Reviewed Book: Esway, Judy. Womanprayer, Spiritjourney. Mystic, Conn: Twenty-Third Publications, 1987

Cole-Arnal, Bonnie Ann

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Womanprayer, Spiritjourney

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ConsensusVolume 20Issue 1 A Ministry Miscellany Article 245-1-1994Womanprayer, SpiritjourneyBonnie Ann Cole-ArnalFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationCole-Arnal, Bonnie Ann (1994) "Womanprayer, Spiritjourney," Consensus: Vol. 20 : Iss. 1 , Article 24.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol20/iss1/24Book Reviews 141Non-Americans will do a bit of gagging in this last section, but ulti-mately we get from the book a picture of a venerable congregation and itspreacher facing disturbing new realities head-on with a tough faith and aliving history, boldly yet humbly attempting to be public Christians.Eduard R. RiegertWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryWomanprayer, SpiritjourneyJudy EswayMystic, Connecticut: Twenty-third Publications, 198770 pagesWomanprayer, Spiritjourney is a collection of 56 meditations in whichJudy Esway weaves together scripture and reflections on her own life. Eachmeditation might be used as the basis for a daily devotional time. Thebook’s strength is in Esway’s ability to see the holy in the very ordinaryevents of daily life, like driving home on the freeway, holding an infantgrandchild or taking note of grey hair. Through her openness and expres-siveness we see Esway’s deep trust in a loving God.One frustrating aspect of the book is the use of scripture passages em-ploying male sexist language. This book is written by a woman and itshares the spiritual life of that woman in a very creative way. There isno doubt that this book would appeal to other women. Unfortunately, thesexist language may obstruct the message. For example, the reflection “Youare Precious in My Eyes” is about self-esteem. It is based on the scripturequotation which says: My son, with humility have self-esteem; prize your-self as you deserve. Who will acquit him who condemns himself? Who willhonour him who discredits himself? (Sirach 10:27, 28) This male languagepresents a rather jarring and distracting way to begin the day’s reflection.Many women in our society suffer from low self-esteem and need to hearthose words “You are precious in my eyes”. But it is hard for some womento receive that message in a meditation that begins with the words “myson”. I think that it would have been helpful to either replace the malesexist language with female sexist language, e.g. “my daughter” insteadof “my son”, or perhaps better yet try for gender inclusive language, “mychild”.It is interesting that Esway does make a language change for the titleof one of her meditations, “It is Not Good For Woman To Be Alone”. Hereshe speaks with warmth and love of her husband and their journey together.She also expresses her fears about losing him. “God, how it frightens me.You know I couldn’t live without him. Please remember, God, it is notgood for woman to be alone.” Esway is being very open and spontaneous142 Consensusin naming her anxieties before God. And that is a faithful echo of the typeof praying found in the Psalms. But her sentence “I couldn’t live withouthim”, is troublesome. It could be just an exaggeration to express the deepfeelings of loss she would have. But nevertheless it hints at an unhealthydependence that is not good modelling for others. That sentence raisessome disturbing theological questions about the meaning and purpose ofher life. Would that meaning and purpose disappear if she were to lose herhusband? An answer in the affirmative is not consistent with the rest of herbook. The best path out of this dilemma would be to rework the offendingsentence and to express her sense of loss in another way.This book provides a helpful pattern for making the connections be-tween faith and life experiences. But there is some danger in the bookbecoming a cozy experience of God. If it is to be an authentic “spiritjour-ney” there needs to be movement out of self and into the world. Eswaytalks a little about this in her meditation about her friend who speaks outagainst injustice and who joins peace marches and sit-ins. She acknowl-edges that these social justice concerns are a growing edge for her faith.Perhaps in a second volume Esway can use her talent to create meditationsfor this necessary part of the spiritual journey.Bonnie Ann Cole ArnalBelwood-Metz Pastoral Charge, The United Church of CanadaBelwood, OntarioThinking In Story: Preaching in a Post-literate AgeRichard A. JensenLima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing Co., Inc., 1993145 pp.Richard Jensen is a systematic theologian (Wartburg Theological Semi-nary, 1971-1981) who has become a radio preacher (Lutheran Vespers) anda TV producer (communication department of the Evangelical LutheranChurch in America). His earlier and justly famous book. Telling the Story(Augsburg, 1980)—an analysis of the theological, cultural, and commu-nicational forces behind the emergence of narrative preaching—proposed“proclamatory” and “story” preaching as alternatives to “didactic” preach-ing; the latter, he argued, derives from a “print” or “literate” culture andis inadequate in a “media” or “electronic” culture.The present volume is an enthusiastic endorsement of this shift to story,an enthusiasm engendered and informed by some ten years of media work.“How shall we preach to a people,” he asks, “whose lives are mightily shapedby the sounds and visual images that impact their lives with unrelentingpower?” (8) He answers: by learning to think in story. Accepting the

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