Description
The author's Christianity is a more inclusive, learned and subtler version than the one I grew up with... If I had a teacher like Ã? Tuama, I might have kept my soul's wagon hitched to Jesus, instead of switching to Buddha... The most staunch of atheists would find inspiration and, if I may use the hackneyed phrase, life lessons in its pages. It is infused with bruised, loving and confused humanity. For believers it is infused with a bruised, loving God... This is not an easy, cosy read. It is challenging, erudite, poetic... A book to be kept at one's bedside for those dark nights of the soul when sleep evades, for though it may not be cosy, it offers us ways of accepting life as it is, of standing still in the moment, and it offers the courage needed not to run from fear...― Independent.ie A profound, fluent and searching spiritual autobiography... His theology is seasoned by resilience and reality; his poetry by a journalistic dedication to the power of story.― Church Times He weaves together scripture, literature and poetry into a rich tapestry... This is certainly a book I will return to- I imagine again and again.― Reform Magazine If you're thinking about your own story, and your place in the world, and you appreciate a poetic, imaginative style, you'll enjoy and be challenged by this text.― Third Way Magazine O Tuama relates of shelter and welcome to the journey of life making full use of poetry, stories and biblical reflection― Church of England Newspaper Padraig Ã? Tuama writes with a winsome, delicate charm that makes the reading of this book a delight. It is less a book than a conversation; a conversation, a confession even, with a friend who is learning to be so self-aware and aware of you. This is a pastoral book, written from the point of view of one who has learned much about identity, compassion, healing and reconciliation.― The Methodist Recorder Pádraig's wonderful book, In the Shelter: Finding a home in the world is a patchwork of reflections, poems and true stories. It takes the reader to some tough places, with calmness and hope, letting us into the story of someone facing the hard task of growing up whole in Ireland in the 1980s. It's also an inspiring guide to the kind of conversations that bring peace and understanding between people.― Reform Magazine Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and theologian. He teaches about spirituality, storytelling, and conflict transformation, and is the author of Readings from the Book of Exile and Sorry for Your Troubles .
Features & Highlights
- A Christian pathway into mindfulness, using the gospels, poetry, and storytelling
- There's an old Irish proverb: "It is in the shelter of each other that the people live." This book applies ideas of shelter and welcome to journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical reflection, and prose to open up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world. The fourth gospel tells of Jesus arriving in the room where the disciples are gathered, full of fear, on Easter Sunday. He does not chide or admonish; instead he says "Peace be with you," which, in the Aramaic of his day, was simply a greeting. "Hello," he said, welcoming people locked in a room of fear to a place of deep encounter; encounter with themselves, with their fear, with each other, and with the incarnate one in their midst. Interweaving everyday stories with analysis, gospel reflections with mindfulness, and Celtic spirituality with poetry, this book explores the practice of welcoming as a spiritual discipline. In particular, it features careful stories of welcoming parts of life that are often unwelcome.
