Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer [Hardcover]

Calvin Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2008

Sunrise and sunset. Morning and evening. Waking and resting. Your days are busy and unknown: each contains unexpected moments of joy and pain, struggle and hope. The time between your rising and sleeping is new each day. The same was true for the Celts, though their lives looked different from yours. And in the midst of the uncertainty of days, they chose to meditate on truth, to draw near to the One who holds the sun and moon in his hands. Calvin Miller invites you to do the same in Celtic Devotions. This thirty-day guide provides morning and evening readings and prayers to help you establish a Word-centered rhythm in your days. Centered on Psalm 119, an important psalm in Celtic praise, and including quotations from classic Celtic works, this devotional will guide your thoughts from morning to evening, helping you rest in God's truth when you're awake and when you're sleeping.

Editorial Reviews

Review

So what you get for your money is a gentle introduction both to Celtic spirituality and to a basic liturgical cycle. This book is as unassuming as the humongous Liturgy of the Hours is imposing, so it's clearly the more welcoming way to begin a daily prayer discipline. And indeed, this is a book for beginners, and for what it does, I think it does it charmingly well. Celtic Devotions is meant to be a threshold marker: in grand Celtic style, it offers hospitality to those who are crossing the door into the worlds of Celtic prayer--or daily liturgy--for the first time. -- --Carl McColman, The Website of Unknowing, March 28, 2008

About the Author

Calvin Miller (M.Div., D.Min., Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a professor at Beeson Divinity School. The author of more than forty books and many more articles, Miller is also well known as a poet, artist, novelist and speaker. His latest works include Preaching (Baker), O Shepherd Where Art Thou? (Broadman & Holman) and Conversations with Jesus (Harvest House). He sums up his primary rule for life in four words: "Time is a gift."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 131 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (February 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830835059
• ISBN-13: 978-0830835058
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #927,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Calvin Miller has written over 40 books of popular theology and inspiration. A former pastor, he is professor of preaching and pastoral ministry at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He and his wife, Joyce, have two grown children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tea and Spirituality, May 21, 2008

By 

L.L. Barkat - See all my reviews

This review is from: Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer (Hardcover)

I have settled into this routine: each morning, a cup of tea and a "day" from Miller's "Celtic Devotions." This ritual fills me, opens possibility, sometimes admonishes, always inspires.

A "day" from Miller's pages is arranged like this... an opening prayer or meditation, then Morning Reading, Morning Prayer, Evening Reading and Evening Prayer. I take the whole day at once, knowing myself; I rarely come back to things like this when night descends.

Miller's poetic reflections move me. Bits of Psalm 119, which provide the Morning Reading reorient me. The rhythms of Celtic life and thought and verse, oft quoted from the "Carmina Gadelica" (a collection of Gaelic songs) take me to another time then bring me home... longing, musing, praying, dreaming, hoping, resting.

So I take my tea, and I read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daily 30-Day Devotional, April 14, 2009

By 

P. Cummings (California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully written, poetic book that one can use morning and evening with readings from Psalm 119 plus ancient Celtic prayers and spiritual insights added by the gifted author. I've used this small book as gifts on several occasions and all of the recipients have enjoyed it greatly.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mind bending, August 18, 2009

By 

D. Waite "Ph.D." - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer (Hardcover)

This book was purchased as a follow up for The Path of Celtic Prayer: An Ancient Way to Everyday Joy by Calvin Miller.

As an experiment, this has been "mind bending" in that it has introduced elements I would never have considered in prayer. Unfortunately, for me some of it come across as non-Christian. [EDIT: for instance the prayers are directed towards the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... as opposed to Jesus' teaching that prayers are directed to the Father. There is also an invitation for God to join us in drinking "lakes of beer."]

Also, the prayers often have little to do with the particular topic introduced for the day. The book promises to pray through Psalm 119 [EDIT: It does not even come close]. The verses seem disconnected [EDIT: because they are random] from the topic and the prayers.

Be aware that the Celts lived in mortal fear, seemingly of everything (such as sleep). Then again, it was a different world when lives were short and life was violent. This is reflected in the book. [EDIT: It is an interesting peek into one Protestants opinion/view on an ancient Catholic society. The key to understand this is that some of the material is ancient and some is Miller's invention.]

If you know what you believe and are interested in something off (way off for the American Protestent) the "beaten path," you may like this book. However, for the genuine seeker, there is little satisfying prayer here.