Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor – Book Review

Last updated on October 6, 2020

In Learning to Walk in the Dark, Barbara Brown Taylor explores the role of darkness in both the physical spiritual realms. She is an ordained Episcopal priest who shares her curiosity about faith and other religions. Should we fear darkness or appreciate it as a natural, necessary part of our existence? In our success in blotting out darkness from our life, are we less able to appreciate the beauty in both the spiritual and physical places we inhabit, and do we handicap our development? In this book, Barbara explores these questions and more as she finds ways to explore and appreciate darkness.

Quotes

The following quotes made me pause, reread, and think:

Even when you cannot see where you are going and no one answers when you call, this is not sufficient proof that you are alone (Introduction).

… ordinary human beings are not equipped to survive direct contact with the divine in the ark or in the light (Chapter 2).

… I noted that it is sometimes hard to tell whether you are being killed or saved by the hands that turn your life upside down (Chapter 3).

After years of being taught that the way to deal with painful emotions is to get rid of them, it can take a lot of reschooling to learn to sit with them instead, finding out from those who feel them what they have learned by sleeping in the wilderness that those who sleep in comfortable houses may never know (Chapter 4).

There is a light that shines in the darkness, which is only visible there (Chapter 5).

I could go on, but if these quotes have caught your interest at all, you will want to read Learning to Walk in the Dark. Barbara includes a number of questions to get you started on a journey to explore the dark, or you can simply read about her journey.

If you like this book, you may also like Blindness by Saramango.