This book defines, describes, and demystifies the traditions of prayer--and makes them accessible to everyone. It begins with a concise history of Christian prayer and proceeds to practical applications for us late-20th-century folk. Chapters with titles like "Finding God in the Ordinary: Your Kitchen Will Teach You Everything" and "Parenting and Prayer: How Do I Pray When the Baby is Keeping Me Up?" address the challenges of integrating spirituality with the demands of daily life. The book concludes with a list of further resources and discussion questions suitable for group or individual use.

Samson Occom And The Christian Indians Of New England is a classic scholarly biography written at turn of the century by a Congregational minister. This reissued paperback is introduced by Margaret Connell Szasz, professor of history at University of New Mexico and author of Indian Education in American Colonies 1607-1783, and editor of Between Indian and White Worlds: The Cultural Broker. She correctly categorizes Love's biography of Samson Occom as "fin de siecle, a work of its time," and she describes Occom as an intellectual giant, a "cultural intermediary (who) strode across the cultures of his time and place (p.xv)."

Both Mohegan and Christian, Occom dazzled Euramerican contemporaries with his intellectual sermons, calm demeanor, and impassioned requests for educational support for Indian students. Crucially instrumental to the founding of Dartmouth College, which was to be "Fro the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land in reading, writing, and all parts of Learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and christianizing children of pagans as well as in all liberal Arts and Sciences; and also for English Youth and any Others," he nevertheless became disillusioned when his fundraising efforts were used by his partner Mr. Wheelock to be subverted for a college that served English rather than Indian students. This was to be but one of many betrayals in the life of Samson Occom.

Szasz concludes that Love, in his biography of Samson Occom "in some instances...belied his times by demonstrating a degree of understanding about Occom's world view that moved beyond mainstream attitudes toward American Indians (p. xxv)." The biography contains a valuable impetus to contrast to the present day ethnographic biographer who would theoretically present Occam more from a native viewpoint for analysis. An example would be Occam's conflicted role in 18th century Modegan society. In this and other areas, Love's Samson Occom highlights further truths to be mined for. It is a mirror of our Western emergence from Eurocentrism.

There is much to be gained from further study of Samson Occom. One additional resource suggested is The Sprit Of The New England Tribes (1986) by William Simmons. The search for cultural continuity is a valuable theme for today's ethno-historian/biographer. Samson Occom And The Christian Indians Of New England is a challenge and a piece of the puzzle that remains tantalizingly uncompleted. May it teach us to examine, question, or perhaps recraft entirely our cultural assumptions today as well.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

God and Goddess. Grace and Justice. Priest and Priestess. Right or Wrong? Mormonism, perhaps more than any other Christian sect, is replete with paradox and seeming contradictions. These paradoxes lead to inevitable questioning by those Latter-day Saints who study their religion deeply and passionately. Margaret and Paul Toscano endeavor to examine these paradoxes and provide some "religious ideas" along the seeker's path to exaltation that may help them find the dynamic median between spiritual extremes. Their book not only endeavors to discuss questions that have perplexed theologians for centuries, but applies this study to our modern experiences as Mormons and asks powerful questions about what these paradoxes mean for us as individuals and as a Church. This book is absolutely the most profound text I have ever read on Mormonism outside of the scriptures themselves, and has helped me find my own answers to the many problems I've encountered in my experience as a Latter-day Saint. It asks such questions as "What is the role of Heavenly Mother in the Godhead?" and "Do Mormon women hold the priesthood?" without glossing them over with pat answers as many in the Church do, or taking an argumentative, polarized stance on the issue as many outside the Church have done. Count on this book to present a thorough, profound examination of the issues which concern all faithful members of the LDS Church, and many that concern theologians and feminists in the greater Christian community.

Contents:

Introduction
Part I: First Principles
Chapter 1: Cornerstones
Chapter 2: Keystones
Part II: Godhead
Chapter 3: Holiness to the Lord
Chapter 4: The God of Flesh and Glory
Chapter 5: The Divine Mother
Chapter 6: Jesus Christ and the Mormon Pantheon
Chapter 7: Beyond Matriarchy, Beyond Patriarchy
Chapter 8: The Marriage of Time and Eternity
Part III: Redemption
Chapter 9: Divinity and Humanity
Chapter 10: Bringing Good Out of Evil

Chapter 11: The Case for Grace
Chapter 12: Metaphors of Salvation
Part IV: Priesthood
Chapter 13: The Nature and Purpose of Priesthood
Chapter 14: Priesthood in the Book of Mormon
Chapter 15: Women and Priesthood in the Bible
Chapter 16: A Kingdom of Priestesses
Chapter 17: The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
Chapter 18: Women, Ordination, and Hierarchy
Chapter 19: Zion: Vision or Mirage
Part V: Sex Roles, Marriage Patterns, and the Temple
Chapter 20: Sex Roles
Chapter 21: Monogamy, Polygamy, and Humility
Chapter 22: Rending the Veil
Chapter 23: The Mormon Endowment
Bibliography

A book of substance that's terrific reading, especially for the thoughtful "seeker" who has an intellectual bent. I savored the craftsmanship of a true writer. And believe it or not, it's a page turner. You feel as if you're an intimate part of the author's spiritual journey, and want to know what she'll discover next. I loved the garden analogies and how she was able to weave the garden theme throughout the book. She truly understands what a garden can do for one's soul. It's pure poetry and almost musical. The book describes the author's spiritual journey over a one year period ending in the summer of 1995. My only regret was that at the end of the book so many of her questions and issues were still unresolved. Although she had embraced Christianity, she hadn't yet met the living Lord, the indwelling Holy Spirit who could carry her through the trials ahead. I found myself caring intensely about her and wanting to know what's happened in her journey during the past 3 years.

God's call to contemplation is universal, Bede Griffiths, a greatly revered English monk who died in India in 1993 insisted, but the reason the "call" is not effective is because of a lack of receptivity. Meg Funk in this present volume offers us all a handbook for spiritual receptivity - more than 25 Christian prayer methods (tools) for our cooperation in becoming receptive to the gift of God's Sprit given without limit.
Sr.Meg truly takes her readers "back to the sources" of the desert and early Christian monasticism as she places in our hands another insightful and helpful 155 pages for the spiritual journey. Those who haven't yet read or may have forgotten the contents of her first volume: Thoughts Matter, will be happy to find that the author gives us not just a brief replay of the "eight thoughts" or "afflictions" that obscure our awareness of God but adds many new insights, nuances and examples. Of the more than 25 practices Meg shares here from our Christian tradition that can be reappropriated today as tools on the contemplative path, she gives pride of place and repeated focus to Lectio Divina "the classic individual prayer form". Her presentation is very well done. Sr.Meg's years of compassionate intermonastic exchanges echo through her volume as she uses phrases like "right effort; right thinking, right relationships" and "the transmision of God". Her breakdown of the tools into negative, positive, social, and prayer tools is helpful. Under the social tools the author gives an exposition of humility with a unique glimpse at St. Benedict's 12 degrees (Chap. 7 of the Rule)and as she herself says "The tools involved in using these twelve steps form a refrain rhroughtout this entire book". Motivation is critical! Attention and intention are frequent "wake up calls" thoughout the seven chapters of the work.
In the final chapter on discernment the author indicates what we can learn from each of the eight afflictive thoughts, using the suggested tools and knowing the goal of each effort. The "downside" or limitations of each of the tools is offered to help all walk in the Turth! Spiritual direction is also included in the final chapter with a view to the listener and the seeker.
The books is highly recommended for all seekers, monastics and lay alike!

This is a lovely new book by Mary Margaret Funk. It reads as both a source
of inspiration and a practical guide for the development of spiritual
practice. The importance of having tools and knowing how to use them as we
tend "the garden of our souls" is articulated in a fresh and accessible way.
While it draws on practices from the early Christian tradition, the depth
and universality of its message is applicable to anyone on a contemplative
path. Tools do matter; they provide us with the means to bring our spiritual
practice to life in an ongoing way. Many thanks to the author for this
important manual of the heart.

Tools Matter gives concrete "tools" for developing our practice on the spiritual journey. As pilgrims we have a need for this. Funk recognizes tools are not an end but "the boat we use to reach the shore." Readable and of monastic classic material-highly recommended.

In this book, Guth explores a realm of American politics usually left untouched: the religious movements. The first quarter of the book is devoted to presenting a brief history of religious movements in the U.S. from early American history to the present. This is done concisely but masterfully. He spends the rest of the book presenting the findings of a case study on a number of American religious denominations and their individual political movements. The research done on this is superb and presents a very accurate (though unexpected) picture of religious movements in politics today. I commend Dr. Guth on a job well done. Anyone at all interested in studying the effects religious groups, from the liberal leftist groups of the 60s and 70s to the new Christian Right should read this book. If only someone would now study Catholic movements in American politics in the same depth, we would have an almost complete picture of the role Christians have played (and continue to p! lay) in politics today.

James L. Guth strikes again with a poignant, informed, yet readable study of the politics of the Protestant clergy. Readers will marvel at Guth's pure genius in deducing the ins and outs of Protestant political history, movements, and regimes. You won't be able to put it down--I read the entire text, some 200-odd pages, in just one sitting. Guth has produced a definitive volume which will set the standard in his field for years to come. Bravo to James L. Guth!

How do we find the origins of anything? In mythology and folklore, there have been attempts to use language and the narratives themselves to recreate the origins. Others attempt to apply pyschological theory to explain the commonness of "man's mythic past" -- "man" here a term purposely chosen to reflect the patriarchical veil that most studies have processed the world through. Marcel Detienne does some of these things in his search for the origins of Greek mythology -- the term "mythology" is used as a general word and does not reflect later attempts to classify and identify different type of narratives. While I may not agree with all of his statements and the translation leaves a bit ot be desired (as all translations due I might add), I am very pleased as a historian to say that Detienne has no problem saying flat out "we may never know" the origins of Greek mythology. This may leave many readers at a loss if the book was chosen to give all the answers but it is a far more realistic approach that attempts to create what can never be uncovered and to understand what has no record.

This 135-page opus is truly one of the most comprehensive and fascinating analyses of the origins of Greco-Roman mythology ever written. Without preaching one particular mode of thinking, Detienne takes the eclectic approach and explores the birth of mythology from a myriad of angles; the linguistic, religious, psychological, philosophical, historic, and socio-economic aspects of Greek culture are all probed in depth throughout the 7 chapters. Detienne bases a great deal of his analysis on the works of the ancient masters and modern critics -- an approach most fitting to his task, but one, however, that gives the book far too many esoteric references to make it material for everyday reading, even for a classicist. The concepts presented in the book are, nonetheless, very well organized, and thought-provoking.

A rambler with historical overtones, The Spirit Woman is set on a Wyoming Indian reservation peopled with vaguely familiar and rather sedate characters that leave a reader wondering whose cookie cutter Margaret Coel borrowed to cut them out. No genuine surprises in plot or character come to the reader's rescue to convince you these are real people with real problems. The book has the feel of a formula mystery, just well crafted enough to be mildly entertaining, yet hindered by the writer's unwillingness to get off the fence and pull out all the punches. The plot is a little too respectable, plodding through correct mental, social and historical territory as if the author is afraid to offend. You'll find no flamboyant, action driven main characters like Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Millhone here. Main characters Father O'Mally, a recovering alcoholic, and Vicky Holden, a divorced Arapahoe lawyer, are likeable enough, but come across as humorless and powerless. Their progress through the book is chiefly emotion driven and interesting at times. But the characters lack the necessary appeal of flesh and blood people and the plot has few twists or unpredictable events that could have elevated this novel into a superior read. The book's strong point is the setting, the landscape and weather managing to steal the show. Reminiscent in the style and pace of an English cozy mystery that's been transplanted to the modern American west, it should be a moderately satisfying read for Tony Hillerman and Agatha Christie buffs alike. But fans of fast paced suspense by the likes of Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard may find The Spirit Woman tedious at best. Good enough for a Rainy Day, but if it falls out of your beach bag you probably won't mourn the loss.

A rambler with historical overtones, The Spirit Woman is set on a Colorado Indian reservation peopled with vaguely familiar and rather sedate characters that leave a reader wondering whose cookie cutter Margaret Coel borrowed to cut them out. No genuine surprises in plot or character come to the reader's rescue to convince you these are real people with real problems. The book has the feel of a formula mystery, just well crafted enough to be mildly entertaining, yet hindered by the writer's unwillingness to get off the fence and pull out all the punches. The plot is a little too respectable, plodding through correct mental, social and historical territory as if the author is afraid to offend. You'll find no flamboyant, action driven main characters like Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Millhone here. Main characters Father O'Mally, a recovering alcoholic, and Vicky Holden, a divorced Arapahoe lawyer, are likeable enough, but come across as humorless and powerless. Their progress through the book is chiefly emotion driven and interesting at times. But the characters lack the necessary appeal of flesh and blood people and the plot has few twists or unpredictable events that could have elevated this novel into a superior read. The book's strong point is the setting, the Colorado landscape and weather managing to steal the show. Reminiscent in the style and pace of an English cozy mystery that's been transplanted to the modern American west, it should be a moderately satisfying read for Tony Hillerman and Agatha Christie buffs alike. But fans of fast paced suspense by the likes of Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard may find The Spirit Woman tedious at best. Good enough for a Rainy Day, but if it falls out of your beach bag you probably won't mourn the loss.

Vicky Holden is a woman you can identify with. She becomes like a good friend you watch struggling with personal as well as career issues. Be sure to add this to your collection.

Visser's spectacular language surpasses even her previous efforts, as she delves here into the majesty of faith and the intricate worship spaces we build. She sheds the usual anthropologist's garb of objectivity, admitting from the start that she is passionate about her subject, and the work is stronger for it.

However, I eventually got annoyed that there were no illustrations provided to help the reader along (it may be just the Canadian edition that suffers from this tragic flaw). As visual as her language is, this book proves the maxim that a picture is worth 1000 words. Those thousand words can be as beautiful as they like, but sometimes, dummies like me need a picture as well.

Reading about the spectacular details of St Agnes' church, I got more and more frustrated. Visser presents each column, each section of ceiling and floor, each mosaic tile, with such loving detail that I needed to examine them -- but lacking the plane fare to Rome, that's a nearly-impossible dream. Flipping from her descriptions of columns to the front cover hoping to catch a glimpse of them was eventually too much for me, and I returned this book to the library unfinished (this almost never happens).

A book of this quality deserves glossy, full-colour illustrations. Without the multimedia assist, you're going to find this book to be dry and tough going, even if you've enjoyed Visser's work in past. But still... I've recently discovered that Visser has her own website with many small images from the church ...

Perhaps I'll print out the pictures from the website and curl up with this book again at some point. Her language is so lovely, it may be worth another shot.

One of the more popular modern writing crazes is to take an object from everyday life and to dissect it : the materials used to make it; its history; its uses; etc.. Margaret Visser's Geometry of Love is a fairly representative example of this genre, better than some, no worse than most. In it she concentrates her attention upon the Sant'Agnese fuori le Mura Church near Rome. By the time you finish the book you know everything you could possibly want to know about this church, which most of us have never heard of and will never see, except for one thing : why are churches in general, or this one in particular, unique ?

Much of the book is interesting, some sections are even fascinating, but, perhaps because of the nature of the task she's set herself, describing the church as a physical structure, it never comes alive as a house of God. Admittedly, as a Baptist, I've always considered church buildings themselves to be secondary to the function they serve, as a gathering place for like-minded worshippers. But I found the book to be something like the parable of the three blind men describing an elephant, and Visser to have failed to make the church anything more than the sum of its parts. In his marvelous study, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, Henry Adams observed two of the great churches of Christendom and perceived not merely their unity, but the unity of the culture that produced them. Margaret Visser looks at Saint Agnes and sees the particular features of the building. The difference in perception seems significant.

GRADE : C

The relatively simple Sant'Agnese fuori le Mura just outside the walls of Rome comes under the scrutiny of history, theology, anthropology & folklore to illuminate its physical & spiritual architecture.

Margaret Visser guides us through this organic aged basilica, from its apse to its nave, its catacombs to its campanile, she opens our eyes to its symbolism, its layers of religious expression, the Christian fascination with lambs & virgins, the meaning of martyrdom & the provenance of relics.

Effortlessly, this tranquil & earnest author moves us back through the ages to reveal, like the ancient stones she walks past, the erstwhile Roman attitudes toward our mortal remains & then through Christianity's infancy, in all its forms & purposes.

Part archaeology, part love story, part poetry & part tourist guide, The Geometry of Love is a quintessential read & I fell in love with columns all over again!

A superb example of writing about what you know - this author bequeaths us a unique & enfolding account of the why, where, who, when & what of a charming house of worship.

This mystery novel has two interesting features: its spacious settings in Colorado and Wyoming, and its detective team of an American Indian woman and a Catholic priest. Both these lead characters are sympathetic. Indian legends and a secret revealed in the confessional play parts in this story, which is competently told. On the down side, the scheme that drives the murders is not particularly original. The fortuitous intervention of a male friend saves the female sleuth from violence, a much overused convention. It would have been more interesting to read about how a plucky woman outsmarted the bad guys.

Author Margaret Coel launches "The Thunder Keeper," seventh in the line of a classic mystery series set on the Arapaho's Wind River reservation, with the classic hook of a man alone high on a ledge who soon plummets to his death. The police learn the dead man has been on an Arapaho spirit quest and label the death a suicide. But, a few pages later, a mysterious stranger confesses to a priest that soon more people will be murdered.

Coel's stories feature two amateur sleuths: St. Francis Mission Priest, Father John O'Malley, (history scholar and recovering alcoholic,) who has been exiled to the Arapaho reservation mission in Wyoming, and Vicky Holden, an Arapaho attorney who carries the baggage of a mean ex-husband, sometimes unhappy son (and a reciprocated inappropriate attraction for Father O'Malley.)

Father O'Malley knows he is bound by his vows to keep the confession secret. He decides to investigate the death of the man on a spirit quest himself.

Meanwhile, attorney Vicky Holden witnesses the horrific hit-and-run slaughter of Vince Lewis, a man who had valuable information he was about to tell her in reference to an urgent matter regarding the Wind River Reservation. Are the two deaths connected? If so, what ties them together? What is the secret worth killing for on Arapaho land?

The freshness of Coel's writing, the voice and clarity of the story, as well as her love and passion for the West shine in phrases like these: "The mountains rose jagged and blue in the orange-tinged dusk. Northwest, where the mountains dropped into a gully that allowed the sky to flow through, was Bear Lake," and "The thunder sounded like tanks rumbling through the sky. Lightning turned the air white and sent a charge through the earth that he could feel reverberating inside him....when the lightning flashed again he saw the petroglyph shining on the cliff above-human looking, eyes all-seeing, hands raised in benediction. He was not alone. The spirits were here, the messengers of the Creator."

Coel's skill crafting this series is a pleasure to watch. Read "The Thunder Keeper" for pure enjoyment.

Vicky Holden loves the land of the Arapahos, the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming, but she still leaves her home to take a job in Denver. The attorney needs to get away from the Jesuit priest Father O'Malley because they both have feelings for one other that are inappropriate. She also has to get away from her ex-husband, who wants to reconcile, but he keeps falling off the wagon and he is a mean drunk.

In Denver, Vicky currently works on a mineral rights case on behalf of the Navaho Nation. However, she receives a call from Vince Lewis, a vice president of Balder Industries, famous for their diamond minding operations. He tells her that he has information she needs to know involving the Wind River Reservation, but before they meet a hit and run driver kills Vince.

Back on the reservation, Father John hears the confession of a man who says his partner killed a man in a place sacred to the Arapaho. The police rule the man's death a suicide but Father John knows somebody killed him and there will be more deaths if the person isn't stopped. Vicky and Father John are coming at the same problem from different angles, both of them putting their lives in jeopardy.

Fans of Aimee and David Thurlo and Tony Hillerman will definitely enjoy this fast paced mystery starring two likable, believable and colorful protagonists. The heroine is a role model for women everywhere and the hero not only understands the underlying concepts of justice, he abides by them in his life. THE THUNDER KEEPER by Margaret Coel is a definite keeper.

Harriet Klausner