Donald S. Yarab
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Donald S. Yarab
Meditations, Reflections, and Poems
by Donald S. Yarab
The Shimmering Absence: Meditations, Reflections, and Poems
By Donald S. Yarab
Paperback
84 Pages, 6in × 9in
The Shimmering Absence is a contemplative journey into the silence at the heart of faith. The Meditations, structured as a triptych—poetic, theological, and philosophical—explores the apophatic tradition: the practice of approaching the divine not through affirmation, but through reverent unknowing.
In language both elegant and restrained, Donald S. Yarab guides the reader through ancient and modern voices that have wrestled with the ineffable—Pseudo-Dionysius, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, Maimonides, and others—revealing a tradition that speaks with wisdom precisely because it knows its limits. Each meditation moves deeper into silence, culminating in a final relinquishment of even the language of theology itself.
Accompanying the central triptych are poems and reflections—Refractions and Echoes—that arise from the silence the meditations open. These lyrical fragments extend the apophatic gesture through personal resonance, imaginative vision, and spiritual humility.
Written with scholarly depth and poetic sensitivity, The Shimmering Absence is not a theology of absence, but a theological absence: a space where mystery is not resolved but revered, where questions abide, and where wisdom begins in silence.
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Donald S. Yarab is a scholar, writer, and former educator and civil rights attorney whose work bridges history, contemporary events, theology, numismatics, and poetic reflection. With a background in education and law, and decades of research into Central European history, medieval culture, and ancient symbolism, he brings a deep interpretive lens to his essays, monographs, and verse. His writings—often exploring the metaphysical, the fragmentary nature of history, and the enduring resonance of classical and sacred traditions—appear on his website North Coast Antiquarian (northcoastantiquarian.com) and in select publications. The book news and reviews editor for Numismatics International for over a decade, he has written numerous articles on numismatic topics over the decades but more recently he is the author of The Shimmering Absence: A Triptych of Unknowing and The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Pisanello’s Renaissance Medal, among other works.
