Perhaps I’ve prayed sincerely and wholeheartedly for what I think is the experience of God, but God simply refuses to appear. Or worse, after having seemed to be present, God now goes into hiding.

Neoplatonic Christianity described two routes to God: the via positiva and the via negativa. Philosophers on the via positiva assert that God is omnipotent, omniscient, etc; that God possesses all positive attributes. I found the via negativa more congenial. Its seasoned travelers (Gregory of Nyssa in the fourth century and Pseudo-Dionysius in the