This was my first book by O Tuama and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his essays, poetry, and prayers. I"ll absolutely be looking for his books again in the future.

Being Here. Ó Tuama has written the next book to guide my small church group of women who have been reading, writing and reflecting together for a year: Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love. We plan to read one of the 31 meditations. Each day includes an opening prayer, a short reading, a short scripture reading, time for silence, a collect prayer corresponding to the scripture, and a closing prayer. The opening and closing prayers are repeated each day. As always, Ó Tuama is able to distill the essence of scripture into beautiful prose and prayer that resonates deep within. Also included in the book are a few essays. I will use the one about writing collects to guide my small group to write their own or revise Ó Tuama’s as he graciously makes space for. My only suggestion for improving this prayer book would be to offer multiple opening and closing prayers. While repetition can usher us into the ritual, Ó Tuama’s words are such a treasure I found myself longing for more.

While I don't believe any day is inherently more meaningful than any other, I do believe in setting the table. With that in mind, I like the first book I read in a new year to be deeply beautiful and meaningful. I look for something to set the table for a year of wonder, delight, good questions, personal stretching - something inspirational and challenging. When I got the ARC for Pádraig Ó Tuama's latest I knew I wanted it to be my first book of 2024. And it did not let me down. What a beautiful collection of essays and prayers. Thank you to the author, Eerdmans, and NetGalley for the eARC.

Being Here is a month's worth of daily devotional readings. Do I want more? Of course. Greedily, I want an entire year. But the book is rounded out with a series of essays, making it a good, readable length. The essays at the beginning are a compassionate welcome. And the ones at the end are thought-provoking. The essays alone are worth the price of admission, absolutely.

Then there are the prayers themselves. I have been a theology person for over 50 years. My parents read C.S. Lewis to me when most kids were getting Dr. Seuss. I grew up surrounded by Bible scholars. I read widely and deeply. And Pádraig Ó Tuama stopped me in my tracks with new insights, new perspectives, a new way of looking at familiar passages and situations. Glimpsing the world through the eyes of this amazing activist and poet is a true gift. I am grateful for the words Pádraig Ó Tuama chooses to share with the rest of us. These words set an exceptional table for a year of compassionate community building, uncomfortable personal growth, a year of focusing on gratitude and wonder, a year of seeing old things in new ways.

I was sadly disappointed upon discovering that all 31 daily opening prayers and 31 daily closing prayers are the same. Yes, each day offers a featured excerpt from literature and a verse from Scripture, but for a book of prayers, I certainly expected them to not all be the same. The collects, which are also prayers, do differ. Many give reason to pause and consider, which is lovely and the highlight of the book. But if one were to remove the "what is a collect" explanation at the front, the 4 essays at the back that are nice but also do not tie-in with the book, and only write out the opening prayer (once), all 31 collects, and the closing prayer (once), it would be a pamphlet. I wish this had been marketed properly, with an accurate description, because it doesn't match what it promises.

In Being Here, this wise and honest poet guides the reader through a month of collects (short prayers), scripture, and excerpts from literature that help focus our attention on the core of what is true in any given moment.
I will use this in my personal prayer and on retreats.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Eerdmans for an e-copy for review.