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Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love
Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love | Padraig O Tuama
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"What is prayer? It's not a passport to heaven. If anything, it's a way of seeing here, a way of being here." In Being Here, acclaimed poet and theologian Pdraig Tuama offers a thoughtful collection of prayers and essays to focus attention in a world full of distractions. Featuring thirty-one collects--an ancient five-fold form of prayer--this unconventional devotional invites readers into a daily rhythm of connection and creativity. "The hope is that you can turn to a prayer with the story of your life, and in the little emptiness you create there, hear something, discern something, feel something that's connecting you to other things seeking out connection with you." Each day's prayers are presented alongside Scripture and illuminating literary texts. The book concludes with four incisive essays on politics, community, and the contours of contemporary life as seen through biblical literature. Pdraig also teaches readers how they can embrace poetic form to expand their practice of prayer. In these pages, spiritual wayfarers will find a place both to rest and to grow their capacity for curiosity, justice, and love. This is a way of living / That's worth living daily.
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BarbaraJean
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I‘ve loved so much of Padraig O Tuama‘s work: his podcast, Poetry Unbound, and his collection of reflections on poems by the same name, as well as various poems & prayers of his I‘ve come across here & there. So I decided to read this book of daily poems & prayers during Lent this year, to displace my habit of scrolling social media & news first thing in the morning.

The book has 31 daily readings—made up of a reading, a scripture reading, and⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont) …a form of prayer called a collect, sandwiched by the same opening & closing prayer each day (which for me, got awfully repetitive). My mileage varied with the various readings & prayers, but I loved how O Tuama used the collect format. A group I lead at church frequently writes collects based on our group reflections, so seeing the way he both worked within & expanded the form—in response to each day‘s scripture reading—was fascinating.⤵️ 4d
BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) This ended up being just a soft pick for me—I didn‘t resonate with it as much as I‘d hoped, and having the SAME opening and closing prayers reprinted every day (length-wise, they were often equal to the rest of the day‘s readings) started to grate on me! I do plan on checking out more of O Tuama‘s collections of prayers, hoping others are a little more substantive and resonate with me more. 4d
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