PoetryA collection of prayers that is as notable for its omissions as its surprise inclusions, writes John F Deane
It is understandable, though a little disquieting, that a number of anthologies of this type are beginning to appear, offering in their distinct ways alternative approaches to religious and devotional sentiment. The failure of Christian Churches to satisfy, to give cogent support, and to develop their own approaches to contemporary society, is, of course, to blame.
Theo Dorgan offers his own selection of texts, and I admit to approaching books like this with lively interest and some trepidation. His overall introduction to the purpose of the book, however, and to the choices he makes, is a little injudicious and worrying.
Dorgan writes, justly, of the power of the imagination, and it is clear that imaginative prayer, even a holistically imaginative approach to modern living, is sadly lacking in our time.
He speaks, too, of "the power and central importance of the word" and it is essential that such awareness be kept before everybody's mind, particularly in our days of texting and mass-media journalism. So he offers "a collection of prayers assembled in good faith by a lifelong agnostic". So far, so good.
However, his hectoring comes in his suggestions that modern Christianity devalues this world while favouring an uncertain afterworld, and he blames a great deal of humanity's ills on those who take this approach to living. Contemporary Christian thinking in no way devalues this world, nor do the other major monotheistic religions.
IT IS TOO simplistic and too excluding to say: "It is from the ranks of such believers that the suicide bombers come - and the inquisitors, the earth-despoilers, the architects of holocaust."
Minorities may cause a great deal of major havoc, but they are extremists and do not emerge from a true reading of their own faiths; further, it is important that such extremists are placed in their political context, too, with political skullduggery often masking itself in religious robes. It seems to me that Dorgan's approach, then, explained in these terms, is already excluding a great deal of worthwhile material.
The definition of "prayer" is also important here; if prayer is used as a plea or even an attempt at contact with one's God, then Dorgan is right in stating that "prayers can be hollow, devoid of meaning, mere empty formulae", words, in fact, repeated mindlessly and garnered from others.
But genuine prayers have been the staple of humanity down the centuries when faced with one's approach to whatever God one believes may be there, and there is an enormous wealth of such prayers, in verse and prose form, that ring true.
If prayer also means, and it does, human dealing with human in a deeply felt conversation "in the face of the cosmos", there is here, too, a rich treasury. An anthology meant for those of any belief or none is in danger, then, of falling between stools: Dorgan avoids the danger but one is ever conscious of it because of this introductory generalisation.
DORGAN DIVIDES HIS choices into sections such as "Speaking to God", "Wisdom of this World", "Death and Fear" and there is no doubt that this anthology offers rewarding material, well researched, often surprising and infinitely worthwhile.
The word "uncommon" is a good one and Dorgan serves us well in many of his discoveries, such as a delightfully direct Breton fisherman's prayer:
"Look after me, dear Lord,
my boat is so small,
and your ocean is so vast."
The Veni Creator of Bliss Carman is a revelation, and Michael Hartnett makes a most welcome comeback. There are choice pieces from the Carmina Gadelica, from charms, breastplates, Sibylline Oracles and much, much more; La Hire, for instance, who fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc, prays: "I pray that my God will do for La Hire what La Hire would do for Him, if God were Captain and La Hire was God."
Of course every reader would offer his or her own different selection: the absence of Geoffrey Hill, of RS Thomas, of Padraig J Daly (particularly in the final Death and Fear section) struck me forcibly, but that is my emphasis.
So, apart from its exploitative presentation - a handbag-friendly size, with red titles to the pieces and a slightly ornate cover imitative of an old-fashioned prayer book, complete with yellow silk marker - the book is a worthwhile one.
There is no conflict, however, between being "on this earth and of it", and holding that "The world is charged with the grandeur of God", a Hopkins poem judiciously included here. Dickens wrote: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"; it always is, and there is always need for anthologies such as this.
John F Deane's latest poetry collection is The Instruments of Art (Carcanet); his latest fiction is The Heather Fields (Blackstaff Press)
A Book of Uncommon Prayer Edited by Theo Dorgan Penguin Ireland, 194pp. €19.99