God In Our Midst: Gospel stories and
reflections
Trevor Dennis
SPCK £9.99
(978-0-281-06927-9)
Church Times Bookshop £9 (Use code CT522
)
GOD IN OUR MIDST is a collection of poetry and
prose inspired by scriptural material. The pieces are underpinned
by biblical scholarship, so that, while the author's imagination
flies, his insights are deeply embedded in the historical context
of the original stories.
Dennis is remarkably skilled in moving between biblical and
contemporary settings. In one piece, Archbishop Tutu and St Mark
join hands. In another, the unrest of first-century Jerusalem
elides with contemporary conflicts, as outside the Temple we hear
the "beat of the helicopter" and "wail of the ambulance". The
effect is to evoke fresh and sometimes surprising connections
between the scriptural stories and our own.
The book is full of pregnant and pointed turns of phrase. We
read of "the piercing beauty of a wounded God" and of events that
"revealthe kernel of God's new day". As Simeon finally encounters
the in-fant Jesus, we are told: "The old man has not been waiting
all this time/for such a small Messiah." The human tendency to
avoid our own darkness is sharply focused in the lines "The last
thing I want is the truth. I prefer to see what is wrong with
you."
The women in this collection have strong and distinctive voices
as the author consciously and powerfully draws out their wisdom
from between and within the lines of the biblical texts. The
relationship between God and humanity is explored with searing
honesty in a piece, from Sarah's perspective, on the binding of
Isaac.
The final section is made up of pieces written for "special
occasions", and I do wonder whether it might have formed the basis
fora separate book rather than being tacked on to the more strongly
themed chapters that precede it.
There is, however, a thread that runs through the entire
collection from start to finish. Dennis consistently points us to
the intimacy of the divine, to a God whom we can "find within
touching distance". Time and again in this book, he leads us to do
just that.
The Revd Rosemary Lain-Priestleyis Dean of Women's Ministry
in central London.