It starts with rest.  A surprising beginning  which gave me pause.  Suddenly, I stopped trying to get through another book to consider as a worship tool.  As a pastor, there are so many tools to slog through that it can be easy to get caught up in the reviewing rather than engaging the tool itself.

In her book, Call and Response,  author Fran Pratt begins with “Litany for Rest and Balance.”  With all the topics to consider as the first one, it was a surprising and desperately needed beginning.  It calls the reader into the use of the spiritual tool of litany, rather than simply reading it as a reference. It points to an author who has been and continues to be listening.

It doesn’t end there.  Litanies for a variety of circumstances which match modern daily life use language which invites the sacred into our mundane or chaotic existence.  “Some of us have left the faith, rather than continue to be hurt.” (Litany for Spiritual Trauma, p 40).  The litanies cover everything from refugees to privilege, listening to midwives.  I cannot believe how much I was yearning for such intricate and broad response to our lives.  “Come now, into the places here our hearts have been wounded…” (Litany for Forgiving Others, p.10)

As I sit with yet another school shooting, this time near to home, I have a feeling this will become a regular resource, as it has already become a touchstone of remembering the precious gift of litany.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.