When in Doubt, Sing : Prayer in Daily Life - Hardcover

Redmont, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060174390 ISBN 13: 9780060174392

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1999

Synopsis

Drawing on the religions of Orthodox Jews, African-American Baptists, Catholics, and Buddhists, a theologian offers readers inspiring ideas for adding prayer to their daily lives, accompanied by ways to use music, meditation, and icons in prayer. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Those who seek a connection with God, but who do not want to confine themselves to praying in churches with bowed heads or meditating for hours, will feel liberated by this new style of prayer book. The main point that Redmont wants readers to grasp is that prayer--the act of communing with God--should not be hindered by rules. Prayer can take place while playing a piano, planting a garden, or solving a complicated math problem.

Once she has convinced readers to loosen their confining definition of prayer, Redmont goes on to discuss resistance to prayer, devoting an entire chapter to topics such as "Praying with Anger" and "Waiting in the Night, When We Cannot Pray." She also gives parents suggestions for helping children find their natural voices of prayer.

In her final chapters, Redmont discusses prayer through touch, ritual, writing, meditation, singing, and listening to music. Christians will probably glean the most from Redmont's wisdom and research, since she's a Catholic lay minister. However, to her credit, Redmont includes numerous stories, poems, prayers, and inspirational quotes that represent many of the world's religious traditions, including Zen Buddhism and Judaism. --Gail Hudson

About the Author:

Jane Redmont is a feminist theologian, Catholic lay minister, social activist, and writer. She was the first woman Chaplain at St. Paul's University Catholic Center in Madison, Wisconsin; was the social justice minister at the Paulist Center in Boston; was the executive director of the Boston Region of the National Conference (founded as the National Conference of Christians and Jews); and has been deeply involved in dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Born of Jewish parents who became Unitarians and raised as a Unitarian Universalist, Redmont converted to Catholicism as a young adult; she also incorporated much Jewish and Buddhist tradition in her spiritual life. She is the author of Generous Lives: American Catholic Women Today and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0060174390
• ISBN 13: 9780060174392
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448