Sabbath

Author Nicola Slee
Publisher DLT  £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780232533996

‘Sabbath’ looks like a book by a poet about another poet’s poem, but it is far more than that. Slee offers us reflections on the main strands in Wendell Berry’s Sabbath poem ‘I go among the trees and sit still…’ It is not a systematic theological treatise on Sabbath, but an invitation and exploration, following thoughts, feelings, the gifts and threats of setting time aside. Slee explores the necessity and difficulty of fitting Sabbath into our pressured and success-oriented lives, and she offers the painstaking examination of the inner life that you might expect from a poet. Her chapters are complemented by excerpts from her journal, her own poems, questions for reflection and prayers (some very searching), and blank pages for our own notes. In a few places there was more personal information about the author than I wanted, but this does not detract from the vital importance of the message of the book. ‘Sabbath’ won’t help you preach a better sermon but, taken seriously, may help you lead a more integrated, more human and more godly life.

GERTRUD SOLLARS

Poetry, Spirituality