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REVIEWS
The Song of Songs
Exploring the Divine Romance
Pray with me:
seven simple ways to pray with your children
Charlie Cleverly, Hodder & Stoughton (2015)
Grace Mazza Urbanski, Ave Maria Press (2015)
Song of Songs: explicit love poetry or spiritual allegory?
In this popular level yet profound exposition Charlie
Cleverly, Rector of St Aldate’s Oxford, embraces a
both/and, rather than an either/or, approach. While
examining the love affair at the heart of the book, and
what it might teach us about human relationships
today, he also draws on the long tradition of allegorical
interpretations, both Jewish and Christian, with quotes
ranging from the Church Fathers, via the Puritans and
Spurgeon, through to contemporary interpreters.
I’m sure I’m not the only parent that struggles to enthuse
my children with creativity, passion and persistence in
their prayer lives! Reassuringly, this book is written with
a blend of humility, wit and expertise.
So, for example, the exploration of the phrase ‘Let him
kiss me with the kisses of his mouth’ leads to a discussion
of what it might mean for a Christian to experience the
‘kiss’ of God. In fact, the book’s centre of gravity seems to
lie with the allegorical rather than the literal as Cleverly
is passionately concerned with the relationships between
Christ and his Bride, the Church, and between God and
the individual believer. His longing for spiritual renewal
corporately for the church and individually for the
reader is never far from the surface.
I found the concept of ‘prayer triggers’ throughout the
day useful in encouraging spontaneous prayer. I valued
a child-friendly offering of lectio divina and the daily
examen which I intend to try out. The chapter on singing
was particularly interesting – especially learning how
communal singing releases the ‘trust-inducing’ hormone
oxytocin! There are helpful questions at the end of each
chapter, which allow the reader to take ownership of
some of the ideas discussed.
This is supported by suggestions for spiritual exercises at
the end of each chapter from chapter three onwards and
an appendix on how to pray ‘longer and more fruitfully’
using the Lord’s Prayer as a model. I suspect this book
may have a certain ‘Marmite’ love-it-or-hate-it quality.
The reader’s response will depend on how far you are
prepared to go with allegorical interpretations (which
occasionally feels quite stretched) and how much you
share the author’s spirituality, which often shades into
what the author himself terms ‘charismatic mysticism’.
Having said that, there is much here to challenge and
inspire the reader to a deeper intimacy with God.
JAMES LEACH
The seven short chapters on prayer are written as ideas
to test out with your children. They include praying
spontaneously, praying from memory, praying with
scripture and praying through singing. The author’s
experience and passion for prayer come across, and her
stories and anecdotes make for easy reading.
If you are serious about trying new prayer ideas,
and committing to pray with your children more,
this is a worthwhile read. If you are a couple, it’s best
read together as a team effort. Whilst I valued the
author’s contributions from a Catholic perspective,
and realise the need to learn from a variety of church
denominations, I struggled with the theology, complexity
and denominational distance of her seventh idea, which
was ‘praying with the apostleship of prayer’. I also didn’t
feel the book addressed the reality that a lot of children
simply don’t feel inspired to pray, and how we can excite
them with the reality that God is head over heels in love
with them, that he speaks, he listens, and he answers
their prayers
JOHN MONOGHAN