The Presence of Absence: On Prayers and an Epiphany

Named a "Reader's Choice" for 1998 by When she was twenty-seven, Doris Grumbach was visited by what she recognized as the presence of God. For a woman with no religious education or faith, the event was as unexpected as it was joyful. It was also never repeated. In , Grumbach recollects her quest to recover the sense of God's presence through formal worship, private devotion, and the study of literary accounts of epiphany. Her account is a moving and inspiring journey through "spiritual radiance," faith, and love.