9 minute read
Book Reviews
By Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB Bloomsbury Publishing 2022
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One of the great fortunes in my education was to have had Abbot Christopher Jamison as one of my teachers for A level Theology at Worth in the late 1980s. A lover of theatre and literature, he had an uncanny ability to bring alive the material with flair and drama. Not afraid to take risks, Christopher was midwife to the wildly popular and profoundly moving 2005 BBC documentary The Monastery. His latest book continues in this creative vein, through a rich set of meditations on grace that he calls “the lifeblood of Christianity”.
Drawing upon a lifetime of leadership in Benedictine spirituality and Catholic renewal, Finding the Language of Grace: Rediscovering Transcendence, is at once accessible and wise. Like his teaching, it draws readers into the existential depth of theology without sacrificing its intellectual substance. The premise of the book is deceptively simple: words are not just transactional but transcendent, not only technical but transformative. Or, to put it another way, words can make us better because they move us higher. Without these pointers to a higher purpose, language degenerates into a crude tool for control - sophisticated grunts to get our snout in the trough. But let it serve as a medium of something more - of a purpose above economic gain, of an identity beyond political groups - then it opens into what Christian theology calls grace.
What is grace? In the words of the late professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, Nicholas Lash, grace is “the sense that gift lies deeper than achievement.” In the traditional language of the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, grace is God’s help that heals and guides human longing. In Paul’s more effusive description, it is “God’s love poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us” (Romans 5:5); what John Wesley’s attractively paraphrased as “the heart strangely warmed.” Addressing a more sceptical modern audience, the great modern theologian Karl Rahner identified grace as the point at which God is no longer inferred as a distant, silent horizon, but felt as an intimate, forgiving presence. However one defines grace, it always comes back to the basic idea of the gift of new life - good news, so to speak.
So what does this grace do? To answer this very practical question, Abbot Christopher mines an extraordinary range of events in his own experience, such as (to give just a few examples): devising a website that draws upon monastic routine to assuage the isolation of COVID lockdowns; accompanying marginalised urban youth; listening to the victims of abuse within the Church and preventing its reoccurrence; interpreting the theological dimensions of modern novels, mystical poetry, and medieval legend alongside contemporary grime rock artists and Korean boy bands; bringing spiritual exercises to prisons (no doubt his time as housemaster prepared him for that task!); and, grounding theology in the poverty of the slums in Lima, Peru. Across all these instances, we see again and again that grace brings new life. How? It rewrites our stories in light of God’s story. It illuminates our uncertain and fitful journey with the Bible’s clear and startling message of hope and forgiveness. It gives the dignity of voice to otherwise silent suffering. It allows us to see the world in a different light; not, as we so often view it, through the distorted and even cynical lens of disappointment and self-interest, but as sheer gift.
Abbot Christopher charts how the four basic aspects of language - listening, speaking, writing, and reading - each convey something of the depth and richness of this gift. Together, they create the conditions for skillfully discerning how grace is at work in the world. (This includes my favourite counsel in the book: “to give someone a good listening to”!) Such careful and realistic “reading” of the situation differs vastly from facile cheerleading. Depending on the context, it provides the consolation to accept suffering or the courage to confront it. For while grace may be transcendent, it is not unrealistic. More than mindfulness that enables a stoic detachment from the world, it is heartfulness that moves one to engage with the world, patterned on Jesus’ courageous fidelity to the Kingdom, which Christopher paraphrases as “the grace of God at work in this world.” And so it is that what is first experienced as gift, now becomes task; and why it is that the Acts of the Apostles begins as follows: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven?” Finding the Language of Grace is a wise and insightful manual for the task ahead.
Dominic Doyle B’90
Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, MA, USA
Creating Strategy - A Practical Guide
By Michael Bernard C’77 Panoma Press 2021
There is more nonsense talked about strategy than almost any other subject. Many theories expounded by people who are full of jargon and methodologies but invariably have no practical experience in implementing strategy. Too many books about strategy are designed to make the author appear important and very learned rather than imparting information to the reader in layman’s terms.
This is why this book by Michael Bernard is such a welcome breath of fresh air.
Michael talks in layman’s language and tells it like it is. If the problem is hard to solve, he says so and then gives examples of how he or others have tackled the problem. The book is easy and enjoyable to read, which is more than can be said for most business books. The reason is that the book is written in an informative, relaxed style. The case studies are interesting and make the key points the author is trying to get across very well.
Whilst I have a bit of experience in formulating strategy having been in business for more than thirty years it was amazing how so much of this book accurately portrays my own experience when formulating business strategies. I have almost certainly done all the things the author tells you not to do and one or two of the things he recommends you should do.
Little gems like the “the longer the strategy document the less likely it is to lay out the case for change” and “whatever you do must be a useful document and not just a litany on what is already being done”. This sounds obvious but both these points are fundamental to success. You could probably fill a skip with strategy documents that were never acted upon which is a huge waste of time and company resources.
I am convinced that if I had had the opportunity to read this book earlier in my career, I would have saved myself many late nights and much heartache pushing a strategy that was probably sound but very poorly articulated. In the early years when I lacked confidence and experience I sought out ‘methodologies’ and complex diagrams, invariably borrowed from large consulting firms in the hope of blinding my bosses with science and hiding my lack of experience behind illustrious names. What the author correctly points out is that no methodology, however elegant and beguiling is a replacement for facts and sound thinking. What the author says rather more elegantly than me is cut the cr*p. All a good strategy needs in it is the why, the what and the how. If that sounds a bit cryptic then I suggest you buy this book.
I am ashamed to say I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of business books I have read more than once, this is one of them. I really wish more business books were written like this one, easy to read, easy to understand and easy to act upon. What a breath of fresh air and a welcome change from too many business books filled with hot air.
Julian Ferguson G’77
Caught with my Pants Down and other tales from a life in Hollywood
By Jim Piddock B’74 DartFrog Books 2022
Jim Piddock has certainly made a name for himself as both an acclaimed actor and writer on stage, screen and TV playing numerous key roles in a variety of projects ranging from the modest to the highly successful. In this highly entertaining and witty account of his journey through life he pulls back the curtain, with remarkable honesty and humour, to reveal what really goes on behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. It's full of great stories, all told with warmth and humour.
Jim was actually in my year at Worth and was a friend of mine there though we lost touch after school as our careers and lives diversified. Certainly, he was always one of those memorable childhood characters we carry with us through life. Indeed his life-long fixation with football and his beloved Crystal Palace was evident even then. Whilst not a great film goer myself I did become, through old school friends and somewhat later in life, aware of his success as both a serious and comedic character actor and writer in the film industry.
So one day whilst passing through Heathrow on yet another shark diving trip I saw a book with the intriguing title Caught with my Pants Down together with indisputably Jim Piddock’s shocked face adorning the cover, and so of course I just had to buy it.
The book provides a wonderful and amusing snapshot of Jim’s rise from humble acting ambitions in England to international fame and reveals the glorious insanity of the film and TV industry, although it is his openness about the darker moments of his life which is truly moving. It would also be true to say that his greatest achievements have arguably been away from the camera, writing and producing some very well-known productions for both the big and small screen. Aside from the sheer entertainment value of his story, there are actually many useful tips and sage advice as to how somebody can make their way onwards and upwards in the showbiz universe. There are some "star" names involved, but what I found most interesting were the passages about lesser-known individuals in the business and the stories about what life is like for them. Although of it all, I honestly found the chapter on the adoption of his daughter, Ally, to be the most truly moving and inspirational. This combined with some deeper reflections and his incisive conclusions on what the real meaning of family is, how to make destiny-defining choices, and the importance of living life to the fullest make this book a really worth-while read.
So, I am very happy to suggest that you should take the time to read this amazing book, a book which I feel probably well sums up Jim Piddock and his exceptional achievements in life and in the entertainment industry. I can also but acknowledge with respect his decision to donate the proceeds of the book to charity.
