Life is joyful, beautiful and a rich blessing, but also difficult, painful and mysterious. This profound and practical book looks at how we can draw on the Christian spiritual tradition to explore the part suffering plays within human growth and our experience of God. With Julian of Norwich we gaze at the servant Christ falling down into the depths of our difficulty. We learn to see in the dark with John of the Cross. We meet the poets George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins who, like Jacob, wrestled with God. With the medieval poet Hadewijch we mark the rhythm of seasons and life changes. Through the philosopher and spiritual seeker, Simone Weil, we recall love known in meeting and separation. We walk through a trackless wasteland with pilgrims across time and glimpse a hidden Promised Land.

Through these and other windows we find ourselves encouraged not to cling to suffering, nor to flee from its threat, but to discover within it the work of a resourceful, creative and compassionate God. As a resource for those engaged in spiritual direction and pastoral care, and as a companion for those seeking meaning and direction amidst difficulty, Seeing in the Dark is a hopeful book, given for when hope is most needed. Christopher Chapman is Spiritual Formation Adviser for the Anglican Diocese of Southwark and helps to train lay pastoral workers. He served as a Roman Catholic priest for nine years and is an experienced retreat leader and spiritual director, having trained at St Beuno's and Heythrop College, London. Book jacket.