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When you dig a bit below the surface, you are likely to discover that many of us who attend church regularly feel we have lost touch with a living experience of God. Indeed, we may find we no longer believe in God at all.
The reasons why faith breaks down are multi-layered and complex, and this sympathetic volume has been written for those who aren't satisfied with pious answers to real questions and disappointments. John Pritchard draws deeply on his own experience of dark times in order to shed light on what we may be going through ourselves. He then offers starting points from which we might rediscover and re-imagine a more realistic faith in the God who, despite appearances, is ever present with us, whether apprehended or not.
'During those times when God is lost from my life, I want a friend who is honest, sympathetic, insightful and engaging. John Pritchard in this book is that kind of friend, encouraging me with creativity, fun and gentleness to find God.'
David Wilkinson, Principal, St John's College, Durham University
'This is an unusually honest book. Its analysis is plain-spoken and compassionate, and what Bishop John has to say about finding ways to live constructively with times of emptiness is superbly well focused. You'll emerge from reading this with - probably - relief that a widespread set of challenges has been so sensitively identified and - certainly - with gratitude for sensible, durable advice on how to go on making friends with the mystery we can never digest or contain.'
Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge
'What a courageous book! In his inimitable, engaging style, John Pritchard exposes the doubts, anxieties and spiritual dryness which can afflict even faithful believers. He shows us the darkest reality of being unable to find God. But he does not leave us there. His many stories and insights lift us gently to look again, experience afresh and be open to "new beginnings". The result is a deeply compassionate book - full of hope and full of God.'
Elaine Storkey, author of Scars Across Humanity
About the author
The Rt Revd John Pritchard was the Bishop of Oxford. He has written many well-received books, including How to Pray, The Intercessions Handbook and The Life and Work of a Priest, all published by SPCK.
Summary
A lifeline for people who have lost touch with a living experience of God or find themselves no longer believing in God at all. The reasons why faith breaks down are multi-layered and complex, and they deserve to be named and understood. There is much that can then be explored in order to put a reconstructed faith on a surer footing.
