You may be interested in why I have written this book. To answer the question I would have to point out that I was goaded to it by a number of factors.

First, our minds are ever questing. Or, at least, mine is. From the time we are born we are fated to explore the question of meaning. Who am I? What is it all about? We continually rework our answers, realizing, with each envisioning, that we are further from a total explanation than ever we imagined we would be. There are times, however, when we reach a stage of consolidation. Life gifts our scavenging minds with an abundance of insights and this imposes on us the task of re-ordering the total panorama before we move on. This book represents such a juncture. It is a stocktake.

You will discover residue from a number of stimuli in the text.

Some of these influences were intellectual. Several years ago I was fascinated by reading Larry Dossey's, Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search. The book fired my imagination and caused me to become more intentional about exploring the connection between Theology and the New Physics. During this same period I was mining the riches of Mystical Theology, preserved in the Catholic heritage, and increasing my acquaintance with Eastern religions and their contemplative traditions. I also discovered Karl Rahner. Where others were off-put by his style, I felt a deep affinity with him. I suspect that this is because his approach is intuitive. I have also devoured the writings of Carl Jung, whose Analytical Psychology strikes a responsive chord, and Ken Wilber, the doyen of Transpersonal Psychology. While Jung and Wilber are uneasy bedfellows, Wilber being critical of Jung at various points, I have benefited from the seminal insights of both. Where Jung's writing style, because it is intuitive and meanders along, lacks the clipped efficiency we have come to expect of textbooks, Wilber, whose reach is massively comprehensive, expresses himself clearly and succinctly, even when dealing with the unutterable and inexpressible. Jung nurtures my inner quest. Wilber fires my mind and underscores the importance of considering maturational dimensions fostered by contemplative experience.

However, while these intellectual influences were significant, they were not the most important determinants of my journey. What most influenced the restructuring of my world view were two factors that were more experiential than intellectual. Both were a consequence of the failure of my first marriage. The first was a confrontation with that part of me that I had kept hidden. I began and continued a journey into my depths, into what some would call my unconscious. This brought me into touch with my feelings, my feminine side and my shadow, the dark twin of the persona I had presented to the world. The second consequence was that I became re-acquainted with my body. Appropriate therapies and meditative practices facilitated the introduction and nurtured the relationship.

It was impossible for my theology not to take account of these factors.

This exercise is tentative. It cannot help but be otherwise. Reality constantly defeats our attempts at definition. A range of maps are helpful. This is little more than a sketch map that I have found helpful.

The book is definitely not a theological treatise. I have not researched the theologians. My interest is more prosaic. Were it not for the fact that it would sound presumptuous, I would have sub-titled the book, "A Phenomenology of Grace" or "A Spirituality of Grace". I will leave it to others, far more competent than I, to weigh the implicit theological merits of the approach. What I have written is what my blood has spoken to me. I am coming gradually to the conclusion that wisdom, as distinct from knowledge, is not to be discovered by imbibing facts and theories from books, but rather by being introduced to oneself, and, through oneself, to others, the world and God. Concentration on book learning can inhibit the discovery of wisdom. I am not claiming to be wise. I am merely indicating that I have begun tacking in a different direction.

The book is a gift, offered to the reader with a prayer that it will encourage an increasing surrender to the God of Grace, whose presence, experienced as an affective and strong love, brings healing, births compassion and fosters commitment to the work of God in the world.

I do not expect that you will agree with me at all points, or necessarily with the majority of statements that I make. However, I hope that what I have written will cause you to rethink your world view, your philosophy, your theological perspective. If I achieve this aim, I will be satisfied.

I have enjoyed the assistance of my wife, Eileen, in the preparation of this manuscript. She went the second mile, having assisted with the companion volume, Spirituality for Ministry: An Exploration, published earlier this year. [v]

Graeme Chapman
February 1998

[FOB v]