| Books
Suggested reading list of books compiled
by the Center on Aging, Presbyterian School of Education.
Featured book: I’m
Still Dancing: Praying through Good Days and Bad
by Rose Tillemans, C.S.J.
Twenty-Third Publications (185 Willow
Street, Mystic, CT 06355), 2002, ISBN : 1-58595-237-0, 71 pages.
Reviewed by Carol Taylor
“Good morning, Holy God, I give thanks for my upbeat awakening this
morning…”
Rose Tillemans, an activist for peace and justice, wrote this slim volume
of prayers in 2002, the year she died at the age of 79. The forty prayers
span the spectrum of human emotions from joy to anger to depression to fear and
back to joy.
“…May tomorrow be cooler and calmer. I ponder my own spurts
of rage and try to replace them with tenderness of heart toward those who might
do me harm…”
Sister Rose founded Peace House, a community day center for poor and homeless
people in Minneapolis, MN, even as she struggled with depression and other chronic
illness. Sister Rose resisted aging, especially retirement and moving to
an assisted living facility.
“Dear God of Joy, a feeling of heaviness overwhelms me this day…”
Although
she accomplished much by anyone’s standards, in her prayers Sister
Rose questioned the purpose of her life. She also prayed to understand
God’s nature, human nature, and the causes of suffering. Sister Rose
was able to put into simple yet eloquent words her praise, her concerns, and
her questions about God and about life.
“…The reality of universal pain overwhelms me at this moment,
but I see myself in this great pool of common anguish trying to hear what you
are asking of me...”
In her prayers Sister Rose revealed herself to God and to us. Her vulnerability
is irresistible: as I read her prayers, I open my heart and join in Rose’s
communion with God. These prayers are appropriate for personal devotion,
to open meetings of mission groups, and could easily be adapted for worship.
“…The God of the Dance will take away your every fear and lead
you from darkness into a light that is ever near…”
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