Customer Reviews

Every Earthly Blessing: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition

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This book provides a superb introduction to the Celtic Christian vision. I particularly enjoy the trinitarian aspects of Celtic prayer. The vision and picture presented in the book reveals a Chritian faith that does not divide the sacred from the secular or the mind and the body and soul. But rather, it presents a picture of faith affecting every area of life.

This book is a good overview of information on the Celtic thoughts related to monks, pilgrims, creation, sin, the meaning behind the Celtic crosses, and the Celtic belief that the spiritual and the natural world are not separate.

Two things that I learned from this book: There are plants that the Celtic Christians avoided because of their roles in persecuting Christ. For example:The aspen tree. They would hurl stones and dirt at it when they passed because they were reminded that this was the type of tree Christ died on. No one used the wood from this tree for farm implements or fishing boats. The other interesting part was the explanation of the illustrations on the high Celtic crosses. The crucified Christ is depicted wearing a long robe, showing at once the suffering of the dying Christ and the victory of the risen one. This "shows the Celtic ability to hold two things in tension: death and life brought together."

Facinating stuff. Wish the book had been longer and more in depth.

"One of the greatest obstacles to living the Christian life in contemporary society is an impoverished imagination. Most of us will find it difficult to live a life we cannot imagine" (Phillip Kenneson professor of theology and philosophy at Milligan College). Like how the Bible challenges our expectations of what God can do and how humans can respond, Esther De Waal, in her book Every Earthly Blessing, offers an accessible and engaging account of the Celtic way of life to further challenge the compartmentalization of what it means to walk humbly with our God. It is an account of a rugged people at the edge of the known western world that received Christianity and incorporated it into all facets of their daily lives, from performing household chores, to their coexistence with animals, to their art and healing, to their wide acceptance of monastic life dedicated to Christ, and even to self imposed exile from home to be led by God for His sake. De Waal skillfully presents the Celtic understanding of the wholeness between all of creation and redemption in an eloquent balance between academic study and words to the heart, the latter being essential for accurate portrayal of this Celtic form of Christianity. De Waal's goal is not to convert readers to a denomination, herself being Anglican; her hope is that this book "becomes life-giving [to readers] on their own Christian journey." On that, she has succeeded with me.

Several ancient Celtic Christians launched out on a peregrinatio, "a wandering form of exile or pilgrimage." (39) They left to find God, to wherever He might take them. Esther De Waal introduces her book, "Every Earthly Blessing: Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition," stating her intent "that it will encourage others to discover for themselves some of the riches that [she herself] found in the Celtic tradition." (ix) With this aim as her target, the book is successful. I, however, somehow skimmed over that thought, and instead came to it with "spirituality," the rather vague, publisher-stamped genre categorization on the back cover in mind. I expected a suggested contemporary application of the Christian tradition once lived out by the ancient Celts of Ireland and the British Isles. Instead, I found only a general history of their spiritual practices (supplied mostly by her excellent primary sources of translated prayers, incantations, and legends of Celtic saints), and aside from her repeated vague calls for a return to a Celtic spiritual worldview, was left with very little direction as to how we could do so.

De Waal does offer a good introduction to Celtic Christianity: its abbots and hermits; its tribal and yet somewhat egalitarian organization; anamchairdeas--"soul friends"; exilic pilgrimages, prayers and stories of their saints, highlighting their emphasis on nature and the Trinity; private penance, martyrdom categories, and "high crosses." One aspect I was surprised to see missing (especially coming from a female author) was the comparatively important role women played in the Celtic church. As far as adding to the discussion, De Wall offers some excellent insight into the interactions of Irish monks with the Coptic church in Egypt, and presents a good argument that the Celtic Christian tradition was a sort of hybrid between Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and pagan Celtic beliefs and practices. For my taste as a fairly conservative Evangelical, I felt a little awkward around her comfort level with the magical elements of pre-Christian Celtic religion and its carry-overs by Christian converts, but I admire her (and their) emphasis on the imminence of God, His "common revelation" through creation, and the importance of not only "seeing" but inviting the Trinity's presence and help, even in common tasks.

Again, De Waal's primary source material is wonderful and this would be a great book for anyone wanting a good introduction to Celtic Christian prayers and worldview, but do be aware that despite her frequent criticism of the practice of "sentimentalization," and contrary to good historiography, De Waal frequently interjects motives and emotions in her subjects, people who lived over a millennium ago in a culture very different than our own. "For the men and women who recited them, prayer was not a formal exercise; it was a state of mind." (3) Keeping these tendencies in mind, if you are looking for a short book to launch you into a deeper discovery of the Celtic Christian world and worldview, "Every Earthly Blessing" is not a bad place to start.

Every Earthly Blessing; Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition, by Esther de Waal plumbs the habits, art, creeds, and customs of Celtic Christians to find insights that revive a view of God as active in and receiving glory from all the details of life and the people these create in us as we live them. In Celtic Christianity, De Waal finds a world that belongs to God, in which all is done before God and to benefit God. The hope is that this perspective may be a corrective of the compartmentalized and frenzied life common today.

However, the solution presented is no radical overhaul of the minutiae of life. Rather, it calls the reader to gradual, holistic change. Even the ascetic traditions of the Celts offer us "profound means of spiritual growth," habits that may enable us to recover "...an affirming and unspectacular acceptance of the place of discipline, restraint, simplicity in daily life" as means of freeing us to love and serve God.

For in these traditions God's interest in our lives is not a matter of seeking to judge us but of drawing us into fuller, freer fellowship with each other, all creation and God. De Waal brings this view of the world to life with lovely lyricism -especially in the frequent use of primary texts presenting hymns, poetry, legends and practice- that will resonate with fans of Brother Lawrence, elucidating what is only partially depicted in his scant text.

The reader is thus lured towards "an inner attentiveness to God, a continual stream of contemplation which becomes possible even in the midst of crowds, noise, and the demands of daily life" - precisely what so many are looking for today.

At one point in her book, Every Earthly Blessing, Esther De Waal describes the Celtic cross, that "circle of creation held in tension " between stone beams. In many ways, this symbol of Celtic spirituality represents the focus of her book, for the Celtic people, she believes, captured the essence of what it means to live in that intersection between the sacred and secular. She describes how common people went about every day whispering prayers that accompanied tasks from making the bed to plowing the field. Monks and hermits, she observes, understood the connection between rest and fruitful work, and therefore set aside time for solitude and prayer. She quotes hymns sung by a people who did not worry themselves as many of us do with covering up our very real pain and failures, but rather brought the whole of their experience before God from a place of "honest acceptance of weakness and dependency." If you're like me, you're probably stuck in the busy intersection between dirty laundry and work deadlines. So, how is this book relevant? Richard J. Foster, in his book, Celebration of Discipline, says, "Simplicity is freedom." De Waal makes available the practices of a people who were much like us, yet because they understood the connection between all things, namely the sacred and the secular, their lives were marked by simplicity, and therefore by freedom.

This is the second book I've read about the spirituality of an early Christian tradition that focused on a monastic lifestyle, the first being Wisdom Distilled From The Daily by Joan Chittister. With Chittister, I was able to connect the ancient practices of St. Benedict with my life in order to enhance my spirituality. I was able to find a rhythm in my daily routine of morning prayer, classes, exercise and evening meditation to connect more spiritually with God. With DeWaal, the connection was very limited. I feel she explained the history and ways of the Celtic tradition without tying them into today's world. For instance, their understanding of the Trinity, I'm sure, takes on another dimension considering their social structure where people were more dependant on one another for sustaining life. Seeing beauty in community through the Truine God is admirable if not desirable, but I can't get to that realization the same way a 5th century monk can. Their capacity to see the grandeur of God's creation in nature is also related to the Celtics being rural, agrarian and monastic. If I'm able to spend a couple of hours in nature in my urban lifestyle I'm grateful. Still, one point did resonate with me. The book tells of a pilgrimage of three men "that left everything for the sake of the Lord."(41) These pilgrims did not seek territorial possessions but spiritual possessions, undertook a quest in which the outer journey would reflect the inner journey. (42) Being someone who left my life to go to seminary this was great advice for me, to not forget the inner journey I'm on. Seminary can easily redirect ones attention to the outer journey of academics. Don't ignore the inner spiritual journey you are on, regardless of your situation.

Every Earthly Blessing opens a window to the Celtic spiritual tradition, using stories, poems, and songs to breathe life into our vision of their culture. It is not an accurate history, but it captures the essence of the Celtic christian worldview and spiritual practices. The author takes us on a journey through the prayers of farm women, the monastic ascetic practices, and the meaning and theology behind their symbols(such as the celtic cross).
I was inspired by the lives of the monks, spent in isolation or on long journeys, seeking to be completely reliant on God. Their life-encompassing understanding of God, one who provides the rain, everyday food, plants to heal, is so different from the limitations I sometimes put on God. There is much less separation for them between everyday survival and spiritual life.
There are many little treasures in this book, insights that will open up another understanding of the world, and perhaps add depth to your spirituality.

Delightful book, will be looking for more by this authour