I have purposely chosen October's Book to coincide with One World Week (18th - 25th October), Celebrating One World, A Worship Resource On Social Justice, edited by Linda Jones, Annabel Shilson- Thomas and Bernadette Farrell.
An immediate 'plus' for me was the fact that the varied material collected for this Book comes from around the world with contributions from Asia, Russia, Korea and the Ashanti people, Ghana amongst others.
The Book is comprised of eight main themes, including War and Peace, Basic Needs and the Excluded. Each of the themes is then broken down into prayers, poems, readings, biblical quotations, hymns and songs.
As an example, the section on Basic Needs commences with Matthew 6 verse 11, 'Give us this day our daily bread'. The poignant introduction reminds us that it is easy to ignore statistics - mere figures on paper - but people cannot be ignored, their presence is real. We can make a difference - if we want to. Equally acute is 'To my spiritual brethren', an incredible piece of prose where real needs are 'solved' by the Christian with Scripture. It ends:
'In Prison, I wept and grieved
Immediately you recited:
'You
will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy'.
John 16 v 20)
You are impressively biblical,
Praise God for you!
But I wish
I could understand you,
Because I am still in prison -
Poor, homeless,
naked, sick and grieved!'
(To my spiritual brethren.
Anton Iniguez, Malaya).
I was particularly impressed too by the piece, 'The Earth Is A Satellite of the Moon' which draws a stark parallel, beginning with:
'Apollo 2 cost more than Apollo 1,
Apollo 1 cost plenty'
and goes on: -
'The grandparents of the people of Acahualinca
were less hungry
than their parents...'
(The Earth Is A Satellite Of The Moon. Leonel Rugama, Nicaragua).
Difficult issues are not side-stepped. This is not a 'cosy, comfortable' resource. In the section entitled, 'The Excluded', CAFOD's excellent 'Prayer For World Aids Day' is included, together with a poem on the street children of the Philippines. The prayer of Mana who has leprosy left a lump in my throat.
This Book is well set out and easy to use. For material on a specific theme, there is a Thematic Index at the back of the Book. For material of a specific type, there is a Type Index which gives first of all the type, e.g. prayers, and then the Theme, e.g. The Excluded.
Invaluable not only for Church and Church group use but also for schools and colleges too. There is a useful section at the beginning on planning liturgies and the use of symbols and music.
'Celebrating One World, A Worship Resource On Social Justice'. (Harper Collins) {\163}7.99.
written by Lynn Winter
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