Ocean of Light
This book speaks both to those who are beginning to explore the contemplative path and those who are well versed in contemplative practices. Laird reflects on the Christian tradition as a means of support, encouragement, and guidance through the contemplative life.
Laird draws from a wide and diverse range of writers – from St Augustine, Evagrius Ponticus, and St Teresa of Avila, to David Foster Wallace, Flannery O'Connor,Virginia Woolf, and Franz Wright- to ground his insight in an ancient practice and give it a voice in contemporary language. With his characteristic lyricism and gentleness, he guides readers through new challenges of contemplative life, such as making ourselves the focus of our own contemplative project; dealing with old pain; transforming the isolation of loneliness and depression into a liberating solidarity with all who suffer; and the danger of using a spiritual practice as a strategy to acquire and control.
Martin Laird is Professor of Early Christian Studies at Villanova University and has written several books on early Christian thought and Christian contemplative life.
Title: An Ocean of Light
Author: Martin Laird
ISBN: 9780199379941
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 2019