Synopses & Reviews
Some poets begin very early to write great poetry. Arthur Rimbaud wrote one of his best poems at 15, Percy Shelley published his first book of poetry at 18. But Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., did not start until he was 75, after decades of writing as a professional theologian. Now 82 he gives us Swift, Lord, You Are Not, poems of the struggle to find God - waiting for the silence of God to break. He does not write pious verse, or inspirational poetry, but of wrestling with the illusive God. His themes are mostly biblical and monastic. He closes with an essay Poet: Can You Start at Seventy-Five?" in which he describes the literary decisions he makes within the monastic context - decisions he needs to make with some dispatch. At 75 he does not have decades to mature. He writes with a new language.
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Kilian McDonnell, OSB, STD, is a priest and monk of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is author of John Calvin, The Church, and the Eucharist (Princeton and Oxford University Presses) and The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the forthcoming The Other Hand of God: The Holy Spirit as the Universal Touch and Goal, published by Liturgical Press. He served as the Consultor to the Vatican Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and is the founder and president of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research in Collegeville, Minnesota. He is the recipient of the John Courtney Murray Award for Significant Contributions to Theology, given by the Catholic Theological Society of America, the James Fitzgerald Award for Ecumenism, and was the recipient of the papal award for ecumenism from Pope John Paul II: Pro Pontifice et Eccelesia."
Review
[M]asterfully crafted, and totally engaging. . . . McDonnell is a genius at inserting some of the latest contemporary idioms and realities into biblical scenesa maneuver that brings the readers attention to an upright position, squashing any patronizing attitude one may be harboring with regard to the poets age and environment. . . . [H]e retains his tremendously refreshing sense of humor, his ability to poke fun at himself, the twinkle in his eye, and his delightful obstreperous verve.Corpus Reports
Review
Swift Lord, You Are Not provides us with meaning and inspiration, enjoyment and refinement of the heart. It deserves at least two if not three readings.Deacon Digest
Review
His is a voice worth listening to. I want to hear more.American Benedictine Review
Review
McDonnell has started late at poetry, but he should keep going. Why stop now?American Benedictine Review
Synopsis
Description: Commenting on "narrow the gate and hard the road that leads to life, and few there are who find it" (Matt 7:14), St. Benedict counsels young men not to be daunted by difficulties at the beginning. The way of the poet is like the way of the monk, writes renowned theologian Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B. In Swift, Lord, You Are Not, Fr. McDonnell offers this collection of spiritual poems about his personal struggle with God, coping with the discipline of the search for God--and waiting for God. Swift, Lord, You Are Not includes poems divided into four parts: "In the Beginning Was the Word: The Promise, " "In the Beginning Was the Word: Fulfillment, " "Along the Cloister Walk, " and "Pauperizing the Coptic Lexicon." A personal essay "Poet: Can You Start at Seventy-Five?" concludes the collection.
About the Author
Kilian McDonnell, OSB, is a monk/theologian of Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is the author of three other books of poetry: Swift, Lord, You Are Not, Yahweh's Other Shoe, and God Drops and Loses Things (Saint John's University Press).