Gravity and Grace

Though I am not religious, I have been aesthetically moved and spiritually stirred by these deeply personal, profoundly philosophical, and poetically enigmatic essays, which I find myself returning to when faced with the most fundamental questions about our spiritual lives.

Written by a French Jewish convert to Christianity whose own suffering is exquisitely attuned to the suffering of others, these essays have continued to inspire readers from across a broad spectrum of religious and philosophical orientations—including the most secular among us.

Simone Weil’s Gravity and Grace is an essential work of Christian mysticism written in profound, aphoristic style that aligns with its main philosophical tenets. Weil argues that emptying, or even nullifying, oneself is imperative in the context of true faith. God does not exist within the limited parameters of human subjectivity and the “created” world, so it stands to reason that the only way to apprehend God is through voiding. Indeed, even faith itself must be sacrificed under Weil’s philosophy, because to believe in something is to avoid nothing.

This book’s conviction is hauntingly persuasive. Its aphorisms accumulate to… show more.