The Little Book of Lent: Daily Reflections from the World’s Greatest Spiritual Writers
An inspirational source of encouragement for Lent.‘The Little Book of Lent’ is a powerful anthology of readings from spiritual writers for each day of Lent, with accompanying scripture and prayers to help guide daily reflections.With extracts from a range of inspirational writers and theologians, including Desmond Tutu, Sheila Cassidy and Rowan Williams, ’The Little Book of Lent’ guides you to deepen your prayer life in anticipation of Easter.This book can be read on your own or with others, used either for self-reflection or to spark discussion and share insights on God’s truths. This edition would be perfect on which to base a Lent course or to use as a talking point for home groups.Whether or not you choose to read the extracts multiple times or once straight through, Howells’ latest work will lead you to new heights in your Christian journey and personal walk with God. It is the ideal gift for friends, family or anyone else preparing themselves for the sacrifices of Lent.
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First published in 2014 by WilliamCollins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
FIRST EDITION
Copyright in the compilation © Arthur Howells, 2014
In the extracts © the individual contributors
Scripture quotations in each day’s ‘Scripture Reading’ section are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Arthur Howells assert the moral right to be identified as the compiler of this work
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007561162
Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007561179 Version: 2014-09-23
This book is dedicated to Bishop Graham Chadwick with affection and gratitude for his life, his wisdom, his guidance and encouragement.
The title of this book ought to be The Great Little Book of Lent because here are wonderful reflections carefully chosen from Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Reformed writers on the spiritual life. They are linked to scripture readings and prayers for each of the forty days of Lent. Although some of the writers are still alive and some have died, all the reflections are from writers no earlier than the twentieth century. Christians sometimes assume that great spiritual writers are confined to early and medieval centuries. This anthology shows how mistaken that belief is and how lucky we are in our own age to have such profound insights on the Christian faith from a whole range of people who write out of their own deep encounter with God.
Christian spirituality is very much alive in the third millennium and is certainly not something restricted to monastic life. As Desmond Tutu puts it, ‘each one of us is meant to have that space inside where we can hear God’s voice because God is available to all of us’. Some of the authors will be very familiar, some not so. Canon Howells has managed to discover some nuggets of pure gold from a great range of writers who, in a few paragraphs, write clearly and insightfully on Christian living and believing.
Here is an anthology to be savoured and pondered, read and re-read, for the contents provide a helpful immersion into the thinking of those who have had the most profound of things to say about Christian living and dying in this century and the last.
This anthology is composed of extracts from several spiritual writers who have become favourites of mine and to whom I frequently return. As we make our journey through Lent I hope that these readings, together with the scripture texts and prayers which accompany them, may encourage and challenge us and that through them God will speak to us.
There are many ways in which this book may be used. For most readers it will provide that little ‘extra’ to their daily Bible reading during this season. Others may find it helpful to meet with a friend or neighbour each day, spending some time pondering over the readings, sharing insights, listening to each other and simply being quiet before God. One of the effects of such listening is that we begin to appreciate that no two people pray in the same way and that the text or reading has a different message for each person. Then we may begin to appreciate that God has something to say to us through the insights of others.
It is my privilege to dedicate this small book to Graham Chadwick. He was a Welshman, born in 1923 and ordained in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon, where he began his ministry as curate of Oystermouth, Swansea. He subsequently served as Diocesan Missioner in Lesotho, then as university chaplain at Swansea and in 1976 was consecrated Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman in the Province of South Africa. In 1982 his opposition to apartheid and vigorous support for his clergy, many of whom were tortured or imprisoned, led the civil authorities to expel him from the country. He returned to Wales, becoming assistant to the Bishop of St Asaph and subsequently to Bishop David Sheppard in Liverpool. Throughout this period he immersed himself in supporting and teaching those who felt called to accompany people on their prayer journey, especially by promoting the Ignatian Exercises, and travelled far and wide teaching and lecturing on the elements of prayer and spirituality. At the age of seventy-two, in 1995 he was appointed the first Director of Spirituality for Sarum College – a post he held for three years until his retirement, when he continued to exercise the role of spiritual director until his death in 2007. As well as being a skilled counsellor and teacher, he was a friend and encourager to many.
