It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.
Drawing on this Irish saying, poet, storyteller and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical refelction 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. To people locked in a room of fear he said ‘Hello,’ welcoming them 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 narrative theology, gospel reflections with mindfulness and Celtic spirituality with poetry, In the Shelter reveals the transformational power of welcome.
Drawing on this Irish saying, poet, storyteller and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical refelction 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. To people locked in a room of fear he said ‘Hello,’ welcoming them 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 narrative theology, gospel reflections with mindfulness and Celtic spirituality with poetry, In the Shelter reveals the transformational power of welcome.
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Reviews
O Tuama relates of shelter and welcome to the journey of life making full use of poetry, stories and biblical reflection
Padraig O Tuama provides a gateway into mindfulness from a Christian perspective.
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.
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 Ó 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...