Beyond the Backside of God: A Poetic Journey Through the Dark Night of Soul (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781726383837)

John Phalen's spiritual journey began in the turbulence of the sixties. Upon graduation from Berkeley at Yale Divinity School, he served as an urban Episcopal priest, then an Air Force Chaplain. As a chaplain, he opened a coffee house for young adults and began communicating with them through poetry. As that journey led him into the "dark nights', he left the traditional priesthood role (remaining ever a priest) to undertake leadership positions in community service organizations. In the seventies and eighties, he resettled some 22l000 refugees. Writing poetry was his means of spiritual expression and private solace. Much of his poetry was a provocative account of his journey through the way of unknowing (via negativa) - the less traveled path in Western Spirituality, the more common path being where the Light Guides the person to the Person of God. As the experience of Void blended with Plentitude and a surprising 'Grace Lifting Beyond, he undertook doctoral studies at San Francisco Theological Seminary. While doing so, he founded a vocational and English language school that assisted thousands of refugees to begin their new life in America In recent years, he has served and an educational consultant to private colleges in California and Asia. He is founder and Dean of New Millennium School, an alternative graduate school for religious and spiritual healing service. He combined his professional career in community service and education with writing. Grant writing success complimented his community service and educator experiences. As to creative writing, he has written a number of plays, screenplays, poetry collections, and a workbook on meditation. He claims to be most complet4ely himself when writing poetry.