Some among the faithful have been honest and candid enough to talk about it, even to write about it.

James Nestingen said it in a sermon:

"Despite pious claims to the contrary, I wonder sometimes if the experience of God’s absence isn't a lot more common to us than the sense of his presence."1

Frederick Buechner said it in some lectures and a book:

"Just as sacramental theology speaks of a doctrine of the Real Presence, maybe it should speak also of a doctrine of the Real Absence ..."2

Edmund Steimle said it in a sermon:

"I suspect that if we in the church are going to be heard by those outside the church, we’d better make it crystal clear that our faith includes our experiences of God absent as well as present; that we know, as they do, what it means to live in a world which gives p…