The Naked Mystic

He can function as a priest no longer. Perhaps the burden of a priestly vocation is too heavy. Or perhaps he's lost faith in the Church's ability to lead people to God. He doesn't know. After resigning his position, he leaves his parish and heads for the relative solitude of a rural town in South-West England. His only close companion is his dog, and it's through the dog that he meets an enigmatic character who will challenge his Christian persona and his belief structures in a catastrophic and, ultimately life-giving, way.

This is an autobiographical account of one man's mystical journey, taken through The Dark Night of the Soul. On this journey that will teach him the true meaning of spiritual poverty, he is stripped of his religious persona and plunged deep into the abyss of a purifying process that seems to him to be a place from which there is no escape. But in his guide's ruthless hands, he discovers a new way of relating to his faith and the scriptures that define it; a level of freedom and contentment for which he has been longing. And he realizes that God has been staring him in the face all along.

James RQ Clark is a former teacher and Anglican priest. Born of a French-Mauritian mother and an English father who spent his working life roaming through Africa, the Middle and Far-East, James attended a Catholic boarding school in the UK. After a life-changing encounter with God in the early 80s and a stint in a British Charismatic Evangelical House Church, he re-connected with his Catholic roots and studied for his Theology degree at a Catholic college of the University of Surrey. A journey through teaching and school chaplaincy led to his ordination in the Anglican Church of New Zealand in 2012. These days he is settled in an old house, in an old town in Dorset, South-West England. He walks his dogs, swims in the rivers, thinks, writes, and occasionally sees people for transpersonal counselling and spiritual direction.

"The Naked Mystic is not for the faint of heart, but it is for those of us looking for guidance through this labyrinth we call life. A beautiful story of a man's journey into, and out of, the darkest corners of his mental struggle to know God. For anyone who believes the bible is the beginning and the end of spiritual understanding - this book is for you. For anyone who questions the role of institutions in the world of God - this book is for you. For anyone who struggles with loneliness and fear - this book is for you. A story about the end of stories. While intimate and particular to one man's struggle, it remains extraordinarily relatable and helpful - Woven in such a way that helps us understand the bible in a way that helps us understand our Self. In these times of widespread fearmongering and quarantine, The Naked Mystic offers us a guide to being okay with being alone. No doubt, The Naked Mystic is a spiritual autobiography worthy of the name." B.R.