Movement 113

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eviews: books wild Soose chase? A self-confessed liturgy anorak is sorely disappointed..' ATellin{, Place Joy Mead I Wild Goose Publications When A Telling Place arrived in the office for review, I leaped on it with eaEler anticipation. But now, as I sit down to write this review, I'm struglglling to explain why I don't like it. The book is a collection of meditations which centre on the women in the biblical narratives. The author attempts to draw on the experience of the biblical women who are on the margins of history and telltheir story, which has long been ignored. She says that the book is 'not a book of certainties and answers but of explorations and of questions', which is the sort of thing we like to hear at scM. They were women who must have loved, raged, lusted, laughed and relaxed, feeling and thinking much as I have done, but the book did not help me to relate to them One of the stories which inspired the author is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, which has long been one of my favourites. The front cover shows a picture of some women at a well which, when added to the lovely calligraphic titles and illustrations, makes the book very visually pleasing. lndeed, there are many reasons why I thought I would like the book: . I'm a self-confessed liturgl anorak and have quite a collection of litur$/ books. . I'm inclined to judge a book by its cover and this one looks so lovely. . l'm a bit of a fan of literature which sees biblical stories from the point of view of the women in them. . I love the stuff Wild Goose publish. So I'm left to ask myself why it is, when it seems that the book is just my kind of thing, that I can't like it. I wondered whether it was because I'd read too much similar stuff and it was like the time of year when you never want to see another mince pie as you've sickened yourself on them over Christmas. I looked at the meditations again and I realised why it was I didn't like them. None of the women felt real to me. The author says 'we see how emblematic the stories of these bible women are - how intimately our own'. lronically, that is exactly what I felt was missing from the book: a sense of identification with the biblical women. They were women who must have loved, raged, lusted, laughed and relaxed, feeling and thinking much as I have done, but the book did not help me to relate to them. The women in the book do things which have been stereotyped as womanly. They weep for generations yet unborn, they await their own flowering, they outburst the frames described to hold them, they offer the sweet womanliness of their free flowing hair, and they have lifeblood flowing from them. The author likes to draw on images of bodiliness and blood a little too much for my liking. It all feels too much like bad liturgical dance. The author likes to draw on images of bodiliness and blood a little too much for my liking. lt all feels too much like bad liturgical dance I read it aloud to my friend in the hope a fresh viewpoint might help with the review. We put our finger on a problem: who will use this book? I couldn't read it aloud with a straight face, so that rules it out for corporate worship. 'And if you used it for private prayer you'd feel like a freak', she commented. So l'm afraid l'll have to say that if you are after some reflections which are rooted in reality and still have a beautifully poetic quality to them, try anything else Wild Goose have published, but don't try this. I Marie Pattison 28lmovement
overview: web touched by the hand of Ned A vidual but vibrant community. Ship of Fools www.shiooffools.com Shrp of Fools: Ned Flanders. He's what it's all about. Ned is our icon. Ned is our leader, Ned is The Man. Ned is also Homer's Godbothering nextdoor neiglhbour off Ihe Sllmpsons, and according to a survey in 2001, the public figure most associated with Ghristianity on American college campuses. Which inspired the editors of Ship of Fools (wvuw.shiooffools.com) to arrange a very special ni$ht at Greenbelt 2OOt, replete with Ned lookalikes, sanctified songs, and fashion from the House of Flanders. lt was so successful that they did it again the following year. Twice. What kind of Ghristian outfit is it that can get away with orElanising an event celebrating a quite frankly lame (and, indeed, yellow) cartoon character and get it into the national press? Shrp of Fools has made a sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes passionate examination of Christianity its stock-intrade. Ori$nally a paper magazine run by Simon Jenkins and Steve Goddard between L977 and 1983, for the last 4v, years Shlp of Fools has had a presence on the net. The whole ethos of Shrp of Fools is tied up in its subtitle, 'The Magazine Hedvon ldl.d$rBdtq6b O Pu{.tory ' 6' ,.fur &b.h (e.r n.b) O F€n s .t6.tu d.d..rnffid.d a) A[ adfi' v rb d6dt llfu.d The Myi€ry WoEhlpper nts&htub.dF, O xsryqmonlo 'S.!&d*r*&.r^tsh a) smdll FIE v $. dsdhb .od C) uadn M{hs Y no*qooar. -o 60 2s47 d..a*a.o1uo.*; 136 154 77 aa 145 41 79 67 9420 75S3 al. W of Christian Unrest'. The Ship, as it's affectionately known by its devotees, exists to help people make sense of the Christian faith - to look at Christianity critically and honestly - to celebrate the good but to attack false religion wherever it's found. I think it succeeds in this admirably. But then, I'm a contributor to the Ship, and I'm biased. We have our very own Soul-Saving Supersonic Spiritual Celebrity in the shape of the Revd Gerald Ambulance, and he, with an army of columnists, some humorous, some serious, but all with offbeat perspectives, challenges the preconceptions and absurdities of the Christian World. ln the Fruitcake Zone you can find dozens of links to some of the strangest, weirdest, and scariest Christian websites out there. And I do mean 'out there' - from the Christian Naturists' Association through to the Christian Guide to Small Arms, and the perennial favourite, Rapture Ready, where a guy called Todd works out the percentage chance of the Rapture happening in any given week, with an index based on a peculiarly right-wing view of world events. Gadgets For God shows you exactly where you can buy those essential WWJD? underpants (with the false fly, of course). Urban Myths explodes those fictional e-mail forwards we all get, while Si$ns and Blunders keeps a record of strange Christian notices, bumper stickers and typos. taa, r.,s d kttn*r(d at.@2aal1.i3t r'de{rdryd
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Page 3 and 4: platform just war theory ls the Wes
Page 5 and 6: stop the war As with mct potests, t
Page 7 and 8: campargns cetrr)petigrt.J \ .l \ fa
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Page 11 and 12: worldview . Campaign for Clean Clot
Page 13 and 14: celebrity theologian I fr 1*.,p :iG
Page 15 and 16: feature: i ntrod uci ng christian i
Page 17 and 18: { feature: introducing christianity
Page 19 and 20: feature: i ntroduci ng ch ristian i
Page 21 and 22: ties and binds I ties and binds I j
Page 23 and 24: poverty Four ways to make a differc
Page 25 and 26: eviews: books revleyvs J cinema...
Page 27: eviews: film srryeet sixteen? Ken L
Page 31 and 32: the serpent TOO BUSY TO PRAY? Then

Movement 113

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