Rivers in the Desert
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Letters from Nazareth
Letters from Nazareth
Author Richard Carter
Publisher Canterbury £18.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781786224910
Written against the backdrop of Covid-19, the invasion of Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II, this book is part spiritual memoir and part manual for spiritual reflection and development. Across sixty letters originally written to fellow members of the Nazareth Community, the author illuminates their simple rule of life: Silence, Service, Scripture, Sacrament, Sabbath and Staying With. We accompany him from hospital bedsides to a Scottish bothy, from a Crown Court where he serves as a juror to a holiday in Greece, and on a notable pilgrimage to Nazareth and the Holy Land. We are invited to look for ‘home’ within ourselves and others as we travel and where we hope to arrive. It is a book that will gently unsettle the reader and then suggest ways to re-settle in a more God-centred way. It is a book that made me weep and one that has burnished my hope. I will promote this book to spiritual directors and accompaniers. I will offer it to anyone who longs to know God, and themselves, better. This book is a blessing.
Reviewed by RONA ORME
Spirituality
Transforming Love
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Celtic Prayer
Celtic Prayer
Author David Cole (ed.)
Publisher BRF £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781800390539
This engaging book of essays has been written by members of the Community of Aidan and Hilda, a dispersed ecumenical body which gains inspiration from the ancient Celtic saints. The contributions are thoughtful, well-written and accessible, and collectively they explain and promote the benefits and strengths of Celtic spirituality, especially through prayer. The aim is simple: to seek God within everyday life, in the landscape and through the seasons, for we have a God who cares for both the cosmos and the ordinary. The great truths of the Christian gospel are woven together in practical and usable prayers, like the characteristic Celtic knotwork. Individual essay themes include contemporary cultural thoughts on unity, inclusion and disability as well as the ‘eternal’ issues so familiar to the early saints, including meditation, healing, justice, pilgrimage and the Holy Spirit. There are many new and relevant prayers within the text, as well as practical creative advice on liturgy and finding God in art and music. All readers should find new inspiration here to strengthen their prayer lives, so I warmly recommend this book.
Reviewed by ELIZABETH STEPHENSON
Spirituality
Live No Lies
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