Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881

St Andrew's Church, Taunton

Beginning Again

by  John Pritchard

Reviewed by Adrian Smith

This book has acted for me as a sort of spiritual WD40.  Events over the past few months have meant that my spiritual life has been squeaking badly, and for much of the time it has seemed seized up all together.

I guess we all sometimes go through a sort of ‘spiritual winter’ in which it seems that God has packed his bag and emigrated until the weather improves!

So I picked this book up in SPCK mainly because I recognised the author as a former Vicar of St George’s Wilton, and because I liked the straightforward title.  The book claims to be one of practical help and encouragement for anyone looking for a new start in their spiritual journey, or wanting to take that journey further.  It is also eminently suitable for anyone who is wondering whether they should set out on the road less travelled at all.

Divided into four sections - prayer, the Bible, Church, and lifestyle - and yet only just over 100 pages long, John Pritchard has produced proof of the aphorism that less is more.  His style is open and accepting; he offers guidance but is never prescriptive; he writes with conviction but is not overbearing or patronising; most importantly, he recognises that there are an infinite number of ways of being a Christian and that there are no ‘classes’ of spirituality, only different personalities and times of life.

This is above all an accessible book, which encourages us to think for ourselves.  I found that it helped me to gather spiritual strength, and begin a process of re-framing my relationship with the church.  To paraphrase a recent television commercial, it does exactly what it says on the cover!

John Pritchard makes no apologies for the fact that this is a ‘how to’ book, but this should not deter established Christians from reading it.  It is sometimes good to have our concepts of truth and our religious perspectives challenged - especially if these are unhelpful and we have outgrown them.  In other words, it is sometimes helpful to go back to basics and ‘begin again’.  After all, it is this constant opportunity to begin again which is the greatest, and most unique message of our Christian faith.  No matter how tired, cynical, embittered or estranged we become, Jesus is always there, beckoning us and inviting us to begin again with a clean slate.

John’s  book should instantly replace all the over-hyped Alpha publications, because it has an acceptance of all types of prayer and worship as being of equal value in the sight of God.  It makes no attempt to turn us into nice little Christian clones!  It has a very pragmatic approach to faith and church, for example:

“Even if we get to the point of near hysteria and would prefer to watch the omnibus edition of Neighbours than go to church, we should beware the temptation to wander off and try to find a perfect church.  If you find one, don’t join it, because you will wreck it!  A perfect church needs perfect Christians, and there aren’t any.”

Suitably humbled by this thought we are reminded that much of our life together as Christians is just about muddling along together through the highs and lows.  So if your spiritual life, like mine, sometimes gets a bit squeaky this book could provide just the lubrication you need to keep moving!

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