My Account

Cries for a Lost Homeland

Apr 21, 2022 | 2022 - Summer - Free, Book Reviews

Cries for a Lost Homeland

Author Guli Francis-Dehqani
Publisher Canterbury Press £10.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781786223838

Out of an extraordinary life story, the Bishop of Chelmsford has provided an extraordinary book. Six reflections on Jesus’s sayings from the cross weave together memories of growing up Christian in a Muslim country, experiences during the Islamic revolution in Iran and as a refugee in Britain, with thoughts on identity, belonging, relationships and diverse theological themes. The links to Jesus’ last words are sometimes what we would expect, sometimes surprising. What is the connection between ‘I thirst!’ and a blunt potato peeler? I leave you to find out. There is a lot of pain in these pages. In the foreword, Sam Wells writes, ‘Here you will find Christ’s story inscribed on her own flesh…’. Yet there is nothing depressing about the narrative, but rather a profound compassion for the human condition. The foreword and afterword, both add to the richness of this short book. This book could give a Lent group ample food for thought simply with the use of a few questions, such as: ‘What has touched you?’ or ‘Having read this, is there anything you see differently now?’

Reviewed by GERTRUD SOLLARS

Biblical reflections

 

Motherhood and Autism

Apr 21, 2022 | 2022 - Summer - Free, Book Reviews

Motherhood and Autism

Author Eilidh Campbell
Publisher SCM £25
Format pbk
ISBN 9780334061502

From blissfully contented newborn to an unsleeping, inconsolable nine month old – the stuff of nightmares – as it proved to be for the author, a theologian whose son was diagnosed with autism, aged six. Her experiences, and those of others, bring uncertainty, fear and grief. The book divides into three sections: autism and ambiguity; normalcy, stigma and disability and finally, mothering a child on the autistic spectrum, including motherly guilt and conflict. This is an academic book, but deals with the distress and exhaustion of mothers who cannot always live up to the Madonna model when faced with apparently unending violent, disruptive, anti-social behaviour. ‘What do I understand by “normal”? How do I approach what I perceive as “abnormal”? Whom do I ignore, devalue exclude and stigmatise? How do the disabled live in an abled world? How can I understand love that shows little or no affection or empathy? Crucially, how can we support the carers of autistics?’ This is not a comfortable book, but please read it. It is good and humbling to be challenged by what cannot be contained.

Reviewed by ROSIE BUDD

Theology of disability

 

Sacred Space for Lent 2022

Feb 17, 2022 | 2022 - Lent, Book Reviews

Sacred Space for Lent 2022

Author The Irish Jesuits
Publisher Messenger Publications €4.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781788124942

Sacred Space is a website (www.sacred space.ie) inspired by Ignatian spirituality. This little companion book augments the website with a simple spiritual guide to the Lenten season. Each day is provided with a scripture reading and points for reflection – a prayerful companion for the journey to the Easter Resurrection.

Reviewed by ELIZABETH HOGG

Lenten devotion

This Lent book was published previously, but is still in print. We did not review it at the time of publication.

Hearers of the Word. Lent and Holy Week Year C

Feb 17, 2022 | 2022 - Lent, Book Reviews

Hearers of the Word.
Lent and Holy Week Year C

Author Kieran O’Mahony
Publisher Messenger Publications €19.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781788124796

The subtitle of this Catholic seasonal manual is ‘Praying and Exploring the Readings’ for Sundays in Lent, Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. Father Kieran O’Mahoney is an Augustine friar and a fine biblical scholar, and he provides detailed insights into all the Eucharist readings in Lent (which are common to Anglican and Catholic lectionaries), including Old Testament and New Testament texts as well as the Gospels. This alone provides excellent material for any minister preaching during Lent, but there are also short reflections and much additional prayer material, including general ‘prayer pointers’. This book therefore provides a more detailed and more scholarly Lenten guide than any Anglican material that I have seen in recent years. It is refreshing in its approach, and ministers with busy diaries during Lent would quickly gain important insights from its clear and accessible style. Available from www.messenger.ie.

Reviewed by ELIZABETH HOGG

Lenten devotion

This Lent book was published previously, but is still in print. We did not review it at the time of publication.

 

The Room Where It Happens

Feb 17, 2022 | 2022 - Lent, Book Reviews

The Room Where It Happens

Author Rose Hudson-Wilkin
Publisher DLT £6.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781913657789

Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover since 2019, and former Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, often reminds us that she is still ‘the girl from Montego Bay, Jamaica’. Her roots are with immigrant communities but her strong evangelical faith has a flavour which crosses all boundaries. She herself had many barriers to cross in her journey to the priesthood, and to becoming a bishop. She is therefore the ideal author for this, the latest in DLT’s imaginative Lent course books, based on recent films or shows. The Room Where It Happens is of course based on the hit musical, Hamilton, and features five sessions for house or church gatherings. If you have not seen the show, Hamilton is about the founding fathers of America in the late 18th century, but it has huge resonances for American multi-ethic society today – and indeed British society. Bishop Rose has written this course from the heart, in order to ask questions of all of us, and to show how the Bible and the experience of Christian faith can teach us about the big issues of life, especially diversity, justice, and overcoming adversity. Good preparation by group leaders will be needed, including the availability of excerpts from the songs of Hamilton on ‘YouTube’, especially the dominant recurring theme of The Room Where It Happens. This surprising course has great potential to boost faith and to take Christians out of their comfort zones. I recommend you give it a go!

Reviewed by ALICE BURDETT

Lenten devotion

 

Essential information required for your profile. Click okay to complete.

Cancel Okay