Full name: The Other Side of Silence: A Guide to Christian Meditation

Author: Morton T. Kelsey Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Amazon Goodreads ISBNs: 9780809119561 0809119560

Morton Kelsey made some very interesting points in this book: taking spirituality from a Jungian perspective and making a case for attentiveness to the ways in which God permeates the different levels of consciousness. Previously much of what I read made a case for a hierarchical view of prayer, with contemplative prayer, being the pinnacle, the prayer of mystics. Kelsey asserts that the use of visualization and dream analysis can be of equal value, and that prayer styles shouldn't be viewed in terms of worth at all. To me he made a very convincing case and opened up a whole other world of prayer. Chapter 17, where he gives examples of different styles of prayer--prayer through poetry, dream analysis, storytelling--is especially fascinating. I only have two criticisms. The first is that it is rather slow moving and dry in places. It is worth it to stick it out however. At the very least, get the book and read Chapter 17. The second is that to me Kelsey sometimes overstates the darker side of the psyche. He frequently intimates that all people have some sort of inner demons and are in need of cathartic experiences. If you haven't faced your inner demons then you're repressing something. He also has several beware-of-the-dark-side-of-meditation warnings in the book. Certainly, he's right to acknowledge there is a darker side of the human psyche, but to me he overstated it. I think over all this has been a very valuable book in terms of the effects it will have on my prayer life, but stylistically it could have been better.