No Secrets Are Hid!

From Whom No Secrets Are Hid, Introducing the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann and edited by Brent A. Strawn is published by WestminsterJohnKnox at www.wjkbooks.com. It is not Brueggemann's first on the Psalms, but he thinks of this one as "an invitation to growth in faith" and he hopes that it will "lead some to a deeper sense of worship in churches that read, sing, or chant the Psalms." I hope with him that this book will help expand the number of Psalms that are used in worship. He's right. Only a few of the Psalms among the 150 are a part of weekly worship and sometimes the Psalm of the day is skipped over with no comments.

The title of Brueggemann's book is part of a well-known and often used prayer in worship (BCP 355). God knows our secrets, even when we have not shared them with anyone else. Brueggemann reminds us that the Psalter includes the secrets of the human heart and community, and when spoken "out loud in speech and song in the midst of the community," these words are important, even "indispensable," he writes, "for the social and economic health of the body of faith and the body politic." The Psalter that was important for the Israelites, is important for Christians as well.

We may know only a few of the Psalms by heart, and Brueggemann notes that we are drawn to the Psalms, and yet we flee from them. Why? Perhaps because we are part of two worlds: our "closely held world," that is, our every day world that we both welcome and dread, and the other world, the Psalms' "counter world," where voices and words call us to a world in tension with our every day world. We want a new, improved world where the Good Shepherd will be near. And so we cling to the Psalms and the God who occupies that counter world "scripted for us in the Psalms."

Brueggemann looks at many groups of Psalms: 22 and 23, 29, 68, 104, 117, 140--150 to name a few, and he explains their meanings and uses by the people of ancient Israel, He says there is "a direct line of continuity from the old song of Moses (Exod. 15:18) through the Psalms to the prophetic declaration of Isaiah (52:7) to the announcement of Jesus and by Jesus, to the hope of the book of Revelation to the present." He reminds us that we are late participants in this "generative act of enthronement," but in our liturgies, we are like ancient Israel, regularly reasserting that the world is under the governance of the God of justice and righteousness, and the Psalms have "immediate implications for social practice and policy." Our singing and saying these poems is an act of hope that God's rule prevails and includes a resolve for us to participate. There is much more....find time to study it....

---Lois Sibley,
ireviewreligiousbks.blogspot.com

Shaping the Prayers...

Shaping the Prayers of the People, The Art of Intercession by Samuel Wells and Abigail Kocher offers many ideas and suggestions for both clergy and lay people who have the responsibility of preparing the prayers that are used in the worship services at their particular churches. Both Wells and Kocher have spent time planning and preparing specific prayers for use in congregations in both Duke University Chapel and the surrounding churches and neighborhoods in that part of North Carolina. Kocher mentions how God's people have been "insisting," that they needed a book like this and the pressure, almost nagging, she says, finally brought them to the task of improving worship services and especially the prayers of the people. Wells reminds readers that the ones who pray, who intercede for all who are present, know it is a duty to plan and prepare their prayers. He wants this book to show that intercession is not just a duty, but a joy, and he and Kocher are eager to explain why, and how to live it.

 Published by Eerdmans, more information can be found at www.eerdmans.com. To begin, Kocher and Wells give a little history of American churches, and how prayers were put together. Sometimes it was a Pastoral Prayer given by clergy, sometimes prayers were woven together from "revivalist traditions," and sometimes lay people were encouraged to just put together the cares and concerns of the members of the congregation. Among all the churches, there are many different styles of worship. Wells and Kocher are accepting differences and looking at them as opportunities for those intercessors who lead prayers to think carefully about what they are doing.

Their book has two parts: theory and practice. The authors say it is designed to answer the question: "Teach us to pray," and intercessors will take from it what they find helpful and that's good. The authors are offering "grace and joy" in planning prayers, "not new laws or rote" on how to do it. But I think that in the first five chapters, they cover just about every angle of how to plan and pray as intercessors. It shows, as they begin with words like: propose, suggest, explore, choose. And they remind us that Jesus described prayer as: "Ask, Seek, and Knock."

In the second part, Kocher and Wells offer samples of prayers under three headings: Seasons, Ordinary Time, and Occasions. Some of these prayers go back many years and some have been more recently prayed, remembered, and shared. These prayers take us through the church year and there are brief paragraphs suggesting how they might be used. The final two pages are a Checklist for Preparing the Prayers of the People that intercessors may find helpful.

---Lois Sibley,
ireviewreligiousbks.blogspot.com

Four Important Words for Christians

Being Christian is a new book from Rowan Williams, who recently served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury (2002--2012) but now is Master of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge in the U.K. The subtitle is Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer and these are key words, important concepts, and what Williams calls activities, or, "the essence of Christian life." Published by Eerdmans Publishing Co., more information is available at www.eerdmans.com.

Only about 92 pages, you might call it a "quick read," but not if you want to stop and think about what Williams is saying and explaining. He tells us that these four chapters are based on talks he gave during Holy Week in Canterbury Cathedral. I admit I regret that I was not there to see and hear. It's lovely to be at Canterbury, making memories, at any time, but it is also nice to hold his texts in my hands, read, and think about them.

Williams' four important activities each has a chapter filled with biblical and cultural history and how they go together, and Old and New Testament stories, especially stories of Jesus. All of this reminds us of who we are, where we came from, how we fit into history and into God's plans, and the many gifts and responsibilities God has given believers down through the years. It's all bound up in these special activities that Williams explains so eloquently.

The chapters conclude with a few questions for the reader to think about in applying the text to his or her own situation. This is a helpful and encouraging book. Would be a nice gift. 

---Lois Sibley,
ireviewreligiousbks.blogspot.com/

Two books for Godly Play...

Jerome Berryman, with his late wife Thea, is the founder and director of a program for young children called Godly Play, and he has written two new stories for the program. The stories are: The Great Family, which tells the story of Abram and Sarai, their travels, and God's promises to them; and The Good Shepherd, about a shepherd and how he loves and cares for his sheep. Of course, it is Jesus, but the children have to guess that. Both books are published by Morehouse Education Resources, a division of Church Publishing Inc. The illustrator is Lois Mitchell, an artist as well as a Godly Play teacher. Though appropriate for small fingers, the books are large, 8 1/2" x 11" and very colorful. For more information visit GodlyPlayFoundation.org.

Last January, on this blog, I reviewed Berryman's book on the Godly Play program, called The Spiritual Guidance of Children. In it, he gives some of the history of early Sunday school programs as well as the work of Maria Montessori in Rome in 1907, and others who believed that children are "inherently spiritual." Teachers under Montessori's guidance were trained in how to guide children in their spirituality.

The Berrymans joined in the challenges of helping children to know God as they planned their Godly Play program. Berryman says there are similarities and differences in other programs and most are built on Montessori's earlier work in the Roman Catholic network. Godly Play was first marketed to the Episcopal Church but is now "in the mainstream of Christian education around the world." Berryman reminds us that none of these programs are finished, and they all "continue to try to find better ways to help children help themselves to know God."

 I can almost hear the children saying to each other: "I wonder...."

---Lois Sibley

ireviewreligiousbks.blogspot.com/

The Lord's Prayer...Transforming?

A Transforming Vision is a new book by William Edgar and published by Christian Focus, www.christianfocus.com. Edgar describes the Lord’s Prayer as a guide, a model, and a defense of our faith. Dr. Edgar is Professor of Apologetics at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia, as well as a jazz pianist.

Both catechisms, Heidelberg and Westminster, describe the prayer as having an opening statement followed by six petitions and a concluding statement. The prayer can be used as a way of teaching aspects of the Christian life and it does have that important function. But Edgar says it is more than that. More than a guide, it can be and often is thought of as an apologetic. In other words, it is a way of explaining one’s biblical worldview. Edgar calls it "a unique prayer that offers us a remarkable statement of faith, even as it stands opposed to a confused world." He hopes that as we study the Lord's Prayer, "we will be able to hear it and see it afresh."

But "why pray at all?" he asks, and goes on to explain the setting of the Prayer where Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray and why and when, in the culture and atmosphere of the first century, in which they lived. The next chapters describe the phrases of the Lord's Prayer and the meanings one can find in each of the six petitions.

Dr. Edgar closes this thought-provoking study of the Lord’s Prayer by reminding us of the concluding words of the prayer: "Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen." He reminds us that "throughout the Scripture we learn that our God reigns." The Bible is full of affirmations of God’s great power.

Edgar calls the Lord’s Prayer "a transforming vision." It is not just for a worldview that sees the world right side up, but it is a prayer, a way of life that brings transformation. "Prayer is hard," he says. "It does not come easily to fallen creatures. It is a discipline to be practiced." Dr. Edgar calls us to our task: "pray and practice holiness" and "follow God's commandments."

—Lois Sibley
 

Phrases as little compositions...

What's in a Phrase? Pausing where Scripture gives you a pause is a new book from Marilyn Chandler McEntyre and published by Eerdmans, available at www.eerdmans.com. McEntyre caught me with the first sentence in her Introduction: “Phrases have lives of their own.” Yes, they do. And it’s often fun or maybe a challenge to stop and think about those few words and what they mean in that space and time. McEntyre calls them “little compositions that suggest and evoke and invite.” And she has been looking through the Scriptures to find phrases and think about what they mean in their particular context.

Author McEntyre is a fellow of the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont College in California, and she teaches at UC Berkeley as well. She has other books and this one caught my eye and attention recently. She divides her book into three sections: Assurance; Invitation and Admonition; and Mystery and Surprise. There are 50 headline verses, each with pages of phrases to fathom.

McEntyre reminds us that the Benedictines called it lectio divina or holy reading, and when we stop and listen to a word or phrase, perhaps it is an act of faith, calling us to attention, and “we may assume,” she writes, that it is “a gift to be received.” Perhaps the Holy Spirit is about to teach us something that we need to know.

“Incline your ear, O Lord,” from Psalm 86 is the first phrase under the Assurance section.. She suggests that while we may be asking for answers to our prayer, we may have the answer in what we have been given already. And, “if we lift our gaze beyond anxieties, we may see that God has been listening.”

Under Invitation and Admonition, McEntyre reminds us of Micah 6:8 “...and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” She offers examples of doing each of these as we think of our own possibilities.

The final section, Mystery and Surprise begins with “in the fullness of time,” as in Galatians 4:4, and continues with “Praise him, you highest heavens,” Ps. 148 (NRSV). We are reminded that the highest heavens are moving, the universe expanding, stars exploding..... “What do the heavens have to do with us and our praises?” asks McEntyre. First, the visible heavenly bodies are daily evidence of the order and power of the Creator; second, the heavens have given helpful, practical navigational guidance “to wise men in the desert and sailors on the sea”; and third, the importance of statements in Scripture, such as “God is love,” and “God is light.” Could all of these, and more, be affirmations of  God’s own praises beside our praises? There is much to think about here.      

—Lois Sibley

C. S. Lewis Again...

C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity by Paul McCusker and published jointly by Tyndale and Focus on the Family continues the popularity of Lewis and his many books. But here we learn more about  how he became involved with providing scripts for radio talks, as well as sets of series on religious subjects that were very popular with BBC radio listeners during World War II.

There is much detail here, focusing on C. S. Lewis (called Jack by author McCusker) and his family situation; his friendships with and support from Eric Fenn and James Welch of the BBC; as well as his academic teaching at Oxford, Magdalen College and Cambridge; his long friendships with fellow authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and other members of The Inklings. Lewis and Dorothy Sayers were also friends and they appreciated each other’s writing.

The book is full of stories and incidents that tell us of Lewis’s care and concern for individuals as well as for his involvement in duty as a service person in both World Wars, I and II. At his home, the Kilns, they had evacuees from London staying with them during War II, as many families did. Usually three girls came together and stayed for a time. McCusker includes one of the girls’ appreciation for time she spent with Lewis and his family, when she was one of the “evacuees.”

Those familiar with Lewis’s history will recall that his mother died when he was nine years old, and he and his older brother Warnie were sent off to boarding school by their father. After their education years, both served in the military and both were authors during much of their adulthood. Among Jack’s many popular books are The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many others. Probably his most well-known book is Mere Christianity, most of which was first given as radio talks on BBC radio during WW II.

Lewis was a tutor and lecturer in English literature at Oxford. After his radio talks, he became quite well-known and was often invited to speak as an apologist for Christianity at meetings around the country. This was not appreciated by the Oxford dons, who thought he should stay in his own academic circle. Lewis described himself as a defender of the faith rather than “an apologist” and he encouraged his listeners to be the same.

McCusker includes so much of Lewis’s thoughts, decisions, actions, one wonders: how does he know this or that detail? Yet, it’s all there, in the vast amount of conversations, diaries, interviews, letters, speeches, books, referred to in the Notes section of this fascinating book.

—Lois Sibley