Beauty for Ashes: Spiritual Reflections on the Attack on America

The 61st chapter of Isaiah speaks of comforting those who mourn ""to give them beauty for ashes."" John Farina's collection, Beauty for Ashes: Spiritual Reflections on the Attack on America, features a diverse hodgepodge of responses to September 11, from the Le Monde editorial ""Nous Sommes Tous Americains"" to ethicist Jean Bethke Elshtain's account of religious leaders meeting with President Bush and Andrew Sullivan's essay ""This is a Religious War."" Some of the most compelling contributions are from individuals who describe their personal experiences, including a Julliard student who stayed at the Armory late into the night, playing every piece of music he knew from memory for the rescue workers. The collection is somewhat marred by less thoughtful pieces, such as Pat Robertson's simplistic and dangerous ""God Almighty Is Lifting His Protection."" The anthology is a mixed bag that will succeed more as a historical record of many different responses to the tragedy than as spiritual nourishment in a time of crisis. ( Dec.)