The Mystery We Live

French philosopher Gabriel Marcel (1888-1973) is one of the most perceptive thinkers of the twentieth century. His profound ideas on any number of topics are still highly relevant today--perhaps even more so--than in his own time, especially concerning matters of ethics, religion, human relations, modern culture, and our spiritual malaise. Author of seventeen major works of philosophy, and over thirty plays, Marcel's work offers a rich repository of ideas that illuminate not only our human potential but also the underlying causes of the serious challenges that face the modern world.

In a world increasingly marked by widespread alienation and loss of meaning, Marcel illustrates there is a deep spiritual hunger at the heart of the modern person, a longing for transcendence that clearly persists even in a secular era that too often prioritizes the material, the trivial, and the ephemeral. This paradox is at the heart of modernity: the more we pursue freedom, control, and achievement as measures of human worth, the more we yearn for structure, for presence, for communion with others and for spiritual fulfillment. Drawing on the fertile and penetrating insights of Marcel, this book presents a series of contemplative reflections on central themes in his work, including his famous distinctions between problem and mystery, and having and being. Marcel illustrates that our spiritual hunger and search for fulfillment are most clearly revealed in ordinary concrete experience, especially in interpersonal relationships characterized by availability, participation, presence and community. Such experiences give rise to that fragile yet enduring hope that lies at the heart of the human condition and may be the only authentic response to a world where meaning and fulfillment are threatened by despair and loss.