Dear NWIM Synod,
I’ll be on vacation with my mom the week before the e-newsletter deadline, so I am sharing a book review that’s already been published by the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. The timing is appropriate as the e-news will come out the day after All Saints Sunday and the book I reviewed is about saints and mystics.
I wish Kreg Yingst’s gorgeous 2024 book Everything Could be a Prayer had existed when I was a teenager. The individuals he writes about include biblical characters, people the church has long celebrated, saints and mystics who lived quite recently, and individuals who lived long ago but who may be new to many readers.
Yingst began creating the portraits as a New Year’s resolution in 2013. The work was consistent but then became sporadic until 2020. This time he searched for the “wisdom of self-imposed hermits and leaders from marginalized communities.” What all 100 featured saints and mystics share “is their love for God and their enduring awareness of God’s love for them.” This devotional book is not meant to be exhaustive; it is meant to be an introduction to people from other times and places who help us meet God.
Each entry includes a scripture verse, a biography, a prayer, and an illustration. Since the art is a significant part of this book, it may be helpful to know more about the style. Yingst uses a form of block printing, with original works created from carved blocks of wood, linoleum, or other materials, and printed onto paper or other media. The icon-style portraits of each saint or mystic are serious but not gloomy. Yingst certainly has a style which holds the collection together, but each portrait is its own. You can preview the illustrations on Facebook and Instagram @PsalmPrayers.
Yes, a teenager or adult or a group could read through the book in order, reading one or more entries each day. However, Yingst has ordered the biographies by descriptors (Nicholas is Generosity and Harriet Tubman is Perseverance). Individuals and ministry leaders might use the descriptors to choose a devotion connected to whatever they are discussing as a group. Alternatively, Yingst has created reading guides at the end of the book: Advent-The Contemplative Life and Lent-The Active Life.
Adolescence can be lonely, even for those teenagers who have caring adults, good friends, and a safe church home. I had all those things, and I still think Everything Could be a Prayer could have helped me feel seen. Further, it would have opened my imagination to the many ways that people live out their faith, the rich variety of people the Holy Spirit works through, and the scope of ways people talk to and about God. The truth is that I still need my imagination opened to all of this; I still need these saints and mystics to remind me of God’s love for me and model love for God.
Peace and Blessed All Saints!
Bishop Meggan