We often experience a profound longing for a spiritual connection beyond ourselves. This is best expressed in Augustine's "our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." We sense that there is a something missing in our lives but have a hard time putting our finger on exactly what it is.
Herman Hesse's Siddhartha is a great illustration of the search for spiritual fulfillment without a firm conclusion. Siddhartha tried many different pathways and touched on what he sought many times but did not recognize what he had achieved. We likewise seek to fill this longing in different ways. The most common is through religious institutions but, sadly, these efforts have become increasingly disappointing for many due largely to unsubstantiated claims made from the pulpits about the Scriptures. Yet, these Scriptures represent a treasure trove of insight garnered over the centuries if read for what they represent.
In Search of the Divine does not pretend to be able to provide a roadmap to a definitive search but it does provide hints that can lead to an expanded vision and connections to the transcendent.
John R. Powers is a national security and emergency management consultant currently assisting DC Fire and EMS to develop a mass casualty response plan. Previously, he led a joint private sector-interagency effort to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism and served as the Executive Director of the President’s Commission for Critical Infrastructure Protection and as a FEMA Regional Director. John holds an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in physics from the University of Pennsylvania.
“We have a great need for a light that will illuminate a pathway to experiencing the transcendent. Whether John Powers has discovered and articulated that light is yet to be determined, but it is clear that he has made a great start and has cleared away much of the underbrush that gets in the way.”
—Carl Schiffman, off-Broadway playwright and author
“With humor, precision, and insight, scientist and pastor John Powers sweeps away some of the debris of institutional religion and helps provide a bridge between simple and mature religious faith.”
—Helen Beglin, pastor, writer, storyteller, and former Moderator of Elizabeth Presbytery
“Powers’s exploration into the divine embarks on a journey that will produce fruit for the orthodox devotee and the entrenched skeptic. . . . The ever-earnest investigator, Powers invites the settled believer to reassess the ground of their faith while at the same time forcing the ardent atheist to acknowledge that the quest for the divine is patently one of the most enduring human things we can do.”
—Thomas Evans, Senior Minister, Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City