cover image Liturgy in the Wilderness: How the Lord’s Prayer Shapes the Imagination of the Church in a Secular Age

Liturgy in the Wilderness: How the Lord’s Prayer Shapes the Imagination of the Church in a Secular Age

D.J. Marotta. Moody, $14.99 trade paper (176p) ISBN 978-0-8024-2856-1

Anglican priest Marotta debuts with a spirited if less than convincing close reading of the Lord’s Prayer. Because secularism stymies the imagination, the author contends, Christians must use prayer as “tinder” to fire it up. Marotta homes in on the Lord’s Prayer and suggests that its appeal lies in its simplicity, as well as its ability to foster connection through communal recitation. Offering a line-by-line analysis of the prayer, the author suggests that “our Father” implies that each Christian has a “family relationship” with all other humans, even sinners, and constitutes a radical call for empathy. He continues that the phrase “hallowed be thy name” ensures God stays at the center of one’s prayers. However, Marotta’s cultural commentary comes across as reductive and tangential, as when he defends the assertion that the “ ‘Our Father’ phrase subverts... the idolatry of the nuclear family” by postulating a false dichotomy, asking if readers would prefer “having a happy, successful family where everyone has nominal faith or a suffering, struggling family” with deep faith. The author’s punchy prose (“Most people have an allergic reaction to the idea of calling God ‘Father’ ”) entertains, but some shaky interpretations drag this down. The result is a mixed bag. (Oct.)