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Full Disclosure: I do not know the author and I paid for this book with my own hard-earned* money. I am familiar with Ms. Libresco and her writing style, having been a fairly regular reader of her blog since before her conversion, so I had some idea what to expect before reading. This is not a conversion story per se, although that subject is covered, but more of an examination of Catholic prayer practices from the perspective of a new convert with no religious experience and an extremely analytical mind.
Each chapter contains an exploration of various prayers and uses helpful, interesting, and somewhat geeky analogies (such as computer programming, musical theater, and Japanese pottery) to illuminate them in unexpected and fascinating ways. You’ll probably also come away with a new appreciation for St. Peter, one of the best and most interesting parts of the book.
If you are afraid you aren't nerdy/geeky enough to enjoy the book, don’t be. You’ll learn something new as the author makes her points clearly and concisely and then moves on. If I can power through the parts on Les Miserables, you can do the same for Cartesian coordinates. There is also a thought provoking study guide at the end, which was a nice bonus.
For all the excellent nerdy meditation, what I loved most about the book is that it contains practical, useful suggestions for better and deeper prayer. This is what ultimately got it a 5-star rating.
*Fuller Disclosure: The money wasn't really that hard-earned.
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I was provided with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I love conversion stories and Leah's is no exception. Her book explores her journey from Javert-inspired Stoicism to a grace-seeking Catholic through seven types of prayers. Her story and reflections are often accompanied by "This reminds me of..." and a creative example I have never heard deployed as a metaphor for prayer: Ballroom dancing! Mellified men! Pottery technique! I also personally liked the shout out to Catholic mommy bloggers, who played a major part in my own Tiber-swimming. It's a testimony to the clarity of her prose that her prodigious use of math was (mostly) intelligible to this reader who has avoided math since topping out at Calculus in high school. All of her examples demonstrate how universal prayer really is, even when it seems a foreign language, and set her book apart from a lot of other devotional literature with her unique perspective.
The highlight for me was the epilogue, which serves as a great bookend to the introduction about law-bound Javert. Leah's spin on Peter's "failing in fortissimo" is original and communicated what's so wonderful about God's grace. The epilogue also made me want to put into practice all the ways I was inspired in my prayer life by the rest of the book without falling prey to fear of failure that often holds me back from starting at all.
This book is useful for converts, cradle Catholics, and seekers wondering how one can become fluent in the language of prayer. I would absolutely recommend it.
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When Leah converted from atheism to Catholicism, she had come to an intellectual assent that God exists and loves her, but had no experience to bring her beyond that point. As Leah takes us through prayers that can make up the ordinary prayer life of any Catholic, we see her slowly but surely learning how to cultivate a loving relationship with God. Like any relationship, it bears out the quirks of those involved, with Leah drawing upon her wide variety of interests to understand these classic prayers. In doing so, Leah is able to provide a fresh perspective on these tried and true ways of relating to God. Whether you are new to prayer and looking for an introduction, or a cradle Catholic wanting to deepen your prayer with a new appreciation for old practices, you will be able to find stories, tips, and examples to help you cultivate your own relationship with God.
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Arriving at Amen is an whip-smart, utterly rational, and surprisingly transcendent approach to prayer by one of the sharpest new Catholic writers. Leah Libresco's refreshingly unsentimental voice and spirit of inquiry is the foundation of Arriving at Amen. She never tries to manipulate the reader with sloppy emotional ploys or soft-focus fables. As a convert from a rigorously deontic atheism, she isn't looking for ways to make the spiritual life easier or more basic. She is looking to make it more intelligible, and to that end she mines all her scientific habits of inquiry and her wide set of interests to find reflections of all seven spiritual practices outside of traditionally religious spheres. She confronts the problem of evil from both rational basis and through an example drawn from Norse mythology, and concludes that a world designed to shield us from every bad consequence, whether natural or man-made, would be an ultimately opaque place, unknowable and unpredictable. "The problem of evil has always seemed to me to be the price we pay for having an intelligible world, one that we can investigate, understand, and love."
And so she turns to the intelligible world to illuminate the spiritual world. Fiction, and with its omniscient, complex approach to characters, leads her to a deeper understanding of praying for other people, which leads her to conclude of other people, "My ignorance of the full depth of their lives is not evidence that they are shallow." She draws on the science of cognitive bias, especially the sunk-cost fallacy and loss aversion, to understand and overcome her reluctance to go to Confession.Read more ›
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This item: Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer
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