REVIEWS

TRAVELS WITH A STICK

A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de Compostela

Written by: Richard Frazer

Published by: Birlinn

Price: £12.99

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer requires no introduction to regular readers of Life and Work. He is Convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Committee and minister at Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh. He is also a pilgrim who has walked most of the worldfamous Santiago de Compostela.

This account of his journey is remarkable in both honesty and gratitude.

Having set of and given himself a target time to complete the 700 mile journey in seven weeks, he is quickly felled by injury – tendonitis and blisters – and forced to rest. The time is a gift to him as he encounters the deeper meaning of the pilgrimage.

This compelling account of his journey – in 2012 – is immensely readable and offers a fascinating insight into the hostels and camaraderie that develops among pilgrim walkers. His encounters with travellers of all nationalities are seamlessly woven into his travels amid the hazards of snoring nighttime companions within dormitories.

This is not simply a travelogue – it is a powerful account of how expectations and ambitions can be reframed and changed by the world-famous pilgrimage to allow deeper insights and lessons to emerge.

The experience has clearly changed him, but the journey is perhaps summed up best by some of his final words in the 200-plus page volume: ‘To allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to be helped by strangers can be hard, and goes against the grain of self-reliance.

But if we ask for help when things go wrong, if we accept that we all have time of vulnerability, far from being diminished, we will discover the richness of a caring community that grows through kindness.’

JANE HAINING

A Life of Love and Courage

Written by: Mary Miller

Published by: Birlinn

Price: £14.99

The story of Jane Haining, hidden in the shadows for so long, has finally been woven into the fabric of public consciousness. The tale of her call to serve at the Scottish Mission to the Jews in Budapest from Scotland, her life in Hungary and then as the horrors of the Second World War engulfed the land where she served, her wilful ignoring of an order to leave and to return to the safety of her homeland, her protection of Jewish girls and her death in a concentration camp in war-torn Europe and the acknowledgement of her quiet devotion to duty by the State of Israel as ‘Righteous Among Nations’ has gripped many.

Many column inches have been devoted to her life and there have been several books exploring her life and faith.

Whilst barely 200 pages long, this account is, dare I suggest, the definitive account of the life of the Dumfriesshire born girl, who was inspired to serve as matron at the Mission and leave the safety of her job in the offices of a Paisley mill.

The book opens with a devastatingly effective reimagination of the moment of Jane’s arrest, immediately gripping readers as they are taken on the journey of her life – and untimely death. The author has meticulously researched Jane’s life and created a seamless and compelling account – from Jane’s early days in Dumfriesshire, to her time in Paisley and her call to serve.

The book moves full circle from the arresting introduction, through Jane’s life to her ultimate death – and to her legacy, in the shape of the family and people who remember her and her gift of courage.

FROM COSMOS TO CANAAN

The Bible in Verse

Written by: Jock Stein

Published by: Sacristy Press

Price: £9.99

Written by the Rev Jock Stein, a familiar figure to many in the Church of Scotland, this book uses poetry, conversation and commentary to introduce readers to six of the books of the Bible – Genesis (split in to two parts), Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua.

The Old Testament can feel daunting for contemporary readers, but by breaking it down and using the other literary mediums alluded to above, readers are guided through the key stories from each of the first six books of the Old Testament including Cain and Abel, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Isaac and Moses but also deals with some of the big questions thrown up by each of the books.

The conversational style carries on throughout the book with the author chatting to an imaginary ‘Jean Sharpin’ using poetry and knowledge to unpack understanding of the sometimes complex stories and issues thrown up by the six books of the bible.

In an introduction Jock explains how the seeds for the book were sown when he decided to write a poem for every book of the Bible after he felt called to poetry at the age of 70.

Highlighting the premise for the work and its style, he explains in an introduction: ‘For many people, the Bible is just “an old book” – without any modern science and bound by the culture of its times. Perhaps it is just such a book which can shed light and our own lives. I have certainly found that to be true; it begins a dialogue with the issues of our new century, and in a strange way it also remains relevant to our modern personal concerns.’

Lynne McNeil