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Paulist’s new books tackle topics of creativity and interreligious prayer
by Stefani Manowski
The concepts of interreligious prayer and creativity may seem like two different worlds, but they are “deeply related” for Father Thomas Ryan, C.S.P., director of the Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations in Washington, D.C.
“My full-time work for Christian unity and with followers of other world religions continually calls me to take a fresh look at things like patterns of worship or ways that communities of faith make decisions,” explained the author of 12 books. “And that’s essentially what creativity is – the ability to see new possibilities in set ways of doing things.”
The fruit of this connection can be seen in two new books authored by Father Ryan – “Soul Fire: Accessing Your Creativity” (Skylight Paths Publishing) and “Interreligious Prayer: A Christian Guide” (Paulist Press).
“Soul Fire” takes the reader on a journey of cultivating the creative spirit, especially for those in the second half of life. Through the reflection questions in each chapter, the reader is helped to identify their creative energy, overcome their insecurities and connect with the method that expresses their creativity in a way that encourages personal growth and enriches the reader’s spiritual life.
“There is a fire in the soul, and heat is energy,” explained Father Ryan, who leads ecumenical retreats and parish missions throughout North America and Europe. “With the passing of our years, the heat builds, and the energy, tightly contained, begins to whistle like a tea kettle on the stove. If you’re listening, the water will be poured to make a drink that restores and vitalizes. If you’re not, the energy will be vaporized away – wasted– and the kettle rendered ineffective. When we are not true to our deepest and creative selves, we risk becoming dissatisfied with life, depressed. We may come to feel that nothing we do really matters or is worth the effort. As the years roll on, one can come to hate oneself for not wasting one’s time and talents, for not listening to the fire within. The secret to staying energized and thoroughly alive is to stay attuned to the creative spirit within and then get out of its way.”
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| “Soul Fire: Accessing Your Creativity” ($16.99, 138 pp) has been selected as the Spring Book Club Pick by its publisher, Sky Light Paths. It will be featured on the publisher’s Web site during the months of April, May and June. |
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And for those who feel they, or the activities in which they engage, are not the least bit creative, Father Ryan said that creativity is to be found in all aspects of life.
“Creativity is taking the nearest exit out of the traffic jam on the highway and getting there by the back roads,” he said. “It’s using a paper clip or bobby-pin to hold the machine together long enough to finish the job. It’s a mother dancing between the needs of three children, or a salesman putting the right words together to get in the door. It’s not an “extra” but a necessity for living. The creative potential within us is one of the things that make us ‘in the image and likeness of God.’ The Creator has gifted us with creativity. Our gift in return is to use it.”
One may even be called to use that gift of creativity to reach out to people of other faith traditions.
“Interreligious Prayer” looks for possibilities in answering the questions: Can we pray together as members of different religions? If so, how?
“Prayer is the universal aspect of religion,” Father Ryan said. “Prayer is to religion what rational thought is to philosophy. Even though every human being may not consciously engage in prayer, it is a natural, normal, and inalienable part of being human to have an instinctive feel for what prayer is. Prayer is an act by human beings to be in communication with the Sacred, the Holy, the Other, or in common parlance, God. Our need to explore this new frontier in our relationships with one another flows out of the recognition that prayer is the shortest way between humans, because God is the One who is nearest to us. It is the strongest bond because it goes through God. In our distressed, broken world, prayer is a bond of peace. Can we afford to ignore the opportunities we have for it?”
Father Ryan has experienced first-hand how prayer can heal wounds and gap divisions.
“Something happens when people pray together,” he said. “Their relationship is reframed. They come out of the experience with a new or deeper sense of their common ground as children of God, or as needy, searching, fallible human beings who are doing the best they can to find meaning and purpose in life and to leave this world better than they found it. You needn’t invoke dramatic examples to see the truth of this. Look simply at what happens when Christians of different denominations in a Bible study group read the Scriptures and pray together, or at what happens when Christians share a Seder supper with Jews.”
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