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| Reminders of God: Altars for Personal and Family Devotion |
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 Altars have a special place in this year of the Eucharist. Each of us has our favourite altars that are precious to us because of the role they have played in bringing us into communion with God at various times of our lives. Which is your favourite altar? Where is it? What are some of the occasions that you have gathered around that altar? With whom? What is it that makes that altar special to you?I imagine that for most people reading this the altars they are familiar with are in church buildings or chapels or oratories. If this is so I might ask: have you ever had a personal altar, for example, in your bedroom or has your family ever created a family altar in your home? In her small readable book, Reminders of God: Altars for Personal and Family Devotion Anne Grizzle invites us to explore the benefits of having personal and family altars to enhance our personal prayer and the prayer life of our family. It is a book that is creative, inspirational and practical. Grizzle explains: Home altars are like oak trees. They may have a familiar basic form that identifies them - a horizontal surface, probably covered with a cloth, containing various sacred (and seemingly not so sacred) items. But beside that they are incredibly unique and personal. Each one bears the mark of its maker and its maker's own dance with the Creator of this wonderful, intricate world. Like a photo album of a couple's love relationship, the home altar might make a visitor wonder at the strange objects that must have secret meaning or smile at an easily recognised delight. Like oak trees, altars grow and change with the seasons of the year and of a family's life. The author traces the importance of altars in Jewish and Christian faith through the centuries. She points out that the early Christians often worshipped in homes and that in rural parts of medieval Europe, Christians who could not easily travel to church for community worship used home altars for worship. The central chapter of the book explains what a personal altar is, its purpose, how to create one and its special uses. It then explains what a family altar is, its purpose, how to create one and its uses. The family altar provides a focus for family prayer. It is a regular place where the family can gather for whatever simple or elaborate worship they choose to use as a family. The main distinction between a personal altar and a family altar is that a family altar is created by all the family members together and is used primarily for family devotion and worship. To create a family altar the family members have to have a small table that is placed in an appropriate place in the home. They choose a cloth for the altar or they can make one and finally they choose the objects that are to be placed on the altar. The objects chosen will differ from family to family as no two families are the same. Here are some of the questions that Grizzle offers by way of helping families to choose objects to place on their altar: • What are the times, events, or traditions in your family life in which you experience God's presence? What objects might represent them? • What are special family traditions or specific instances of God's working in your family's life? • What activities contribute to the growth of family relationships? • In what ways do you encourage loving communication within the family? • How do you stay connected spiritually? • What are some examples of God's grace to the family in times of conflict or pain? • What are your family's particular calls to service? Grizzle says: The family altar usually begins as a group project in which all the members consider the connections to God and to one another that are crucial to the family. Over time, different members may add items or replace old ones. The altar can evolve as children grow, as ways of connecting change, and as traditions develop. From time to time the whole family might decide to overhaul the family altar. Whatever its form, the family altar remains a place for worship and for remembering God's works. Like the seemingly unrelated items of a collage that have been pasted together to create beautiful art, so the items configured on a family altar produce spiritual art that is an offering to God of thanks and prayer. Much of the rest of the book is devoted to exploring ways of praying around the personal altar or family altar with particular focus being given to the activities of paying attention, expressing gratitude, remembering and faithfulness. Reminders of God: Altars for Personal and Family Devotion is a tremendously rich treasure for families that are interested in fostering the prayer life of their family while at the same time giving each of us an opportunity to reflect on and revive our personal prayer. Margaret Silf, author of Sacred Space: Stations on a Celtic Way, says of Grizzle's book: Beautifully written, right from the heart of everyday life as it is really lived. Reminders of God invites us to celebrate the sacredness that lies along our daily paths… This fascinating book is a treasure trove of practical and original ideas, with the potential to transform every corner of our lives into a portal to God. The author's final words are: My hope is that the ideas in this book have planted a seed for many individuals and families that will germinate and develop in wonderful ways. My prayer is that whatever your home altar looks like, it will be a tool in your life to help you pay attention to, thank and remember the amazing, loving Creator of oak trees and every person in the world. Reminders of God: Altars for Personal and Family Devotion by Anne F. Grizzle is published by Paraclete Press. |
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