JM 2007 April
Prayer
Anon
I am yours
I am Yours and born of You:
What do You want of me?
Majestic Sovereign,
Unending wisdom,
Kindness pleasing to my soul;
God sublime, one Being Good,
Behold this one so vile.
Singing of her love to you:
What do You want of me?
Yours, you made me,
Yours, you saved me,
Yours, you endured me,
Yours, you called me,
Yours, you awaited me,
Yours, I did not stray:
What do You want of me?
Good Lord, what do you want of me,
What is this wretch to do?
What work is this,
This sinful slave, to do?
Look at me, Sweet love,
Sweet Love, look at me:
What do You want of me?
Article
Francis Ballinger
Peace
Lead me from death to Life,
from falsehood to Truth.
Lead me from despair to Hope,
from fear to Trust.
Lead me from hate to Love,
from war to Peace.
Let Peace fill our hearts
our world, our universe.
— World Peace Prayer (Satish Kumar)
Used at 12 noon local time everywhere in the world.
If you look at the Jewish faith, from which both Christianity and Islam emerged, you will see amongst all the writing and teaching a concern for Shalom, peace, a desire to return to Eden, where there is harmony and peace. But from the earliest of the written prophets, Amos, in the eighth century BC, it is clear that Peace comes with Justice. From Isaiah come clear expectations that the lion shall lie down with the lamb, and swords will be beaten into ploughshares with the coming of the Messiah. The Christ we know is the Prince of Peace. Unlike the Maccabees, Jesus did not come into Jerusalem at the head of an army to throw out the invaders, but to travel the way of the cross, through death, crucifixion, to resurrection.
In the Middle Ages many small nation states fought each other and many “Christian” rulers were involved in the Crusades but from this time also comes the prayer of St Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The heat of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation polemic often saw peace sacrificed at the altar of dogma, but on the Protestant side Erasmus wrote ‘The Complaint of Peace; where he allowed Peace to speak of its own importance:
As Peace, am I not praised by both men and gods as the very source and defender of all good things? What is there of prosperity, of security, or of happiness that cannot be ascribed to me? On the other hand, is not war the destroyer of all things and the very seed of evil?
On the Catholic side are found St John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila who equate peace with holiness. This equation is clearly seen in the early members of The Society of Friends (Quakers), particularly in the works of George Fox. The following is from an epistle by George Fox dated 1658 called ‘Ye are called to peace.’
All Friends, everywhere, keep out of plots and bustling, and the arm of flesh; for all these are amongst Adam’s sons in the fall, where they are destroying men’s lives like dogs, beasts, and swine, goring, rending, and biting one another, destroying one another, and wrestling with flesh and blood. From whence arise wars and killing, but from the lusts? Now all this is in [the first] Adam in the fall, out of [Christ, the second] Adam that never fell, in whom there is peace and life.
Ye are called to peace, therefore follow it; that peace is in Christ, not in Adam in the fall. All that pretend to fight for Christ are deceived; for his kingdom is not of this world, therefore his servants do not fight. Fighters are not of Christ’s kingdom, but are without Christ’s kingdom: for his kingdom stands in peace and righteousness, but fighters are in the lust: and all that would destroy men’s lives are not of Christ’s mind, who came to save men’s lives. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world; it is peaceable: and all that are in strife are not of his kingdom. All that pretend to fight for the gospel are deceived; for the gospel is the power of God, which was before the devil or fall of man was: and the gospel of peace was before fighting was. Therefore they that pretend fighting, and talk of fighting so, are ignorant of the gospel. All that talk of fighting for Sion are in darkness: Sion needs no such helpers…
Friends everywhere, this I charge you, which is the word of the Lord God unto you all, “Live in peace, in Christ the way of peace;” therein seek the peace of all men and no man’s hurt. In Adam in the fall is no peace; but in Adam out of the fall is the peace: So ye being in [Christ, the] Adam which never fell, it is love that overcomes, not hatred with hatred, nor strife with strife. Therefore live all in the peaceable life, doing good to all men, and seeking the good and welfare of all men.
Many generations have seen the growth of Pacifism. Leo Tolstoy wrote:
Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
And where there is God, there is no need.
From Mother Teresa:
Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile – smile five times a day to someone you don’t really want to smile at all – do it for peace. So let us radiate the peace of God and so light his light.
From Thomas Merton:
Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.
From Robert Fulghum:
Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.
In ‘Reality of War’ Stud art Kennedy wrote about the First World War:
WASTE
Waste of Muscle, waste of Brain,
Waste of Patience, waste of Pain,
Waste of Manhood, waste of Health,
Waste of Beauty, waste of Wealth,
Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,
Waste of Youth’s most precious years,
Waste of ways the Saints have trod,
Waste of Glory, waste of God –
War!
George Vat Terlincthun cemetery, Boulogne, 1922, said:
I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war.
Later in the 20th century ways of non-violent change were highlighted in the action and words of Gandhi, Martin-Luther King, Oscar Romero and Nelson Mandela. From Gandhi:
Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nationals in the face of odds.
Not to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to disbelieve in the Godliness of human nature.
This is the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations:
We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal right of men and women and of nations large and small…And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours…have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.
From Nelson Mandela:
As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself…Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.
From Moshe Dayan:
If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
From Richard Nixon:
The peace we seek to win is not victory over any other people, but the peace that comes with healing in its wings; with compassion for those who hqve suffered; with understanding for those who have opposed us; with the opportunity for all the peoples of this Earth to choose their own destiny.
From Abdul Ghaffar Khan:
The Holy Prophet Mohammed came into this world and taught us: ‘That man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God’s creatures. Belief in God is to love one’s fellow men.’
A saying from The Prophet, used in daily prayer by Muslims:
Oh God, You are Peace.
From You comes Peace,
To You Returns Peace.
Revive us with a salutation of Peace,
and lead us to your abode of Peace.
A Buddhist reflection:
Now may each believer of religion in the world transcend the differences of religion, race and nationality, discard small differences and unite in oneness to discuss sincerely how to annihilate strife from the earth, how to reconstruct a world without arms, and how to build the welfare and peace of mankind, so that never-ending light and happiness can be obtained for the world of the future.
An Inter-faith prayer for peace:
God, you are the source of life and peace. Praised be your name for ever. We know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace. Hear our prayer in this time of crisis. Your power changes hearts. Muslims, Christians and Jews remember, and profoundly affirm, that they are followers of the one God, children of Abraham, brothers and sisters. Enemies begin to speak to one another; those who were estranged join hands in friendship; nations seek the way of peace together. Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths by the wqy we live. Give to us: understanding that puts an end to strife; mercy that quenches hatred, and forgiveness that overcomes vengeance. Empower all people to live in your law of love. Amen.
From Edward Norman:
O God: you bring hope out of emptiness
energy out of fear
new life out of grief and loss.
Comfort all who have lost their homes
through persecution, war, exile, or deliberate destruction.
Give them security, a place to live,
and neighbours they trust to be, with them,
a new sign of peace to the world.
May the God who gives life to all creatures
give to us a vision of a sanctified world
beyond the conflicts of this present time.
Help us to remember
that the divine purposes are not served by human wrath,
and that wickedness expresses itself,
as does virtue,
in the intentions and acts of all people.
To the end of our days, O Lord,
preserve us in the hope of a world
filled with your goodness and illuminated by your mercy.
A Benediction from the Sabeel Center:
Let us go in peace and proclaim to the world
God’s jubilee of justice and liberation;
and may God’s blessing
be upon us now and forever. Amen.
Prayer
Myrtle Hall
Waiting
Oh Lord, I am just waiting –
waiting for the moving of the waters,
waiting for your hand to move and point
in the direction you want me to go.
Lord, I have tried so hard
to plan the next move –
and somewhere inside me, Lord,
I’m still trying.
And yet, Lord, my life is as clay
in the hands of the Potter.
I cannot make myself –
I cannot use myself –
I can but wait –
and if you want, go on waiting,
knowing that you can take
this deeply marred vessel and use it –
fashioning it continually
for the purpose you have for it.
Lord,
give me patience, and humility, and vitality;
help me to be content, Lord,
to wait and rest in you –
for this speck of time is eternity.
The poem and prayer Waiting comes from a collection called “Offerings; Prayers and Meditations”, by Myrtle Hall, with a foreword by Robert Llewelyn, which she has kindly allowed us to quote.
Article
Francis Ballinger
Different kinds of Julian Meeting
‘The whole world is desolate because no one reflects in their heart’ (Jeremiah 12:11).
- At a recent meeting of the Julian Meetings Advisory group we spoke about the variation amongst our own personal meetings. Here are some of our thoughts:
- Our group feels it is a place to carve out time to be. In a busy world it gives us space.
- We come together in silence, sit in silence and go in silence – but then we are all from the same church, know each other well and meet frequently to do things together.
- My meeting does not share thoughts but I regard it as a special blessing when people meet together in peace.
- We find it is an opportunity to share both silence and deep, though not dull, conversation – which often arises from the initial reading.
- At one of the meetings for which I have been the contact, we would share silence and then discuss something of our thoughts and feelings. Often my books on prayer, meditation etc. would come out and we would share insights from them.
Then we contrasted the silent meetings with those where people travel long distances and only see each other monthly. They like to begin with chat and coffee, share silence, and then have a simple meal together.
If anything is to be learned from these random thoughts it is that meetings can be very different but all contain silence, all look for a gathered depth.
Article
Janet Robinson
Letter writing
I am a hoarder of paper, particularly letters. Recently I decided to sort and hopefully discard some of the letters we received from friends in the 1980s and 90s. It has been a huge but humbling task and at the end of it I have removed very few.
We had an older friend who died of cancer in 1982. She was a strong believer in quiet prayer. She also wrote many letters and to see her handwriting on an envelope always evoked anticipatory delight. One, written when she was quite ill and bedridden, began:
I am awake too early but having put down Lancelot Andrews – my reading for this morning – I thought, as I often do: ‘Now God, who shall I write to today?’
She would scribble her thoughts, a reminiscence or two and the reading of them brightened the morning.
A week or so before she died I suddenly felt that I must write to her. I am one who would hesitate to say ‘God spoke directly to me’ but that time it felt like that. I wrote a letter which told her how much she had meant to us over the years, her support to our young family, her wisdom, her wicked sense of humour, her doughty courage – for she was a fighter, a lover of God, who needled the Church – and I know that my letter helped at the time. I have not always been so timely and I regret the occasions when I have missed the boat, forgotten to write, written too late.
In 1984 our younger daughter aged eighteen was killed in a crash. I had forgotten that her young friends, after the initial letter of sympathy, kept on writing. Their letters were full of news, descriptive, often funny. Sometimes they shared their woes and worries with us. Their kindness and thoughtfulness was an enormous and God-given support. Twenty years later they do not write as often – nor do I reply as frequently – but we are still in touch with most of them.
It is said that letter writing is a dying art…Certainly I regret that I rarely now write a letter by hand. Frequent use of the PC has eroded the legibility of my handwriting and it is so easy to amend, revise and, shame to say, copy passages to more than one letter. Having re-read all the letters in my hoard I realise that that is a loss. The round youthful hands of our young friends, the bold scrawl or beautiful executed penmanship of older correspondents are more personal and evocative than Times New Roman on A4 paper. I fear that must be a permanent loss. Nonetheless the communication need not stop. To receive a genuine letter from a friend amongst the bills and the junk mail can give a fillip to the day. For those who, through ill health, can no longer provide active support for others it can be a genuine act of service. I believe, like St Anthony, that ‘in community is our life and death’ and in a small way we can add our penn’orth to community by writing letters.
Poem
Kathy Galloway
Think of the Maker
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
In the beginning God made the world.
Let us give thanks for all that God has made.
Think of a time when you saw that the world is beautiful…
Think of a sunset over the hills
or sunrise over a sleeping city.
Think of a running river, or stars shining on a dark sea.
Think of light flashing on a puddle,
or of geraniums growing in a window-box.
Think of a time when you saw the world is beautiful – and give thanks.
Think of a time when you found pleasure in your body…
Think of walking in the wind, or digging a garden.
Think of dancing till dawn, or climbing a mountain.
Think of giving birth to a child,
or of holding someone you love.
Think of a time you found pleasure in your body – and give thanks.
Think of a time when you learned something new about life…
Think of understanding something that had always been a mystery,
or of seeing someone else in a different light.
Think of discovering a talent that you never knew that you had,
or of listening to a good idea.
Think of knowing what is important to you
or of believing that some things matter more than others.
Think of a time when you learned something new about life – and give thanks.
Think of a time when your spirit was refreshed…
Think of a song that moved you to tears,
or a prayer that inspired you to act.
Think of laughter shared with friends,
or the care of your family.
Think of a stranger who made you feel welcome,
or of some who said “I love you.”
Think of a time when your spirit was refreshed – and give thanks.
Think of a time when you were in despair…
Think of feeling alone in a roomful of people.
or of feeling unwanted by even one person.
Think of being ashamed because you’ve hurt someone,
or of being awkward because you’ve misjudged a situation.
Think of being worn with worry or anxiety,
or of knowing that your life is a sorry, disgusting mess.
Think of a time when you were in despair
– then think of the suffering, forgiving, changing love of Jesus – and give thanks.
The world belongs to the Lord. Think of the Maker – and give thanks.
From This is the day ,Copyright 2002, Wild Goose Publications, The Iona Community, Glasgow Reproduced by Permission
JM abroad
Jan Ord
JM–USA
I’ve printed the magazine out, and put it in the narthex at St Barnabas Episcopal Church (my faith community, and also the community that supports my commitment to contemplative prayer through the Julian meetings). I’ve asked people to read it and return it (as with other publications that I put out in our “Julian corner.”) That seems to work well.
As far as promotion of the Julian Meetings goes, our local newspapers (three) all accept (and usually publish, free of charge) the little piece that I write each month (usually the same thing, just date changes) welcoming all to the Julian Meeting. St Barnabas also hosts a monthly Taizé, which I also write up and send to the papers. As a result, we have quite a small, faithful band of “contemplatives” coming from the local community as well as from St Barnabas.
The Episcopal diocese has several monthly publications, and several times a year I send the little write-up to them as well. And one of our dear parishioners makes sure that the bulletin board at the church announces the Julian Meeting.
Once in a while I email everyone who has ever attended a meeting, or a retreat, reminding them to pass the information on – and a few of them have encouraged their friends. So – through various ways, those who are seeking this way to worshfp God find out about it. So far the numbers are still too small to begin a new group.
A small group of four (three Catholics and one Presbyterian) have been faithfully meeting at a Presbyterian Church in Libertyville (about an hour away from me). In November, at their invitation, I went there on a Wednesday evening for supper and for their “Mid-week Sabbath” meeting.
They had been focusing on various aspects of spirituality, and Lori, the Presbyterian, who is the leader of the Julian Meeting in that area, had invited me to lead the workshop that evening on contemplative prayer.
About 20 very committed people stayed – and seemed to be very enthusiastic. Lori tells me that the group has doubled in size since then, including many Presbyterians.
Also, as a result of that visit, the group from the Catholic church in Libertyville has invited me to do a similar workshop for their mid-week series during Lent, so I will be doing the same brief (about an hour presentation, which includes 10 minutes of silent prayer) workshop on February 28.
I do need to do a better job of letting you know what is going on here – it’s a very slow growth in interest, but it is growing. We have our October 2007 retreat planned, with a truly wonderful speaker lined up. I will get that information to you as soon as I’ve written the advertising for it.
Article
Carl Lee
Peace Within
Being asked to write an article on “peace within” is guaranteed to produce the opposite effect on me personally. I think one of the ways of achieving inner peace is by sticking to the thing one does well, rather than trying to be what one is not. Although my early life was spent in the printing industry where spelling and grammar were quite important, one would not guess so to look at my writings nowadays. So why am I writing this piece?
Mainly because for the past 30 years I have run a retreat and conference centre. Sheldon has been an oasis, a container, sacred space, a special place, to many thousands of people. Many of them, over the years, would have said to me “I can really feel the peace here.” Where they experience this sense of peace can vary, from one of our chapels (either ancient or new), to a seat on the edge of a field or in the middle of the wood. Often they would say “you must feel it too”, and members of the community would grin and think “no I can’t, we are having to paddle like the proverbial duck to be able to offer this place of peace.” If that is the case, how do people rushing around (or doing their best to appear not to be rushing around) in order to provide such a sacred space, obtain their own inner peace?
Personally, I have experienced a great sense of stillness, especially when my children were small. This usually followed a period when they were unwell or distressed and had finally settled into sleep. In some ways, it could be argued that this stillness came out of a sense of relief rather than of any spiritual practice. I can equally experience an incredible stillness when the community are able to hold a silence together as part of our daily office. It is not unusual for compline to engender a sense of peace and stillness. In fact, this religious ovaltine is meant to do precisely that.
Our specialist ministry here at Sheldon is to offer support to those clergy (of whatever denomination) who may be going through a period of strain or stress. We offer a container in which they can experience God, experience God’s healing, God’s peace, a God-given sense of re-direction. We cannot give them inner peace, but we can do our best to offer the ingredients where it has a fair chance of happening. Human warmth, love, and practical care can go a long way towards the wellbeing of any person.
For many who come to us, their lack of inner peace is linked to the dichotomies they face in ministry. Issues of sexuality, of inclusion or exclusion, forms of liturgy, can all contribute to a sense of being ill at ease, of conflict, of a feeling of dishonesty. Not sitting comfortably with my theological college theology when I have been in ministry for 30 years seems to me a reasonable place to be, but for some it is disquietening. Many have come into ministry with a clear pastoral view of the job only to find lots of management issues have to be faced, which they feel ill-equipped to deal with and which they consider is not part of their calling. It would seem that it is difficult for the church at a national level whether it is there as a management company or to have the care of souls. Accepting who we are, what we are, and knowing that God still cares for and loves us can be a tremendously liberating experience even for clergy.
Encouraging people of whatever background and lifestyle to have space for themselves is a popularist thing to do. Everybody is going to love you if you are continually saying to them “be nice to yourself, give yourself space, have that bar of chocolate.” This is all very well but it can deny some people access to what can be essential ingredients of life. Providing opportunities for being still, of going to those places where we can experience God, wherever that might be, are as important as fresh water and food, if we are to take the whole person seriously. For some people nature induces a sense of God, whilst others who may be housebound can create their own sacred corner. Around our site here at Sheldon we have lots of places where people can be. There are walkways which take you round in a big circle so you don’t have to think about where you are going. There is St Francis in Dingly Dell or St Antony in Yonder Wood, and the hope for a hermitage in Benedict’s Wood. In our setting, we present the opportunities for people to find that moment of quiet.
I think I can sometimes be confused between inner peace and stillness. I think I can find stillness through many sometimes quite surprising avenues. I sometimes question whether inner peace is something to which I have a right at all. I can have a sense that all will be right with God in the end, but I find it difficult to be laid back and not be involved in some of the injustices that I see in the world. I find it difficult to be at peace with some of the things that I hear being taught in the name of Jesus, or indeed in the name of other faiths. I rea!ise this is only in my opinion but I have to live with that. Sometimes I might be making a judgement that is wrong. It is widely accepted that stillness obviously brings benefits to the physical form, lowering of blood pressure, slowing of disease; putting things in perspective from a mental point of view – all are helped by periods of stillness, quiet and tranquillity. There can be a sense of being at peace with oneself whilst not being at peace with the world. I haven’t thought that one through so don’t know where that would take me.
The editor may have regretted asking me to write anything, as I may have brought to you, dear reader, anything but peace. There is a tension for the Christian with regard to inactivity or activity. Hence some years ago now we founded the Society of Mary and Martha. Inner peace, stillness, are about good news. If we present ourselves to God with the intention of being attentive then lots of good things can happen. Then, we might experience the peace that passes all understanding.
Quotation
Rowan Williams
God means that depth behind and beyond all things, into which, when I pray, I try to sink; and also the activity that comes to me out of the depth, that tells me that I am loved, that offers me transformations that I cannot imagine, with very much a mystery, but also a presence, person, whom I can turn to, whom I can have a relationship with, for the expression of which we need the language of love.
Copyright BBC, used with permission
Poem
John Harvey
Sinking into Silence
Through stillness,
Through quietness,
By closing my eyes
And shutting out
The distractions of the world,
I sink
Deep,
Deep
Within myself
Into a pool
Of silence.
In this calm and holy place,
Thoughts flood in,
But I drown them out
With silence.
My mantra:
“Wide, wide as the ocean,
High as the heavens above,
Deep, deep as the deepest sea… ”
Draws me in, deeper,
And the silent void
Is filled with peace.
The song of birds
Echoes around the walls
Of my silence,
But does not disturb it.
I draw my loved-ones in,
One by one,
To bathe with me
In the waters of silence.
My desire is to stay
In this timeless place,
But, summoned from the depths, I rise,
And carry the blessing with me.
My eyes open
To the beauty around me,
My heart flowing with love,
And my spirit
Enriched by the silence.
Poem
Brian Draper
Jesus was a guest
Jesus was a guest – of humanity
The heavenly host, who laid on a harvest ofabundance for the world,
the creator, my provider, became a guest of the animals in the stable,
the villagers of Nazareth, the religious leaders in the Temple,
the prostitutes, drunkards, tax collectors.
He let us play host, did away with the VIP pass, ate,
drank and was probably merry.
Became one of us, dined at our table.
Ate the same bread, drank the same wine – everybody having a good time.
Shared stories; shared our story.
When he left the table, he left bread and wine.
He, himself, left; but he left himself.
The guest, once more, became the consummate host.
Reprinted by permission of the author: London Institute of Contemporary Christianity
Book review
Gail Ballinger
Christopher Jamison • Finding Sanctuary: monastic steps for everyday life
Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2006, £10 Hardback ISBN 0-297-85132-2 Paperback 2007 £6.99 0-753-82149-4 4 CDs £14.99 ISBN-10: 0-752-88553-7 £14.99
Also in downloadable form (see website below)
Father Christopher Jamison is the Abbot from BBC TV’s The Monastery in which five very modern young men lived the monastic life for forty days and forty nights observed by TV cameras.
His book reaches out to those who are not sure what they believe, not by presenting arguments for faith or pointing to the changed or inspired lives of others, but by offering a new approach to life. He takes readers through a number of practical steps drawn from the wisdom of St Benedict, which will help them to build a sanctuary where they will find some spiritual space and peace in their busy lives. He shows that silence and contemplation are not just for monks and nuns, they are natural parts of life. By learning to listen in new ways, people’s lives can and do change.
Part 1 looks at How did I get this busy and how to enter the sanctuary: we don’t have to be dominated by busyness. Part 2 (most of the book) Monastic Steps of Silence, Contemplation, Obedience, Humility, Community, Spirituality and Hope; the chapter on hope includes a valuable insight into the positive place of religion in world peace. The book concludes with an exercise in Lectio Divina based on The Prodigal Son.
There is a very useful associated website http://www.findingsanctuary.org which includes guidance for meditation.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Joyce Rupp • Fresh Bread and other gifts of Spiritual Nourishment
Ave Maria Press, 2006 Twentieth Anniversary Edition, £6.99
ISBN 1-59471-085-6
It is good to find this book still in print after twenty years. There is a chapter for each month of the year with a poem, meditations, thirty bible references linked to the theme and some questions for deeper reflection.
Joyce Rupp comments that the book was written with the hope that it would offer prayerful support to those who want to care for their inner self. It encourages you to be faithful to your inner need for daily spiritual nourishment. The author is so good at producing material for going deeper, for silence and solitude, slowing down, being less harried and hurried – all essential in order to recognise God’s presence amid life’s busyness. Seasonal and liturgical themes take you through the year. This is a wonderful resource for daily reflection which also provides lead-ins for silent prayer and material for quiet days or retreats.
Book review
Gail Ballinger
Hugh McCullum and Terry MacArthur • In God’s Hands: common prayer for the world
World Council of Churches, 2006, £28+p&p ISBN 2-8254-1488-3
In God’s Hands has two predecessors: For All God’s People which was published in 1978 and translated into twenty languages and With All God’s People published in 1989. In God’s Hands continues that tradition: it seeks to inform our public worship and private prayer with ecumenical concerns and content, enabling us to journey in prayer through every region of the world and every week of the year…It is offered to the member churches of the WCC as one method of enabling Christians to broaden and also focus their prayer and ‘concern, and to familiarise themselves with and bring into the immediate family people of different parts of the world.’
In God’s Hands invites us to pray on behalf of and in solidarity with a group of other countries each week. This book includes prayers and other worship materials from many Christian traditions and communities of the world. Descriptions of these nations (with maps) and peoples help us to pray for others in an informed way, knowing something of their local situations, possibilities and challenges and what are their needs for prayer. I have found it a valuable resource and support for those whose way of intercession is largely silent. The calendar covers the years 2007 to 2014.
In God’s Hands is available direct from WCC via their website http://www.wcc-coe.org either by ordering online or by printing off an order form. Or it can be ordered from some Christian bookshops.
Book review
Michael Tiley
Rachel Boulding – The Church Times Book of 100 Best Prayers
Canterbury Press 2006 £12.99
ISBN 1-85311-678-5
This 206 page collection of prayers is a veritable goldmine of carefully chosen works dating from the earliest times (600BC in the case of “The Lord bless you and keep you…” in Numbers 6.24-26 ) to recent prayers by well-known authors such as Desmond Tutu, Brother Roger of Taizé and Jim Cotter, with perceptive one-page commentaries or meditations on each prayer by one of 27 well-known contemporary spiritual authors such as David Adam, John Pritchard and Sister Wendy Becket. Sister Wendy also wrote the Introduction to the book where she says:
This book is about said prayer, but we cannot say prayers at all unless we know also the prayer of silence. In silent prayer-no words and hence no thoughts – we are still…unless our spoken prayer has silence at its centre, we can be in danger of that ‘too much speaking’ of which the heathens were accused (Matthew 6.7).
Many of these prayers could be used with their commentaries as ‘lead-ins’ at Julian Meetings and I also find that it is helpful to repeat the prayer at the end of the commentary before going into silence. Most people will find many well loved favourites here such as ‘The Elixir’ by George Herbert; the Celtic or Irish prayer which begins May the road rise to meet you…; the prayer for peace, Lead me from death to life …and The Fruit of Silence by Mother Theresa and even less well-known ones such as this one liner by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace: Lord, lay me down like a stone, and raise me up like fresh bread.
Book review
Janet Robinson
Martin Laird • Into the Silent Land: the practice of contemplation
Darton, Longman and Todd , 2006, £10.95 ISBN O 232 52640 0
This book has such distinguished recommendations that I hesitate to review it. Rowan Williams says that it is “sharp, deep with no cliches, no psychobabble and no short cuts…it is a rare treasure.” And Desmond Tutu adds “I tried it and it works. Try it.”
Martin Laird is an Augustinian monk and a professor of theology. If that frightens you, don’t let it. It is perhaps not a book for the complete beginner but any of us who have attempted the nursery slopes of contemplation in both Julian meetings and in private will find much of value. It shows that the Christian tradition of contemplation has its own teachings on using one’s breathing and a prayer word to focus the mind. The author tackles the distractions, the whirling dervishes that beset one as soon as one tries to settle to silent prayer. He shows that prayer is fundamentally simple – though I would suggest that it is a costly simplicity. The apposite quotes from early and modern writers help us to realise that our struggles are those of any person of prayer. The central part of the book deals with the key times of difficulty on the path of contemplation.
I did find the later chapters more difficult to assimilate, but I am sure that it is a book which I will refer to many times as I continue to step further into the Silent Land.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Eva Heymann • The Deeper Centre
DLT 2006 £10.95
ISBN 0-232-52628-1
This is much more than the autobiography of a German Jewish refugee who came to England via the Kindertransport and after going to school and training college became a Roman Catholic nun, spiritual companion, retreat leader and psychiatric social worker. Eva invites readers to reflect on their own life experiences and to ponder their ovvn faith journeys. This is not a straight read-through, I found I wanted to pause over the symbolism of trees which threads its way through each chapter and through the events of her life. She says “Trees speak not through words but by their very existence.” This book arises from a life very much lived on the edge, it is inspiring and full of inner wisdom. I am not surprised that it has shot to number three on the bestsellers list in one of the weekly religious papers.
Book review
Anne Stamper
Mother Mary Clare • Learning to Pray
First published 1970 second edition 2006 £2.50 ISBN 0-7283-0047-8
AND Janet Fletcher • Pathway to God
SPCK 2006 £8.99 ISBN 0-281-05818-0
I have been reading these two short books on prayer at the same time. The one by Mother Mary Clare is a classic. Written 30 years ago, based on a talk given to Roman Catholic novices, it is equally relevant to lay people today. The other is written by Janet Fletcher, a team Vicar in the Liverpool diocese, who has led quiet days and retreats. The book has grown out of a course she developed on prayer.
Both these books are gentle and encouraging. Both books reassure the readers that there is no right or wrong way to pray, but that there are many pathways. They open up different aspects of prayer and make them accessible and inviting.
Mother Mary Clare likens prayer to a love affair with God. You start where you are and deepen what you already have. I was specially taken with this passage:
The real meaning of intercession; not telling God in our own words of the needs and sorrows of the world, but through your own silent and attending spirit focusing the love of God where the need is greatest.
Both writers stress the importance of attentive silence. Janet Fletcher’s book in particular could be used with groups to explore prayer in all its variety. It is arranged in short chapters including: using imagination; sacred spaces; music and silence; potholes on the pathway…At intervals in the book there are pages with a ‘pause for prayer’ which will certainly offer me material for ‘lead-ins’ for my Julian Meeting.
These are two small and very worth while books.
Book review
Gail Ballinger
Ian Randall • what a friend we have in Jesus: the evangelical tradition
DLT, 2005, £9.95
ISBN 0-232-52533-1
From DLT’s Traditions of Spirituality Series, this book shows how evangelical spirituality has changed and developed over time. There are numerous references to contemplative prayer. We read of… George Whitefield, an inveterate activist who saw meditation as ‘a kind of silent prayer where the soul is as it were frequently carried out of itself to God’, of Handley Maule commending silence during times of prayer, noting that this discipline had been used during all ages, especially by the Quakers ‘and of ‘the contemplative roots of Baptist spirituality.’
Maule commented ‘it has come into recognition and use among ourselves and from many sides testimony is given to its spiritual value…To let the articulate activities of the mind, as much as may be, lie still while the consciousness in a profound quiet simply recollects the Lord and hearkens to him not least when this is dorie in company together.’
Although historical and academic, this might be a book to give to an evangelical who is suspicious of contemplative prayer or to contemplatives who feel threatened by evangelicals.
Book review
Anne and John Stamper
Eugene H Peterson • Eat This Book: a conversation in the art of spiritual reading
Hodder and Stoughton, 2006 ,£9.99
ISBN 0-340-86391-9
The title of this book is drawn from the Book of Revelation (10:9-10) ‘I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it…’ The American author, who is also the author of The Message, a contemporary language paraphrase of the Bible, sets out to stress the importance of reading the Bible so that it is not just an intellectual exercise but becomes food for our souls.
The book falls into three parts. In the first section the author develops his theme that reading the scriptures is not an activity discrete from living the gospel, but one integral to it. He argues strongly for translation into ‘street language’ because the use of heightened language makes it difficult for the modern reader to accept the relevance of the message.
The second section of the book introduces Lectio divina – spiritual reading with its traditional components Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio and Contemplatio. He writes ‘we meditate to become empathetic with the text.’ There is, however, very little in the way of examples and practical advice.
The final section of the book traces the history of biblical translation and also discusses some contributions from archaeology.
There are too many vague generalities in this book and it is repetitive and overlong. We do not feel that this book meets its advertised aim of ‘encouraging lectio divina to a post modern culture.’ There are other books that do this better. We recommend Knowing by Heart: Bible reading for spiritual growth Norvene Vest (DLT).
Book review
Francis Ballinger
Various short reviews
Take Heart: healing prayer for the whole of life.
John Gunstone;Canterbury Press, £7.99
A practical prayer guide that helps us understand our feelings and not be dominated by them. The author considers the range of human experience and emotions – anxiety, anger, sorrow, hope, contentment…and offers prayers and readings relevant to each of them.
Word into Silence.
John Main; Canterbury Press, £8.99
A welcome reprint of John Main’s classic (1980) book: a twelve-step programme on learning to pray meditatively.
Saving the Fish from Drowning.
James O’Halloran; Columba Press, £8.99
A varied and worthwhile collection of short (2–3 page) reflections on issues of peace, justice, the environment, community.
Prayed Out: God in dark places.
John Michael Hanvey; Columba €9.99
The experience of a gay man who happens to be a priest. This book speaks of the ever-available presence of God and his love.
Wisdom from the Monastery: the rule of St Benedict for everyday life.
Canterbury Press £8.99
The text of St Benedict’s rule plus 25 pages of reflections on tools of Benedictine spirituality.