When Prayers Aren't Answered

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 13 AUG 2007

Welshons, author (Awakening from Grief) and counselor, approaches a perennially difficult topic from an eclectic background; while his sources range widely, his sensibilities lean strongly toward Eastern ideas of karma, nonattachment and oneness with the Divine. Although Welshons describes this book as a "beginner's manual" for dealing with life's curve balls, it is more a meditation on how suffering can exist in the world if God is both all-powerful and all-good. Arguing that unanswered prayers may be an "invitation" to develop a closer relationship with God, Welshons's observations range from the sensible (such as maintaining connections and community) to the banal (hoary chestnuts such as the blind men trying to "see" the elephant). His emphasis on the spiritual value of suffering sometimes verges on narcissism, and occasionally he even seems to suggest that we cause bad things to happen through negative thoughts which he then contradicts. His most disturbing reflections occur as he tries to make sense of the deaths of children. Overall, this well-intentioned but confusing book lacks concrete writing and compelling examples as well as genuinely helpful advice for those coping with pain and loss.