Arrows in the Mind

Winifred M. O'Rourke was a writer and journalist in Saskatoon.

Dr. J.R.C. Perkin, President and Vice-chancellor of Acadia University (Wolfville, Nova Scotia) and also Professor of Religious Studies, states that he has been fascinated for some time “with the stark simplicity” of the narratives and language of Mark’s Gospel. By no means ignoring modern biblical scholarship, he suggests that a reader can take some incidents from the gospel at face value and be “astonished” — a frequent Marcan expression — at the impact it can have on one’s personal faith.

The author has selected some passages that involve direct contact of Christ with individuals. Then, in five different chapters, he applies the incidents recounted by the evangelist to different aspects of faith — a pilgrim faith, an incomplete faith, and so on. Reflections on these passages can be disturbing, the author states, and so are like “arrows in the mind.”

This small volume has come out of devotional talks given to chaplains at annual conferences at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, then developed into six half-hour units for use at the annual Good Friday service at the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Some poems and prayers round out the book.

A helpful book of meditation at any time, it is particularly apropos for the Lenten season.