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The Shattered Lantern: Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God
This book draws from a variety of stories and experiences to offer a spiritual antidote. The author suggests that the only way back to a lively faith is not a question of finding the right answers, but of living in a certain way, contemplatively.
206 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
January 17, 2020
My first ever Ronald Rolheiser OMI and it probably won't be my last. Clear and precise information on faith. Ronald Rolheiser OMI writes in laymen's terms, which for this reader, is a God's send!
July 23, 2019
Every now and then I come across a book that helps give me language to express what I have been thinking and feeling. This is one of those books. Rolheiser speaks to how there is a loss of wonder, amazement and awe in our world today. In our rush to find an answer for everything we have lost our ability to be in awe of anything. Rolheiser points to the problem of unbelief among believers and a loss of our ability to live and move as contemplatives within this world as one of the biggest things that keeps us from seeing God alive, well and working in our world today.
Of particular value is Rolheiser's work on three main things which stand in the way of our fully experiencing God. Excessive Narcissism - "When we stand before reality preoccupied with ourselves we will see precious little of what is actually there to be seen." Pragmatism - "doing counts for everything, being counts for nothing. We cling to what we do, not who we are, as if it (doing) were life itself." Restlessness - a sense of being unsatisfied with our life, a greed for experience - "when restlessness becomes excessive...our lives become consumed with the idea that unless we somehow experience everything, travel everywhere, see everything...then we are small and meaningless."
The longer I read the more I found myself with words to explain some of what I have wrestled to express and share. Rolheiser believes that when Jesus said, "I have come to set captives free" he was speaking to all people. If I can be set free my self-centered thinking and way of viewing the world, if I can be set free from always to doing and be at peace with my being, if I can learn to live content with the gift of life God has given me...there is life to the full.
Much in our society fights against such thinking, against living and moving in this way. Rolheiser's gift is that he gives solid language to express what many have felt as only a longing deep within their soul that there must be something more.
Of particular value is Rolheiser's work on three main things which stand in the way of our fully experiencing God. Excessive Narcissism - "When we stand before reality preoccupied with ourselves we will see precious little of what is actually there to be seen." Pragmatism - "doing counts for everything, being counts for nothing. We cling to what we do, not who we are, as if it (doing) were life itself." Restlessness - a sense of being unsatisfied with our life, a greed for experience - "when restlessness becomes excessive...our lives become consumed with the idea that unless we somehow experience everything, travel everywhere, see everything...then we are small and meaningless."
The longer I read the more I found myself with words to explain some of what I have wrestled to express and share. Rolheiser believes that when Jesus said, "I have come to set captives free" he was speaking to all people. If I can be set free my self-centered thinking and way of viewing the world, if I can be set free from always to doing and be at peace with my being, if I can learn to live content with the gift of life God has given me...there is life to the full.
Much in our society fights against such thinking, against living and moving in this way. Rolheiser's gift is that he gives solid language to express what many have felt as only a longing deep within their soul that there must be something more.
May 28, 2016
My second Rolheiser book, and as with the first I was immensely blessed and challenged by his words. His chapter on modern contemplative barriers (narcissism, pragmatism and unbridled restlessness) struck to the heart of my millennial DNA. I admittedly struggled through Part II (Three Contemplative Traditions within Western Christian Thought) as it deviated from Rolheiser's parabolic writing style, and at times I felt lost in his language. However I loved the book's conclusion- focussing on practical application, which is something I certainly had an appetite for after 120 pages of compelling writing.
December 6, 2023
I think the best books are the ones that meet you where you’re at. This book (this book!) met me in the gray. A space I hadn’t yet traversed on my journey to seek and know Jesus. I physically had to put it down multiple times to just sit and weep — too blurry to read through my tears.
Rolheiser speaks to the nuances of unbelief, of being unreceptive to the presence of God, especially in the believer, in a way I needed. Deconstruction doesn’t just happen. That word, I hate it. It never tells the full story. Sometimes we need the space to find God again in the gray.
This might not be the book you need right now. And if so, praise God! But if you’ve found yourself facing cultural opinions and divisions and wondering, where did I turn? This book is a blanket, a gentle mentor, a close friend navigating an unfamiliar road. We are merely pilgrims in this land. Breathe. Look up. Stay on this road. We’re almost there. Sanctification is hard and confusing and lonely sometimes and yet so good.
I did a lot of underlining, and hear me out this book is highly philosophical and dense. I found myself rereading pages not because I didn’t understand it, but because my soul needed to read it once more. These were my 2 favorite quotes:
“Where talk and concern centers around money, food, entertainment, sports, sex, and health, there is little sense that the earth is ablaze with the fire of God, and even less of a sense that one should have his shoes off before it. In our normal consciousness, whenever we approach God, even in formal prayer and in our churches, it is with very measured expectations. The God who is met in the measured expectations of our own desires and imagination dies in his own impotence and irrelevance.”
“When we have lost our instinct for astonishment, when we meet the weekday morning with a complaining groan, it should come as no surprise to us that a God whom Jesus says reveals himself to the heart of a child will not be easily perceived. We lack the purity of heart to see God.”
Rolheiser speaks to the nuances of unbelief, of being unreceptive to the presence of God, especially in the believer, in a way I needed. Deconstruction doesn’t just happen. That word, I hate it. It never tells the full story. Sometimes we need the space to find God again in the gray.
This might not be the book you need right now. And if so, praise God! But if you’ve found yourself facing cultural opinions and divisions and wondering, where did I turn? This book is a blanket, a gentle mentor, a close friend navigating an unfamiliar road. We are merely pilgrims in this land. Breathe. Look up. Stay on this road. We’re almost there. Sanctification is hard and confusing and lonely sometimes and yet so good.
I did a lot of underlining, and hear me out this book is highly philosophical and dense. I found myself rereading pages not because I didn’t understand it, but because my soul needed to read it once more. These were my 2 favorite quotes:
“Where talk and concern centers around money, food, entertainment, sports, sex, and health, there is little sense that the earth is ablaze with the fire of God, and even less of a sense that one should have his shoes off before it. In our normal consciousness, whenever we approach God, even in formal prayer and in our churches, it is with very measured expectations. The God who is met in the measured expectations of our own desires and imagination dies in his own impotence and irrelevance.”
“When we have lost our instinct for astonishment, when we meet the weekday morning with a complaining groan, it should come as no surprise to us that a God whom Jesus says reveals himself to the heart of a child will not be easily perceived. We lack the purity of heart to see God.”
October 24, 2025
Outstanding. One of the most important books. I bought it thinking it would be a way out of dark nights of the soul, but, no, it's a way out of the dark night of our late-Western culture, or, rather, eyes to see God within that dark night.
February 12, 2025
This classic captures the contemplative heart with such warm simplicity that I was gratefully drawn into Rolheiser’s spiritual musings. Using the evocative image of Nietzche’s shattered lantern, he calls for childlike wonder from worshippers who desire to embrace amazement in the face of modernity’s flattened worldview.
There were several quotes in this book that caused me to pause for my own “Selah” moment. One such is: “Where talk and concern centers around money, food, entertainment, sports, sex, and health, there is little sense that earth is ablaze with the fire of God, and even less of a sense that one should have his shoes off before it. In our normal consciousness, whenever we approach God, even in formal prayer and in our churches, it is with measured expectations. The God who is met in the measured expectations of our own desires and imaginations dies in his own impotence and irrelevance.”
How can the would not be enriched by such penetrating insights? This immediately moved to my ‘read again’ list.
There were several quotes in this book that caused me to pause for my own “Selah” moment. One such is: “Where talk and concern centers around money, food, entertainment, sports, sex, and health, there is little sense that earth is ablaze with the fire of God, and even less of a sense that one should have his shoes off before it. In our normal consciousness, whenever we approach God, even in formal prayer and in our churches, it is with measured expectations. The God who is met in the measured expectations of our own desires and imaginations dies in his own impotence and irrelevance.”
How can the would not be enriched by such penetrating insights? This immediately moved to my ‘read again’ list.
May 11, 2022
Get back to me when I’m older and wiser. I will be sure to have read this a few times over, and can more accurately convey from experience the secrets of the contemplative life.
July 13, 2018
Rolheiser takes his titular metaphor from Nietzsche's story of a madman in a marketplace, searching for God with a lantern before wildly smashing the lantern and declaring that God is dead (from whence we get the popular phrase).
What becomes of the lantern?
Rolheiser diagnoses the issues of society that obscure a sense of God and proposes an antidote: the contemplative life. Contemplation is awareness, an ability to see, a sense of wonder - a post-critical faculty (I'm still tripping on that term) that engenders a 'second naivete' (a term Rolheiser borrows from philosopher Paul Ricoeur).
Along the way, Rolheiser discusses three contemplative traditions within western thought: the mystical tradition, the Protestant holiness of God tradition and the philosophical tradition of theism. These second two are not usually immediately recognisable or defined as being contemplative - so this is very nice work on Rolheiser's part. And, as a Protestant who reads a fair amount from the Catholic tradition, it was nice to hear something Protestant being described in positive terms by a Catholic writer (not too common).
The book concludes with prescribing a set of 'concrete contemporary spiritual exercises' - 'a concrete praxis for recovering the ancient instinct for astonishment' and moving towards the 'contuition of God in everyday life'. That's how to relight the lantern and begin to see glimmers of God.
There's a lot there and it all sounds very technical the way I've put it - but actually it's quite practical - the book weaves together a pleasing mix of intellect and accessibility. Wonder-ful stuff.
What becomes of the lantern?
Rolheiser diagnoses the issues of society that obscure a sense of God and proposes an antidote: the contemplative life. Contemplation is awareness, an ability to see, a sense of wonder - a post-critical faculty (I'm still tripping on that term) that engenders a 'second naivete' (a term Rolheiser borrows from philosopher Paul Ricoeur).
Along the way, Rolheiser discusses three contemplative traditions within western thought: the mystical tradition, the Protestant holiness of God tradition and the philosophical tradition of theism. These second two are not usually immediately recognisable or defined as being contemplative - so this is very nice work on Rolheiser's part. And, as a Protestant who reads a fair amount from the Catholic tradition, it was nice to hear something Protestant being described in positive terms by a Catholic writer (not too common).
The book concludes with prescribing a set of 'concrete contemporary spiritual exercises' - 'a concrete praxis for recovering the ancient instinct for astonishment' and moving towards the 'contuition of God in everyday life'. That's how to relight the lantern and begin to see glimmers of God.
There's a lot there and it all sounds very technical the way I've put it - but actually it's quite practical - the book weaves together a pleasing mix of intellect and accessibility. Wonder-ful stuff.
August 13, 2017
This was an incredibly engaging book on the role of contemplation, a lost art among humanity. Rolheiser talks about contemplation within spiritual tradition and differentiates it from meditation. He reveals how different people are drawn to different avenues of contemplation, which makes it a lot easier to discover our own natural bent. By the time you're done reading it you'll wonder how or why would would ever live non-contemplative lives.
January 3, 2022
Dense reading but still apropos of the times. If your agnostic or atheist it will help you understand why the rest of us wholeheartedly believe in the sacred. Great clarity in the last chapter on how to make contemplative thinking a part of your daily life.
July 20, 2007
A great book for mothers, or anyone who wants to find meaning in the small, everyday happenings of life!
May 29, 2018
Read for a class on spiritual formation.
So I actually liked this book much more than I expected to.
In terms of desolation, I too found the tone didactic and dry, and I bristle a bit when I hear writers slipping into religion-based critique of the evil times we live in. Basically, I have little to no nostalgia for more religious times of the past. (I don’t exactly long to live in the pre-shattered lantern European Christendom of the 18th century, or 17th, or 16th, or 15th, etc., etc.) I also have been so shaped by our church’s commitment to joyful engagement with our culture, finding delight in the times we live in and committing to teach our broader culture as well as learn from it, to share a common story with common vocabulary as best as we can, even as we are seeking to follow Jesus. All to say, Rolheiser’s framing idea of our culture’s unique period of atheism started me off suspicious. I am also compelled to say that the little “hunting excursion in Africa” anecdote in the final chapter on spiritual exercises enraged me. (pgs. 164-165) First off, the story is generically placed “in Africa”, as it if it is a village or a country, not the massive continent, larger than our own, that it is. A horrible Western habit. Secondly, the boy in the story is romanticized, evoking the noble savage myth of Western romanticism. Thirdly, the story is self-undermining. Its thrust is that humanity is to only receive gifts, not take things we see as owed to us, but it is a story encased in Western exploitative colonialism – the protagonist is on a hunting excursion, killing birds he does not own for sport. These kind of culturally blind anecdotes are toxins embedded within White and patriarchal privilege. No small thing. And again, a problem in the readings for this course.
And yet, and yet, there we much that was inspiring, challenging, edifying, and uplifting in the text. I loved the chapter on respecting the holiness of God. The calls to humility and wonder and contemplation within were rich and beautiful. I love his teaching on humility in particular. “The word humility comes from the Latin root humus, which means soil or earth. To be humble is to be earthy, not to be disconnected or have your head in the clouds, and to feel your dependence and interconnectedness with others and with the earth. It is to have a felt sense of your creatureliness, that is, of your limits and your vulnerability. The humblest person you know is not the person who lives a timid life but the person who lives a life that constantly acknowledges its interconnectedness and its radical incarnate character.” (118) Yes! The story of the man who is holding on to his fistful of dirt until a child takes his hand and welcomes him into eternity, where all Crete lies before him – that also moved me to tears and will stay with me as a parable of surrender and of God’s generosity. Finally, intellectually, I find true and helpful Rolheiser’s point of praxis that if we want to experience God more, we need to lean into contemplation and practice of the way of Christ. If our times are not to support a culturally embedded, assumed theism, we will need to train our minds to lean into God in faith, which is – after all – part of the call of God for us on earth.
So I actually liked this book much more than I expected to.
In terms of desolation, I too found the tone didactic and dry, and I bristle a bit when I hear writers slipping into religion-based critique of the evil times we live in. Basically, I have little to no nostalgia for more religious times of the past. (I don’t exactly long to live in the pre-shattered lantern European Christendom of the 18th century, or 17th, or 16th, or 15th, etc., etc.) I also have been so shaped by our church’s commitment to joyful engagement with our culture, finding delight in the times we live in and committing to teach our broader culture as well as learn from it, to share a common story with common vocabulary as best as we can, even as we are seeking to follow Jesus. All to say, Rolheiser’s framing idea of our culture’s unique period of atheism started me off suspicious. I am also compelled to say that the little “hunting excursion in Africa” anecdote in the final chapter on spiritual exercises enraged me. (pgs. 164-165) First off, the story is generically placed “in Africa”, as it if it is a village or a country, not the massive continent, larger than our own, that it is. A horrible Western habit. Secondly, the boy in the story is romanticized, evoking the noble savage myth of Western romanticism. Thirdly, the story is self-undermining. Its thrust is that humanity is to only receive gifts, not take things we see as owed to us, but it is a story encased in Western exploitative colonialism – the protagonist is on a hunting excursion, killing birds he does not own for sport. These kind of culturally blind anecdotes are toxins embedded within White and patriarchal privilege. No small thing. And again, a problem in the readings for this course.
And yet, and yet, there we much that was inspiring, challenging, edifying, and uplifting in the text. I loved the chapter on respecting the holiness of God. The calls to humility and wonder and contemplation within were rich and beautiful. I love his teaching on humility in particular. “The word humility comes from the Latin root humus, which means soil or earth. To be humble is to be earthy, not to be disconnected or have your head in the clouds, and to feel your dependence and interconnectedness with others and with the earth. It is to have a felt sense of your creatureliness, that is, of your limits and your vulnerability. The humblest person you know is not the person who lives a timid life but the person who lives a life that constantly acknowledges its interconnectedness and its radical incarnate character.” (118) Yes! The story of the man who is holding on to his fistful of dirt until a child takes his hand and welcomes him into eternity, where all Crete lies before him – that also moved me to tears and will stay with me as a parable of surrender and of God’s generosity. Finally, intellectually, I find true and helpful Rolheiser’s point of praxis that if we want to experience God more, we need to lean into contemplation and practice of the way of Christ. If our times are not to support a culturally embedded, assumed theism, we will need to train our minds to lean into God in faith, which is – after all – part of the call of God for us on earth.
April 13, 2025
In 1994 Ronald Rolheiser’s book “The Shattered Lantern” was published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1994. A revised release of this book was published in the United States in 2004 by Crossroad Publishing. Rolheiser’s book has the subtitle “Rediscovering a Felt Presence of God.” At the time of Crossroad’s publication, Ronald Rolheiser served as General Councilor for Canada. He is a Catholic priest in the order Oblates of Mary immaculate; and he served as an adjunct professor at Seattle University. He holds a doctorate in Theology from the Belgium University of Louvain. He has written 22 books about philosophical theology while he was also writing columns published in over fifty newspapers.
“The Shattered Lantern” has seven chapters that discuss agnosticism, narcissism, factors that mitigate and promote contemplation, and the features that permeate non-contemplative human personality tendencies. He follows these discussions with chapters about mystical traditions that promote spiritual awareness, Protestant contemplative traditions, and the philosophical traditions of theism. The book closes with a chapter about spiritual exercises. The book also has a study guide for each chapter. Ronald Rolheiser has a very thought provoking writing style, and his observations about the interplay between God, faith, hope, and love are very insightful. The book reference indices are at the end of each chapter. Many of the references are annotated, and they gave me a greater understanding of Ronald Rolheiser’s perspectives and book themes. (P)
“The Shattered Lantern” has seven chapters that discuss agnosticism, narcissism, factors that mitigate and promote contemplation, and the features that permeate non-contemplative human personality tendencies. He follows these discussions with chapters about mystical traditions that promote spiritual awareness, Protestant contemplative traditions, and the philosophical traditions of theism. The book closes with a chapter about spiritual exercises. The book also has a study guide for each chapter. Ronald Rolheiser has a very thought provoking writing style, and his observations about the interplay between God, faith, hope, and love are very insightful. The book reference indices are at the end of each chapter. Many of the references are annotated, and they gave me a greater understanding of Ronald Rolheiser’s perspectives and book themes. (P)
November 4, 2023
The 2nd book by Rolheiser I have read and in this one he digs into mysticism and contemplation. I think he did a fine job in introducing the subject and took many of St. John of The Cross writings to back up what he was trying to convey. A wonderful book that can help begin or jumpstart a better relationship with God and help one become more accepting to the chaos of the world. I found peace and learned I have a tremendous road in front of me to turn my life into a more peaceful existence. I recommend anyone who wants to move beyond meditation to contemplation. We live in the presences of this creation and with contemplation we can be awed by it. An example he gave to help understand this was the baby fish who had asked his mother what it was like to live out of the water. She told the fish to go lay on that beach out of the water so you can experience it. The dark night is that separation.
December 28, 2023
This is a five star book. Rolheiser's thesis and book title stems from Nietzsche's famous words: "God is dead". Rolheiser argues that unbelief is a problem amongst believers as many of us live lives of practical atheism. Rolheiser says that their are two reasons for this: our own blindness or God's obscurity. Rolheiser focus on our blindness as we can control it although he contends that we are always partially blind and God is always partially obscure. Rolheiser explains that we are like fish in the ocean of God's presence as "in him we live, move, and have our being". So our problem of unbelief is one of the awareness of God's presence, contemplation. Rolheiser explores this through three lenses: The Mystical Tradition, The Protestant Tradition, and The Philosophical Tradition. He also adds an additional chapter which is focused on giving a concrete practice.
March 30, 2023
A slight book, with some good and heartfelt recommendations to the believing Christian about ritual and the contemplative life; I especially appreciated the way the author placed the Protestant contemplation of God's immensity and inscrutableness alongside the older, mystical Christian tradition. Much of what he has to say about modernity has been better said--though not, obviously, in as explicitly a devotional register--by Charles Taylor and Paul Ricoeur, and his occasional side-comments about Marxism make it pretty clear where he stands politically. Still, all in all a decent short book.
July 11, 2024
I really appreciated and gleaned a lot from this book, and while there were a few chapters in the middle that I felt a bit like I was slogging through, the beginning and the way Rolheiser framed it up was brilliant, thought-provoking, convicting, and worth revisiting in the future. His assessment of how narcissism, pragmatism, and unbridled restlessness hinder our ability to experience God in our ordinary, day-to-day lives was spot on, and I also appreciated his nuanced perspective and insight on a more full-bodied definition of ‘chastity’ and where that stems from.
February 8, 2025
Despite pieces of this book that I would need to consider more deeply and didn’t fully align with, the instruction and description of the practice of contemplation and the experience of God in our daily reality was staggering and perspective changing. I really highly recommend it, especially if you’re experiencing what Rolheiser describes as a “practical atheism” - no sense of God as existent in your daily present experience.
January 21, 2021
Ronald Rolheiser always opens my eyes to Catholic and contemplative world that leads me into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. This book did the same. This was one of the most practical contemplative books that I have ever read--pushing me outside my comfort zone as an invitation to live in wonder and presence. Highly Recommend
June 2, 2021
A challenging look at how narcissism, pragmatism and unbridled restlessness muddy our awareness of God in the everyday. My favorite parts were on the “second naivety” - a post-cynical recovery of the ability to wonder.
December 29, 2017
Theme was how to find God in ordinary life.
October 21, 2018
an excellent spiritual reading by an interesting author.
February 26, 2019
Loved this book, as it was so easy to read and understand, which is hard to find in faith and theology books. So, anyone who wants to refresh there faith, or just find it. This, is the book for you!
September 1, 2023
My favorite book of 2023. It took me a while to finish bc there’s so much to chew on but it’s absolutely beautiful.
December 1, 2023
One of THE best books I’ve ever read. I’m not even kidding with you!
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January 4, 2024Anything by Rolheiser is worth reading. The subtitle says it all: Rediscovering the Felt Presence of God
November 12, 2024
Every time I read Rolheiser, the present one is my new favorite book. The Shattered Lantern is no exception.
March 13, 2025
Good book regarding the contemplative nature required in our faith. Very dense in my opinion To see it all as a miracle. To keep symbols to help us focus on God.
August 18, 2025
Good information but 2-3 books wrapped into one strung together loosely by the idea of contemplative tradition made it feel a bit disjointed.
October 26, 2025
There were so many typos. Every chapter had multiple errors.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews