Customer Reviews

Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer

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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.

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.

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.