I recently read Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner. It’s a memoir (love that) and a story of a spiritual journey (really love that). Winner writes about how she went from Orthodox Jew to faith in Jesus. A brave book, this is.
I first had my hand on this book a year or so ago when browsing titles at my local bookstore, but for some reason I’ve long since forgotten, I didn’t find it interesting. Then the other week through my Internet clicks, I re-discovered it. Funny how a title just seems to grab you when before you couldn’t have been bothered.
Winner, writing from the view of an Episcopalian, describes how she enjoys using The Book of Common Prayer. I’ve never used a prayer book, vaguely know what to do with one. My church is not of the Episcopal flavor that Winner likes (she’s pursuing her doctorate in the history of American religion, so it’s not surprising to me she likes a traditional place of worship).
I always thought the best prayers are the spontaneous ones you “came up with” yourself. Prayers from a book? Not for me. But the more I read about Winner’s love for it, the more fascinated I became. And it seemed to work for her. Then I thought of the times when I wanted to pray and got stuck looking for the right word or drifted away with distractions. I like to write prayers down to help me keep my thoughts on the subject at hand, to help my mind from wandering. What would happen if I took those prayers and printed them into a book for others? Hmmm.
Maybe there is something to this prayer book stuff after all.
So now I have one. And since I’m interested in my Irish heritage, I found a lovely Celtic prayer book. I’m still learning how to use it properly, doing a lot of flipping the pages back and forth, but I’ll let you know how it goes.
You know, my favorite books are the ones that motivative me to change, challenge my thinking. Girl Meets God is one of those books. Winner had a similar experience with At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. She credits that fiction book — along with a dream about mermaids — with helping her come to Christ. How neat is that?
Enjoyed this post, I am almost finished reading Girl Meets God and am really enjoying it for similar reasons, it is making me think. As I was reading your post I thought to myself I must recommend a celtic prayer book I have…..and then lo and behold – it is the very same one you have anyway! Glad to have discovered your blog.
hi, jane, I’m reading Mudhouse Sabbath soon. thanks for commenting.
I really enjoyed “Girl Meets God” and am an avid Prayer Book uses in addition to the prayers that I make up on the spot. My best ever most-beloved prayer book is John Baillie’s Diary of Private Prayer. I also use my Book of Common Prayer.
Here is what I like about them, because the prayers are not made-up-on-the-spot, they are more intentional and are often more soundly rooted in Biblical doctrine. I often start praying on one tactic and the book prayer directs me to another, usually a more worthy one.
I guess the structure helps me stay balanced between worship-prayers, petition for others prayers, and my own petitions.
My two bits,
Suzanne
I have this on my TBR list also. I very much appreciated your review as I think it told me more about the book than anyone else who has suggested it (and I still want to read it!). I have a Reformed Episcopal background and am very familiar with the prayer book. I appreciate parts of it but I also appreciate spontaneous prayers direct from the heart! I think the PB can be a useful tool but sometimes is too heavily relied upon for my own comfort.
That’s a good point, Carrie. Useful good, too dependent bad.