#3, Desmond Tutu (ed), An African Prayer Book

[waelisc.livejournal.com]

I bought this about seven years ago, looking for something to supplement our denominational prayer book for a youth group gathering at my church. At the time I scanned through it in a hurry and never went back to it, but this challenge motivated me to go back and read it properly.

Desmond Tutu was the (Anglican) bishop of Lesotho, South Africa when he won the Nobel Peace Prize (1984) for his leadership in the anti-apartheid movement. Soon after, he was elected Archbishop of Capetown, which put him at the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa (their first black archbishop ever). He's still alive, though retired from being Archbishop now.

The prayers here are collected from many different sources. He says in the intro the intent was to represent "African Christian and non-Christian spirituality." The majority of the prayers seem to be from African traditional religions and from African Christian traditions. Many of the attributions are just to a location, or an ethnic group, so I wasn't always sure. There are also some prayers written by whites who either grew up in Africa or made their lives there. There are several hymns and quotes from African Americans. There are several from the Caribbean Council of Churches. There are a dozen or more from early Christian theologians who lived in Egypt or North Africa in the days of the Roman Empire: Augustine, Origen, Athanasius.

I was rather sorry to see so much room given to Augustine even though, yes, he lived in Africa, because his writing is available in so many other editions. I was also dismayed that there was nothing (identifiable to me) to represent Islam, which does have a long tradition in many parts of Africa.

Nevertheless there were many beautiful prayers.

...Creator, who sews the heavens together like cloth,
knit together everything here on the earth below.
You are the one who calls the branching trees into life;
you make new seeds grow out of the ground
so that they stand straight and strong.
You have filled the land with people...
Rozwi, South Africa

Lord, my joys mount as do the birds,
heavenward.
The night has taken wings
and I rejoice in the light.
Ghana

From the cowardice that dare not face new truths,
From the laziness that is contented with half truths,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Good Lord, deliver me.
Bread for Tomorrow, Kenya

May God free you, may God guard you night and day.
May God set you in your right place,
and may you spread out like the grass of a prairie.
Spread out like palm leaves; continue your walk,
and may life be with you.
May God placed you where God's stars are placed
at dawn and at night.
Spread out like the water of a lake.
Be numerous like the feet of a millipede.
Sambura, Kenya

As I recall I used several prayers from this collection with my kids at church, but the one they responded to most was a long meditation called Lord, The Motor Under Me Is Running Hot - because it had a narrative, I expect. It's told by a bus driver, reflecting on the challenges of his day and praying for the safety of his passengers and himself on the road.