Darton, Longman & Todd 2021 £8.99 ISBN 978 1 913657 38 3
Given that Julian meetings are held in silence, ‘The Word within the Words’ may seem an odd choice for reading. We forget that words are distinguished by the silence, however brief, between them, which gives them space for their meaning to emerge. John’s gospel begins, ‘In the beginning was the Word’; and what follows tells us that this word is a verb, not a noun. It does not describe God; it opens the path for God to act, and interact, with His creation.
And this is the theme which runs through Malcolm Guite’s book. He draws on his experiences as a scholar working on medieval poetry, much of which had a religious context, which led him to discover his faith. He uses poetry, both his own and that of a variety of other sources, to illustrate the power of words, provided they are given the silence they need to grow in our hearts and minds, and to enable God to act in and through us.
This is a short book – less than 90 small pages – and can be read in about an hour and a half. But I should have said, ‘mis-read’; it is not a book to be read and then gather dust on the shelf; you need to allow the spaces between the words to have their effect, too. Think of it as a spiritual fertiliser, to be thinly spread and dug in; its effects will be seen later, in ways we may not have anticipated. Because, for words to grow and bear fruit, silence is essential.
Brian Morris