A Cry of Absence: Reflections for the Winter of the Heart

by Martin E. Marty

Beginning with the Psalms and adding the distilled wisdom of years of study and writing, Martin Marty offers a meditation marked by insight, strength, and a sure, sober faith. Throughout A Cry of Absence, he pursues the metaphor of the "winter of the heart." Marty bases his concept of the wintry way to God on a passage from the theologian Karl Rahner, describing a "wintry sort of spirituality." It refers to movement toward faith that grapples with pain, uncertainty, evil, loss, and the mystery of death to discover "hope on the winter-fallow landscape."

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Martin E. Marty was an American religious scholar and historian known for his extensive work on religion in the United States. A Lutheran pastor before transitioning into academia, he became a leading voice in religious studies, particularly in the areas of American Protestantism, fundamentalism, and public religion. He was a longtime professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he mentored numerous doctoral students and held the prestigious Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professorship.
Marty wrote or edited a book for nearly every year of his academic career, producing influential works such as Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America, which won the National Book Award, and the five-volume Fundamentalism Project, co-edited with R. Scott Appleby. He was a prolific columnist for The Christian Century and wrote extensively on religion's role in American public life.
A recipient of numerous honors, including the National Humanities Medal and over 80 honorary doctorates, Marty also served as president of several academic societies and participated in U.S. presidential commissions. The Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago was named in his honor.

Reviews

[Andrew]

Although insightful, this book is incredibly dry.

[Penny Fleckenstein]

What an awesome dad , it’s very moving.

[Milt]

whereby God is psalmed off on humankind. Psalmists rue, rail, pray, and praise. Bless and are blessed.

[Faraan]

"Even the cry from the depths is an affirmation: Why cry if there is no hint or hope of hearing?"

This book, for me, is an outburst from the heart; it is a simple gaze rapidly upwards to Heaven; it is a cry of being grateful for affection amid the trials as amid the joys!

[Bob]

A book that deals honestly with wintry spirituality -- when nothing seems to be going well and we are down and depressed.