PT Media Picks: Books

The prayer of silence

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

by Cynthia Bourgeault (Cowley Publications, 2004; 178 pages; $14.95, paper; 800-225-1534)

Maybe you, like me, first heard of meditation as a practice of Eastern religions or of Americans from those faiths.  Possibly because other religions grabbed the publicity from our secular press first, we associate the practice with other theologies. Whatever the reason, many Presbyterians list this spiritual discipline as one of the last to explore. Perhaps, when we read Cynthia Bourgeault’s description of meditation’s fruits, we will give it higher priority, as it has a key role in Christianity, too.

For those not familiar with this form of prayer, she traces its Christian roots and locates this method among other forms of meditation.  After classifying meditation into three broad methods — concentrative, awareness and surrender — she then views centering prayer as a surrender meditation from the perspective of our faith tradition. Bourgeault gives a Christian perspective on the marketing claims and secular quips that we read for meditation. She states repeatedly that the fruits of centering prayer are found in daily life (as, letting go of thoughts) rather than a fabled ecstatic experience or a state of enlightenment.

Due to her close work with Father Thomas Keating, she builds on his insights providing images from a different perspective. Keating is one of the key people credited with reviving Christian interest in centering prayer. Drawing on her faith journey from her Christian Science/Quaker childhood through her experiences as a grandmother, musician and Episcopal priest, Bourgeault brings perceptions explaining why meditation holds special Christian interest.

While intellectually understanding meditation is important, Bourgeault invites “tasting and seeing” to aid our Christian transformation.  She encourages us to practice this critical discipline by offering several different ways to begin, and to avoid common obstacles.  Newcomers to meditation, as well as experienced practitioners, will find this book useful.

—Roger Lee, a spiritual director and elder at Woodland Park Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington

A Lenten look at the last week of Jesus’ life

The Last Week

by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006; 220 pages; $21.95, hardcover; available at Amazon and bookstores everywhere)

The Gospel of Mark comes to us as a “book” in our Bible. Yet traditional chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse approaches tend to obscure Mark’s nature as a unified work with overarching themes.  How refreshing, then, to read The Last Week, a re-telling of the final days of Jesus as presented in Mark 11–16.  The material here may perhaps be found in conventional commentaries, but the authors’ vivid writing style and appreciation of Mark’s overall message makes this information a delight to absorb.

Beware: this book is political — and it should be. From the moment Jesus preaches “the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14), first-century audiences know that Mark’s Gospel is anti-establishment.  Modern readers may habitually “spiritualize” political terms, but in Mark’s day, talk of another “kingdom” constituted a direct challenge to the Roman Empire.  The Last Week begins by showing us how the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem followed the form of similar Roman processions, presenting Jesus as an opponent of Rome.  The church often fails to make these connections because since Constantine, temporal powers have always encouraged Bible readings that support their authority.  But according to Mark (and most of the New Testament), God’s Kingdom is almost inevitably at odds with the few who rule at the expense of the many.

The authors, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, are prolific New Testament scholars, and experts on the “historical” Jesus — the picture of Jesus yielded by modern historical methods.  They reject the historicity of supernatural events, including Jesus’ resurrection. Yet those of us who do believe that God literally raised Jesus from the dead (including this reviewer) will agree with Borg and Crossan on the significance of Mark’s central message: Jesus lives, and he has been vindicated by God.

—John Herbst, Ph.D. in biblical studies, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

Poems from the Margins

Writing Out of the Darkness: An Anthology of Poetry by Refugees in Transition

edited by Ann Dernier (Tucson Writers’ Project, 2006; paper, obtained by a donation of $15 or more, plus $3 for postage expenses. Order from The Hopi Foundation, Owl & Panther Project, c/o 341 E.Yvon Dr., Tucson, AZ  85704-5229.)

Patricia Barcelo’s father was kidnapped and tortured in Guatemala in 1984. He and his wife managed to flee the country, leaving Patricia and her sister behind, where their home was taken by the military in the middle of the night. Two years later, with the help of people who worked with refugees, Patricia and her sister were able to join their family in the United States. Barcelo is one of 15 young poets — all refugees or torture survivors — whose poems appear in “Writing Out of the Darkness: An Anthology of Poetry by Refugees in Transition.” These poems tell stories of families separated, of the presence of guns and soldiers as a constant in daily life, of traveling in darkness to avoid detection.

The Center for the Prevention and Resolution of Violence in Tucson, Ariz., was started by Barbara Chester in 1992 to aid refugees and torture victims worldwide. The poems in this book, some written by children as young as 8, are remarkable in their imagery, their rendering of memory. The group of young writers is called “Owl and Panther,” the name coming from a Cherokee creation story that says that only the owl and panther did not succumb to sleep, so they were given the power to see in the dark.

The book was funded through the Hopi Foundation. Award-winning writers such as Nancy Mairs and Richard Shelton have also contributed pieces written especially for the collection. “Whatever language they speak, its grammar is pain/ They will learn another tongue,” says Mairs, whose poem bears the same title as the book.

This book is a testament to many people — to the refugees and torture survivors who have testified to their remarkable lives and to all those who helped give them a voice.

—Sally Curd, Southside Presbyterian Church, Tucson, Ariz.