My Only Friend Is Darkness

This wise and widely-acclaimed book is written for those "who have advanced far enough in love to God to enter the Night of Faith and feel the need of explanation, guidance and reassurance." Drawing upon Scripture, classic spiritual authors-especially St. John of the Cross-and her own deep personal experience, author Barbara Dent examines the deep puifications we undergo as God cleanses us of sinful inclinations and tansforms us in love. Using poetry and prose, image and parable, she guides us through the sufferings, temptations, upheavals and workings of grace at the deepest levels of our being, as we journey through the darkness of faith to new life in Christ. "This book is concerned with what I learned experientially and fom reading the works of various fellow travellers, especially John of the Cross, during the two periods when the grain of wheat fell into the ground and died. Then my only friend was darkness-the darkness of faith that would not give up affirming what it believed-yet in that darkness wonders of grace happened." Barbara Dent, My Only Friend is Darkness Barbara Dent is a retired English teacher in New Zealand and the mother of three. A Secular Carmelite, she has published numerous aticles and books throughout the English-speaking world, and now spends much of the time in "prayer and study, writing, and giving spiritual and psychological guidance to those who turn to me for it."

This wise and widely acclaimed book is written for those “who have advanced far enough in love of God to enter the night of faith and feel the need of explanation, guidance and reassurance.” Even when we believe—as St. John of the Cross and other mystics teach—that the dark night is ultimately purifying, transforming, and unitive, the experience can be terrifying. It’s not something one can undergo easily, or without a wise guide. This book is Barbara Dent’s intimately personal narrative of the long journey in darkness. It is, if you will, a survival manual for living in the night of faith. For over 30 years, the profound personal insights of New Zealand author Barbara Dent have inspired and helped thousands of readers around the world navigate the unsettling but transforming experience of spiritual darkness. My Only Friend Is Darkness is an indispensable resource for those in the more challenging stages of the journey of faith as well as for their spiritual directors and others aiming to better understand the experience. Now deceased, Dent was a mother of three, an English teacher, and secular Carmelite. She published numerous articles and books throughout the English-speaking world. In retirement she lived as a poustinik or hermit, spending time in prayer, study, writing, and offering spiritual guidance to those who turned to her. Now, in response to requests from many readers, ICS Publications is pleased to bring My Only Friend Is Darkness back as an ICS title in this 30th Anniversary Edition. Readers of its popular sequel, The Marriage of All and Nothing, will now have the opportunity to read this, Dent’s pivotal earlier work, which now joins the sequel in our catalog.

A brave and compassionate look at mental illness that offers theological understanding and personal insights from author's experiences.

‘I’m looking for the words and writing for those who can’t imagine the words.’ Mark Meynell articulates a heart pain that most of us simply couldn’t express. He connects strongly and immediately with fellow cave dwellers. We relive significant moments from boarding school, Uganda, Berlin and London. We visit the Psalms, Job and The Pilgrim's Progress. If you're after neat conclusions and a fair-weather faith, this is not for you. This book serves up gritty reality and raw honesty, but also the heartfelt hope that the author's brokenness 'can somehow contribute to another person's integration' and 'inspire their clinging while beset by darkness or fog or blizzards'. Contents 1 The mask 2 The volcano 3 The cave 4 The weight 5 The invisibility cloak 6 The closing 7 The way 8 The fellow-traveller 9 The gift Appendix 1 Managing the symptoms Appendix 2 Unexpected friends in the cave Appendix 3 Some words from inside the cave

This wise and widely acclaimed book is written for those “who have advanced far enough in love of God to enter the night of faith and feel the need of explanation, guidance and reassurance.” Even when we believe—as St. John of the Cross and other mystics teach—that the dark night is ultimately purifying, transforming, and unitive, the experience can be terrifying. It’s not something one can undergo easily, or without a wise guide. This book is Barbara Dent’s intimately personal narrative of the long journey in darkness. It is, if you will, a survival manual for living in the night of faith. For over 30 years, the profound personal insights of New Zealand author Barbara Dent have inspired and helped thousands of readers around the world navigate the unsettling but transforming experience of spiritual darkness. My Only Friend Is Darkness is an indispensable resource for those in the more challenging stages of the journey of faith as well as for their spiritual directors and others aiming to better understand the experience. Now deceased, Dent was a mother of three, an English teacher, and secular Carmelite. She published numerous articles and books throughout the English-speaking world. In retirement she lived as a poustinik or hermit, spending time in prayer, study, writing, and offering spiritual guidance to those who turned to her. Now, in response to requests from many readers, ICS Publications is pleased to bring My Only Friend Is Darkness back as an ICS title in this 30th Anniversary Edition. Readers of its popular sequel, The Marriage of All and Nothing, will now have the opportunity to read this, Dent’s pivotal earlier work, which now joins the sequel in our catalog.

The author of A Killing Frost continues his bestselling series. “Marsden’s style is as surefooted as his independent band of teens.”—School Library Journal Ellie and her friends had been rescued. Airlifted out of their own country to the safe haven of New Zealand, they’d arrived burnt and injured and shocked, with broken bones, and scars inside and out. They did not want to go back. But five months later the war is not over, the nightmares continue, and there are two compelling reasons for them to return: a planned sabotage of the air base in Wirrawee and, most important, the families they left behind. In this episode of the tale begun in Tomorrow, When the War Began and continued in The Dead of Night and A Killing Frost, John Marsden takes us back to Hell, the outpost for a group of teens in a war-ravaged country. “Ellie is a solid narrator whose no-nonsense approach to love, war, and friendship makes her an unusual and impressive female protagonist. A personalized war novel that is apocalyptic yet open-ended enough for another sequel, Darkness benefits from not being limited to fitting into any one genre, but satisfactorily including aspects of several.”—Booklist “Contains as much riveting suspense and cliffhanger chapter endings as the first three.”—The Horn Book

The "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Beautiful Lies" delivers a thriller about broken trust that explores our faith in those we rely on--and how that faith can sustain or shatter us.

"I am the descendant of drinkers and drifters better at passing on their love for the bottle than family history..." Prepare yourself for an unvarnished, harrowing look at one Christian's life. A powerful memoir of knowing and being known by God through the pain of loss, tragedy, and brokenness—Even in Our Darkness explores what it means to fend off doubt and despair, even in the most painful trials. Jack Deere tells the true story of his life growing up near Fort Worth, Texas in the 1950's and the disintegration of his family following his father's suicide. Despite his difficult childhood and an inclination toward the depression that had crushed his parents, Deere describes how he began to wrestle with Christianity and how "God was...slipping in through the crack of an open wound." In his mid-twenties, Jack rose to fame and success as a leading scholar, popular speaker, and bestselling author. But despite being rescued and exalted, Jack was devastated in the years that followed, losing his troubled son to suicide and his wife to alcoholism. Only then did he fully face his own addictions, surrender control, and experience true healing. An authentic story of the Christian life, Even in Our Darkness is like following an experienced guide through a barren country. Like many believers, Deere has had experiences that nearly destroyed him, and he was shown, by grace, how to overcome life's disappointments and learn to hear God speak in unbelievable ways, despite the darkness that surrounds us. "Unmasked, unsettling, and unforgettable . . . this will change the landscape of your soul." —Ann Voskamp, bestselling author of The Broken Way and One Thousand Gifts.