Stalking the Divine

W. J. Rayment / Conservative Bookstore -- As humans we always seem to be in search of something. Perhaps this comes from our pre-historic ancestors who lived purely by hunting and gathering. This quest of material sustenance was bred into our instincts and inevitably spread to matters of the mind and the soul.

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The title of Kristin Ohlson's book, "Stalking the Divine", conjures images of hunters stepping lightly through the underbrush, bow in hand, keeping a sharp eye and straining the ear to pick up the trail of God. It is an incongruous idea. We do not normally think of God as being prey to man. More often God is thought to be on the other end of the "food chain".

And yet, in our modern world, our lives are so cluttered with diversions that we find ourselves searching for the time and the inclination to contemplate divine matters. TV, movies, video games, parties, nightclubs, books, magazines and more not only distract, but completely numb the mind to any realization of the necessity for delving into heavenly matters.

"Stalking the Divine" is written on at least three levels. First, it traces the author's own spiritual journey. Second, it reflects the spirituality or lack thereof of an entire generation. Third, it traces the history of a group of Nuns, The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration based at the St. Paul Shrine in Cleveland, Ohio.

In the course of the work we come to understand that Ms. Ohlson has many motivations for writing "Stalking the Divine". Her initial reason was simply to find something to write about, something that might find success as an article or book. She blundered upon St. Paul's shrine and there found more than she had bargained for. She found a group of contemplative nuns who spent their time in shifts praying before the host (communion bread). Their efforts giving renewed meaning to the term "24/7", "perpetual adoration" being their prime mission.

The intrusion of Kristin Ohlson's own spiritual journey upon the life of the nuns at first seems distracting (to both ourselves and the nuns) and a bit self-serving. I even had a passing notion that Ms. Ohlson's personal reveries might have