone who gets a lot out of corporate worship, it was fascinating to hear Grumbach's concerns about worshiping in community. I am at the very beginnings of my private prayer life and I am learning all the time. This book was a real blessing and I expect to read it again.
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