Customer Reviews

When in Doubt, Sing : Prayer in Daily Life

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Hurray! My home library is full of books on spiritual practice, all read and mostly gathering dust. All that advice to "go off and be quiet" just does not speak to my extraverted and very public self. Jane Redmont's book is the first I've seen that embraces the wildly varied personalities of those who dare to pray. She not only acknowledges the variety, but invites the reader into new spaces where God may be found. I've bought and given away half a dozen copies of this book, and I'm waiting for the paperback version so I can afford to pass more around! What a treasure. It doesn't sit on my shelf. It gets USED.

A book on prayer for those who live and work in the real world. Here are stories about prayer that reflect life as I must live it! Prayer when I'm angry. Prayer when I can not pray. Prayer when everything has gone to hell. Prayer from all views of life and God.

This is the best book on prayer I have ever seen. If you purchase only one book on prayer in thr next year, this should be it!

When it was first suggested that I read this book, I balked because I assumed that this was going to be another "how to pray" book. Nothing could be further from the truth. This author recognizes that are as many ways to pray as there are people. She also recognizes that there are far more ways to pray than to merely petition God. She lets the reader know that one can pray when one is angry, sad, happy, or just prayerful. We are shown, through personal examples of both the author and others, that one can pray with ones body, with ones mind, and ones spirit. We are made aware of the need for prayer in every aspect of our existence. By the time the reader finishes this book, one feels that Ms Redmont has written the book *just* for the reader!

Redmont has melded together a remarkable array of personal stories, prayers both contemporary and ancient, and personal reflections and suggestions on how one may enrich their prayer life. This is not the type of book for a mystic but rather for those of us who desire to pray and yet we still encounter stumbling blocks. It is at once amusing, entertaining, moving, enticing, challenging and ultimately rewarding. It is obvious that a great deal of field work was accomplished prior to the writing process. What is so admirable is the skillful weaving of so many stories into an almost seamless text. I cannot imagine that there exists a person who would not relate to one (if not several) of the stories told in the book. You hear that one has to be a pray-er in order to write about prayer. Redmont must have a very special relationship with her God.

I am very impressed and moved by this book. It is not just another one of those books on spirituality that leaves you hungry the next day. It's a book you'll want to keep for a lifetime, I think.It is obviously the result of lived experience," and hence very fresh and new sounding,although it harks back to ancient themes that have haunted the daily lives of people since the brginning. A Ph.D. candidate in theology, Redmont wears her scholarly learning lightly and subtly, but it is there, making this a book where the author has not tried to "re-invent" in some New Age way all of spirituality. A very compassionate tome too! It will delight you!

I recommend this book as readable and helpful for the beginner and the wellversed. It has breadth in bringing incontributions from many beliefs.There are anecdotes and experiencesfrom people's actual lives. It is a good compendium of historical examples and imaginative, unique examples. It can help many in "lifting their minds and hearts to God."

Prayer is so much more than a conversation with God. "When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life" is a guide for further embracing prayer in one's daily life, instead of the mere lip service so many Christians fall into. Promoting that individuality has a strong place and prayer, and that prayer can help one's own identity in finding oneself and bringing them closer to God, Redmont also includes passages for Non-Christian prayer, making "When in Doubt, Sing" a fine choice for any who want to value prayer as something more.

The title is inspiring but the subtitle, Prayer in Daily Life, is more instructive. The book abounds in stories of contemporary users of the many forms of prayer: what works for them, and what does not work for them. Very practical. Yet each story is set in the context of careful research. The various forms of prayer are illumined for themselves and also linked to similar forms. It seems no form of prayer has been overlooked, and all are updated into the American context of daily life.

It would serve both as a personal 'how to' book and as an academic textbook.