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Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love
“What is prayer? It’s not a passport to heaven. If anything, it’s a way of seeing here, a way of being here.”
In Being Here , acclaimed poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama offers a thoughtful collection of prayers and essays to focus attention in a world full of distractions. Featuring 31 collects—an ancient five-fold form of prayer—this unconventional devotional invites readers into a daily rhythm of connection and creativity.
“The hope is that you can turn to a prayer with the story of your life, and in the little emptiness you create there, hear something, discern something, feel something that’s connecting you to other things seeking out connection with you.”
Each day’s prayers are presented alongside scripture and illuminating literary texts. The book concludes with four incisive essays on politics, community, and the contours of contemporary life as seen through biblical literature. Pádraig also teaches readers how they can embrace poetic form to expand their practice of prayer. In these pages, spiritual wayfarers will find a place to both rest and grow their capacity for curiosity, justice, and love.
This is a way of living / That’s worth living daily.
In Being Here , acclaimed poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama offers a thoughtful collection of prayers and essays to focus attention in a world full of distractions. Featuring 31 collects—an ancient five-fold form of prayer—this unconventional devotional invites readers into a daily rhythm of connection and creativity.
“The hope is that you can turn to a prayer with the story of your life, and in the little emptiness you create there, hear something, discern something, feel something that’s connecting you to other things seeking out connection with you.”
Each day’s prayers are presented alongside scripture and illuminating literary texts. The book concludes with four incisive essays on politics, community, and the contours of contemporary life as seen through biblical literature. Pádraig also teaches readers how they can embrace poetic form to expand their practice of prayer. In these pages, spiritual wayfarers will find a place to both rest and grow their capacity for curiosity, justice, and love.
This is a way of living / That’s worth living daily.
175 pages, Hardcover
Published January 23, 2024
29 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
Pádraig Ó Tuama
27 books435 followersPádraig Ó Tuama’s poetry and prose centre around themes of language, power, conflict and religion. His work has won acclaim in circles of poetry, politics, psychotherapy and conflict analysis. His formal qualifications (PhD, MTh and BA) cover creative writing, literary criticism and theology. Alongside this, he pursued vocational training in conflict analysis, specialising in groupwork.
His published work is in the fields of poetry, anthology, essay, memoir, theology and conflict. A new volume of poetry — Kitchen Hymns — is forthcoming from CHEERIO in mid 2024.
Profiled in The New Yorker, Pádraig’s poems have been featured in Poetry Ireland Review, Academy of American Poets, Harvard Review, New England Review, Raidió Teilifís Éireann’s Poem of the Week, and the Kenyon Review.
Pádraig has told stories at The Moth, has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, has presented programmes on poetry and language for BBC Radio 4; and has extended interviews with On Being, with Kim Hill on Radio NZ, and Soul Search on Radio National (Australia). In addition, he has interviewed poets and public figures including former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Hanif Abdurraqib, The Edge, Sarah Perry, Joy Harjo, Billy Collins and Martin Hayes.
His published work is in the fields of poetry, anthology, essay, memoir, theology and conflict. A new volume of poetry — Kitchen Hymns — is forthcoming from CHEERIO in mid 2024.
Profiled in The New Yorker, Pádraig’s poems have been featured in Poetry Ireland Review, Academy of American Poets, Harvard Review, New England Review, Raidió Teilifís Éireann’s Poem of the Week, and the Kenyon Review.
Pádraig has told stories at The Moth, has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, has presented programmes on poetry and language for BBC Radio 4; and has extended interviews with On Being, with Kim Hill on Radio NZ, and Soul Search on Radio National (Australia). In addition, he has interviewed poets and public figures including former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Hanif Abdurraqib, The Edge, Sarah Perry, Joy Harjo, Billy Collins and Martin Hayes.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 22, 2024
While I don't believe any day is inherently more meaningful than any other, I do believe in setting the table. With that in mind, I like the first book I read in a new year to be deeply beautiful and meaningful. I look for something to set the table for a year of wonder, delight, good questions, personal stretching - something inspirational and challenging. When I got the ARC for Pádraig Ó Tuama's latest I knew I wanted it to be my first book of 2024. And it did not let me down. What a beautiful collection of essays and prayers. Thank you to the author, Eerdmans, and NetGalley for the eARC.
Being Here is a month's worth of daily devotional readings. Do I want more? Of course. Greedily, I want an entire year. But the book is rounded out with a series of essays, making it a good, readable length. The essays at the beginning are a compassionate welcome. And the ones at the end are thought-provoking. The essays alone are worth the price of admission, absolutely.
Then there are the prayers themselves. I have been a theology person for over 50 years. My parents read C.S. Lewis to me when most kids were getting Dr. Seuss. I grew up surrounded by Bible scholars. I read widely and deeply. And Pádraig Ó Tuama stopped me in my tracks with new insights, new perspectives, a new way of looking at familiar passages and situations. Glimpsing the world through the eyes of this amazing activist and poet is a true gift. I am grateful for the words Pádraig Ó Tuama chooses to share with the rest of us. These words set an exceptional table for a year of compassionate community building, uncomfortable personal growth, a year of focusing on gratitude and wonder, a year of seeing old things in new ways.
Being Here is a month's worth of daily devotional readings. Do I want more? Of course. Greedily, I want an entire year. But the book is rounded out with a series of essays, making it a good, readable length. The essays at the beginning are a compassionate welcome. And the ones at the end are thought-provoking. The essays alone are worth the price of admission, absolutely.
Then there are the prayers themselves. I have been a theology person for over 50 years. My parents read C.S. Lewis to me when most kids were getting Dr. Seuss. I grew up surrounded by Bible scholars. I read widely and deeply. And Pádraig Ó Tuama stopped me in my tracks with new insights, new perspectives, a new way of looking at familiar passages and situations. Glimpsing the world through the eyes of this amazing activist and poet is a true gift. I am grateful for the words Pádraig Ó Tuama chooses to share with the rest of us. These words set an exceptional table for a year of compassionate community building, uncomfortable personal growth, a year of focusing on gratitude and wonder, a year of seeing old things in new ways.
February 1, 2024
I come to Pádraig’s books from a different angle, not with any yearning for religion, but for his words. I read his books and love the heart he shares. I love the words he crafts so beautifully and I deeply appreciate them for what they are.
He writes for every person at any stage in their lives, even the people bruised by religion and not seeking at all. It’s no small thing for me to pick up a book about prayer or religion, usually it triggers a deep trauma response in me. But Pádraig is gentle.
I have no desire for theology, but whatever poetic magic he weaves, I’ll always have time for this.
He writes for every person at any stage in their lives, even the people bruised by religion and not seeking at all. It’s no small thing for me to pick up a book about prayer or religion, usually it triggers a deep trauma response in me. But Pádraig is gentle.
I have no desire for theology, but whatever poetic magic he weaves, I’ll always have time for this.
September 30, 2024
I love this man and I love to pray!!! Really enjoyed this as a leisurely stroll through what prayer could look like as a daily practice, and his writing about the form of the collect at the beginning was truly inspiring. Padraig I’m ur biggest fan!!!!
June 2, 2025
I finally decided to put this one down — the prayers just weren’t exactly what I was looking for! Ó Tuama is a wordsmith for sure, but *most* of the words this time just didn’t hit where I needed them to. Also, not totally vibing with some of the latent theology in there.
However, “The Art and Form of a Collect” chapter was a fantastic intro to writing/praying a collect, and that has been a useful tool to get my thoughts and feelings into words that feel prayerful.
——
On that note, here are some of the helpful, lovely words I gathered:
“I think of prayer as a favorite emptiness, a place where your aloneness is accompanied by a mystery you place your trust in.”
“What is prayer? It’s a protest, it’s a lament, it’s paying that debt, it’s telling the truth. It is knowing that more than one thing happened.”
“The collect is a form. It is a declaration in the first person, as well as a hope for a conversation with others who’ve found room in the structure of the form. It’s a shape. And the hope is that a shape can hold.”
“Every utterance of language is a failure; nothing encompasses everything it can mean. The question is how our language—in poetry or prayer—can fail in new ways.”
“Isn’t that the truth though? Everything’s a bit of everything. There’s no pressure to make language comprehensive. To imagine that language can say everything might mean that it says nothing. It can speak from the particular. And that particular may have a wider audience than we think.”
“It was an appeal for brevity, an appeal for particularity, an appeal to trust the fact that those who were listening could do their own discerning, translating, redacting, or transposing.”
——
Pieces of prayers that I found lovely:
“In our decisions help us listen to the dreams that know better, that go deeper, that push through.”
“Homely Jesus, Your friends knew where you lived and called around when you came back, with casserole and curiosity, with pressure and with sensitivity. When our friends come back help us help them with anything that’d help them, leaving what won’t work outside, bringing what will work inside. So that we can hear them and everything they say. Amen.”
“Jesus of frustrations, So much interrupts us: the deadline, the storm, the old hatred, the unhealed wound, the barrier. Help us follow life in the midst of everything that comes. Introduce yourself to us in these strange places, because we seek destinations. Amen.”
“Introduce yourself to us in these strange places”
“Your friends, believing they understood you, misunderstood what you meant by welcome. Us, too.”
“Jesus of the beasts, you noticed foxes, birds, cattle, sheep; fish, and humans too. Looking at other breathing things, even trees, may we see our place in this fragile family, because unless we do we’ll subdue them, demeaning the value of everything that lives or moves or has being. Amen.”
“Questioning Jesus, we do not always know what we want. Yet what we want can drive us even when we do not know it. Help us find the moments to come into contact with those deep drives so that we can be moved toward what will create and not destroy. Amen.”
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” (—Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)
“Oh let us see in such ways, so that we might follow life all around us. We need this, because in the choice between the living and the dead, we sometimes choose the dead. And we need to find ways to choose what keeps us living.”
However, “The Art and Form of a Collect” chapter was a fantastic intro to writing/praying a collect, and that has been a useful tool to get my thoughts and feelings into words that feel prayerful.
——
On that note, here are some of the helpful, lovely words I gathered:
“I think of prayer as a favorite emptiness, a place where your aloneness is accompanied by a mystery you place your trust in.”
“What is prayer? It’s a protest, it’s a lament, it’s paying that debt, it’s telling the truth. It is knowing that more than one thing happened.”
“The collect is a form. It is a declaration in the first person, as well as a hope for a conversation with others who’ve found room in the structure of the form. It’s a shape. And the hope is that a shape can hold.”
“Every utterance of language is a failure; nothing encompasses everything it can mean. The question is how our language—in poetry or prayer—can fail in new ways.”
“Isn’t that the truth though? Everything’s a bit of everything. There’s no pressure to make language comprehensive. To imagine that language can say everything might mean that it says nothing. It can speak from the particular. And that particular may have a wider audience than we think.”
“It was an appeal for brevity, an appeal for particularity, an appeal to trust the fact that those who were listening could do their own discerning, translating, redacting, or transposing.”
——
Pieces of prayers that I found lovely:
“In our decisions help us listen to the dreams that know better, that go deeper, that push through.”
“Homely Jesus, Your friends knew where you lived and called around when you came back, with casserole and curiosity, with pressure and with sensitivity. When our friends come back help us help them with anything that’d help them, leaving what won’t work outside, bringing what will work inside. So that we can hear them and everything they say. Amen.”
“Jesus of frustrations, So much interrupts us: the deadline, the storm, the old hatred, the unhealed wound, the barrier. Help us follow life in the midst of everything that comes. Introduce yourself to us in these strange places, because we seek destinations. Amen.”
“Introduce yourself to us in these strange places”
“Your friends, believing they understood you, misunderstood what you meant by welcome. Us, too.”
“Jesus of the beasts, you noticed foxes, birds, cattle, sheep; fish, and humans too. Looking at other breathing things, even trees, may we see our place in this fragile family, because unless we do we’ll subdue them, demeaning the value of everything that lives or moves or has being. Amen.”
“Questioning Jesus, we do not always know what we want. Yet what we want can drive us even when we do not know it. Help us find the moments to come into contact with those deep drives so that we can be moved toward what will create and not destroy. Amen.”
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” (—Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet)
“Oh let us see in such ways, so that we might follow life all around us. We need this, because in the choice between the living and the dead, we sometimes choose the dead. And we need to find ways to choose what keeps us living.”
January 14, 2024
In Being Here, this wise and honest poet guides the reader through a month of collects (short prayers), scripture, and excerpts from literature that help focus our attention on the core of what is true in any given moment.
I will use this in my personal prayer and on retreats.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Eerdmans for an e-copy for review.
I will use this in my personal prayer and on retreats.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Eerdmans for an e-copy for review.
January 8, 2024
Pretty sure this is the only devotional I can sit with right now. And it was just perfect.
September 25, 2024
A lovely book of liturgy.
March 12, 2024
Summary: A book of essays and prayers, including 31 days of readings and prayers, focused on being in communion with God as we seek to live lovingly and justly in our own places.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is an Irish poet-theologian invited for a writer-in-residence program at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan during 2020. The essays, poems, and prayers of this book arose out of the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns of this annus horribilis. The work opens with this prayer that seemed to express the longings of many of us in that year:
Turning to the light
the light turns to us.
Moving toward the source
the source moves toward us.
Holding on to hope
hope holds on to us.
The book opens with asking, “What is Prayer?” and answers “It’s not a passport to heaven. If anything, it’s a way of seeing here, a way, of being here.” After a short essay on the uses of the book, Pádraig Ó Tuama offers a fascinating essay on the Collect, a form he uses through the thirty-one days of prayer to follow. His most succinct summary is:
Address
Say more
Ask one thing
Say more
End
Then he practices that kind of succinctness over the 31 prayers and readings that follow. For each day, there is:
Opening Prayer
Reading (drawn from literature)
Scripture
Silence
Collect of the Day
A Remembering Prayer
The opening prayer and remembering prayer are the same throughout. I found myself centering on different phrases each day. The prayers for generosity, encounter, stories, new beginnings and mutual confession in the opening are gathered up in this wonderful closing: “Because this is a way of living/That’s worth living daily.” Being here. The remembering prayer recalls the glory of our creation as very good as we look about our city and then “pray for our city/and for the cities we are” and that God would breathe renewal into us throughout our days and all their encounters. What a wonderful prayer to pray in the midst of Manhattan or any of our cities! Being here.
Between the opening and remembering prayers were literary and scripture readings, a time for silence, and a collect, often thematically related. For example, from day 18, he pairs Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh, with its tale of dying aspirations and the call of Life, with Matthew 20:32, where Jesus asks the question “What do you want me to do for you?” He follows with this collect:
Questioning Jesus,
we do not always know what we want.
Yet what we want
can drive us
even when we do not know it.
Help us find the moments to come in contact
with those deep drives
so that we can be moved
toward what will
create
and not destroy.
Amen.
The thirty one days follow the course of Jesus’s life from genealogy and birth to death and resurrection.
The book concludes with several brief essays and poems including one on the power of stories during the author’s struggle with vertigo amid our collective disorientation of COVID, and one on the spirituality of conflict. There is also a thought-provoking essay on Mary questioning the ways we shroud her with a kind of saccharine piety when her life, and the life she bears, is a form of resistance to Rome. And he offers a wonderful prayer for times after pandemic, asking, “Help us help us/with the time needed for integration;/with the time needed for risk;/with the time for recovery/and honor and trying old things again/and trying new things again, too.”
What Pádraig Ó Tuama brings us in these prayers is an invitation to be present both to Christ and to our lives, and the lives around us. Indeed, this is praying that opens our eyes to the presence of the unseen kingdom in our midst. Being here.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is an Irish poet-theologian invited for a writer-in-residence program at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan during 2020. The essays, poems, and prayers of this book arose out of the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns of this annus horribilis. The work opens with this prayer that seemed to express the longings of many of us in that year:
Turning to the light
the light turns to us.
Moving toward the source
the source moves toward us.
Holding on to hope
hope holds on to us.
The book opens with asking, “What is Prayer?” and answers “It’s not a passport to heaven. If anything, it’s a way of seeing here, a way, of being here.” After a short essay on the uses of the book, Pádraig Ó Tuama offers a fascinating essay on the Collect, a form he uses through the thirty-one days of prayer to follow. His most succinct summary is:
Address
Say more
Ask one thing
Say more
End
Then he practices that kind of succinctness over the 31 prayers and readings that follow. For each day, there is:
Opening Prayer
Reading (drawn from literature)
Scripture
Silence
Collect of the Day
A Remembering Prayer
The opening prayer and remembering prayer are the same throughout. I found myself centering on different phrases each day. The prayers for generosity, encounter, stories, new beginnings and mutual confession in the opening are gathered up in this wonderful closing: “Because this is a way of living/That’s worth living daily.” Being here. The remembering prayer recalls the glory of our creation as very good as we look about our city and then “pray for our city/and for the cities we are” and that God would breathe renewal into us throughout our days and all their encounters. What a wonderful prayer to pray in the midst of Manhattan or any of our cities! Being here.
Between the opening and remembering prayers were literary and scripture readings, a time for silence, and a collect, often thematically related. For example, from day 18, he pairs Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh, with its tale of dying aspirations and the call of Life, with Matthew 20:32, where Jesus asks the question “What do you want me to do for you?” He follows with this collect:
Questioning Jesus,
we do not always know what we want.
Yet what we want
can drive us
even when we do not know it.
Help us find the moments to come in contact
with those deep drives
so that we can be moved
toward what will
create
and not destroy.
Amen.
The thirty one days follow the course of Jesus’s life from genealogy and birth to death and resurrection.
The book concludes with several brief essays and poems including one on the power of stories during the author’s struggle with vertigo amid our collective disorientation of COVID, and one on the spirituality of conflict. There is also a thought-provoking essay on Mary questioning the ways we shroud her with a kind of saccharine piety when her life, and the life she bears, is a form of resistance to Rome. And he offers a wonderful prayer for times after pandemic, asking, “Help us help us/with the time needed for integration;/with the time needed for risk;/with the time for recovery/and honor and trying old things again/and trying new things again, too.”
What Pádraig Ó Tuama brings us in these prayers is an invitation to be present both to Christ and to our lives, and the lives around us. Indeed, this is praying that opens our eyes to the presence of the unseen kingdom in our midst. Being here.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
May 2, 2024
To understand being here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love you have to understand two things: liturgy and living in the moment. For me, this book was a personal journey on learning about both. I grew up in a Christian tradition that looked down on liturgical, recited, or creedal prayers, so even though I have left that I have learned to see the value of liturgy, it is sometimes a struggle for me. Also, as a reviewer of books, my shelves are always filled to overflowing with titles to read. I read fast. I process information quickly. I always have. And this book and Pádraig Ó Tuama’s poetic insights are not a book for this.
Initially, I read being here as I would any book for review. Cover to cover. Never mind that it’s intended to be a thirty-one day devotional. And my recurring thought was “Wow there’s a lot of repetition here.” Each day has the same structure: opening prayer, a reading, a scripture, a place for silence, a collect (more on this later), and a closing prayer. Day 1. Okay. Day 2. Hmm. Day 3. Aren’t all these opening prayers the same? And the closing ones as well? So the only thing that changes from day to day is the reading (a quote from a different book), a scripture (also a quote), silence (just blank for about a third of a page), and the collect. All this is, then, is thirty-one collects, really…It seemed a lot of space for not a lot of novel material.
So I set it aside. I waited. Then I began to read it piece-by-piece. Day-by-day. And Pádraig Ó Tuama’s words—both those he had written and those he had selected—began to come to life. being here isn’t about a rush to obtain new information or consume new entertainment. It’s being being (about existing, about lingering, about being present) here (this one place, where things are often the same, gathering a sense of a familiarity and safety). The opening and closing prayers, repeated each day, became familiar. Yet, in meditating on them, I continued to find new meaning—meaning that I could only see on that day because of that day. There was novelty within the sameness. The places of silence (just empty places on the page) I began to see as an invitation to join Ó Tuama in a collaborative effort to work out the prayers and poetry.
It is the collects that offer newness for each today. In being here, Pádraig Ó Tuama offers thirty-one distinctive collects—a specific type of structured prayer. In the book’s preface, Ó Tuama explains this structure: 1) name to whom you are praying, 2) an unfolding of that name, 3) a naming of one desire, 4) an unfolding of that desire, 5) a word of praise. It’s simple. Address. Say more. Ask. Say more. End. It’s a poetic blending of formality and familiarity with poetic creativity. Ó Tuama captures it all perfectly.
Not everything needs to be consumed immediately. That’s what being here reminded me of. So this review might be a little delayed (this book released at the end of January and it is now the first of May), but some things require time, they require repetition, they require slowness, they require a sense of lingering presence, and being here is one such book. Pádraig Ó Tuama crafts a sense of unhurried and unperturbed presence even as he preaches a revolutionary message that calls for hope and justice. Truly, an incredible work of art.
Initially, I read being here as I would any book for review. Cover to cover. Never mind that it’s intended to be a thirty-one day devotional. And my recurring thought was “Wow there’s a lot of repetition here.” Each day has the same structure: opening prayer, a reading, a scripture, a place for silence, a collect (more on this later), and a closing prayer. Day 1. Okay. Day 2. Hmm. Day 3. Aren’t all these opening prayers the same? And the closing ones as well? So the only thing that changes from day to day is the reading (a quote from a different book), a scripture (also a quote), silence (just blank for about a third of a page), and the collect. All this is, then, is thirty-one collects, really…It seemed a lot of space for not a lot of novel material.
So I set it aside. I waited. Then I began to read it piece-by-piece. Day-by-day. And Pádraig Ó Tuama’s words—both those he had written and those he had selected—began to come to life. being here isn’t about a rush to obtain new information or consume new entertainment. It’s being being (about existing, about lingering, about being present) here (this one place, where things are often the same, gathering a sense of a familiarity and safety). The opening and closing prayers, repeated each day, became familiar. Yet, in meditating on them, I continued to find new meaning—meaning that I could only see on that day because of that day. There was novelty within the sameness. The places of silence (just empty places on the page) I began to see as an invitation to join Ó Tuama in a collaborative effort to work out the prayers and poetry.
It is the collects that offer newness for each today. In being here, Pádraig Ó Tuama offers thirty-one distinctive collects—a specific type of structured prayer. In the book’s preface, Ó Tuama explains this structure: 1) name to whom you are praying, 2) an unfolding of that name, 3) a naming of one desire, 4) an unfolding of that desire, 5) a word of praise. It’s simple. Address. Say more. Ask. Say more. End. It’s a poetic blending of formality and familiarity with poetic creativity. Ó Tuama captures it all perfectly.
Not everything needs to be consumed immediately. That’s what being here reminded me of. So this review might be a little delayed (this book released at the end of January and it is now the first of May), but some things require time, they require repetition, they require slowness, they require a sense of lingering presence, and being here is one such book. Pádraig Ó Tuama crafts a sense of unhurried and unperturbed presence even as he preaches a revolutionary message that calls for hope and justice. Truly, an incredible work of art.
November 4, 2024
Ó Tuama offers spiritual wisdom, blending prayers, poetry, and essays inviting readers to pause and reflect on their daily lives. Ó Tuama reflects a deep understanding of the human experience. The book's structure provides a framework for contemplation and growth, encouraging readers to engage with the text and the world around them in meaningful ways. Each page is imbued with Ó Tuama's compassionate voice, guiding readers through a journey of self-discovery and connection.
Whether you are well-versed in spiritual practices or new to the concept of prayer, "Being Here" is accessible, enlightening, and deeply moving. It's a book that doesn't just sit on a shelf; it lives in the hands and hearts of those who read it, becoming a daily companion in the quest for a more thoughtful and just existence. In a world that often feels fragmented and chaotic, Ó Tuama's words are a balm, offering a vision of hope and unity that is both refreshing and necessary. This book is more than a collection of texts; it's an invitation to live more fully, to embrace the complexity of life with curiosity and love. It's a call to be present in the moment, to recognize the sacred in the ordinary, and to find joy in the act of being truly here.
Quotes:
"The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around."
"When we are in a moment of courage – whether we call that God’s voice, or indigenous bravery – it is the body that tells us a deep truth; it is the body that speaks to us, and it is from the body that the courage comes."
Whether you are well-versed in spiritual practices or new to the concept of prayer, "Being Here" is accessible, enlightening, and deeply moving. It's a book that doesn't just sit on a shelf; it lives in the hands and hearts of those who read it, becoming a daily companion in the quest for a more thoughtful and just existence. In a world that often feels fragmented and chaotic, Ó Tuama's words are a balm, offering a vision of hope and unity that is both refreshing and necessary. This book is more than a collection of texts; it's an invitation to live more fully, to embrace the complexity of life with curiosity and love. It's a call to be present in the moment, to recognize the sacred in the ordinary, and to find joy in the act of being truly here.
Quotes:
"The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around."
"When we are in a moment of courage – whether we call that God’s voice, or indigenous bravery – it is the body that tells us a deep truth; it is the body that speaks to us, and it is from the body that the courage comes."
January 23, 2024
Being Here. Ó Tuama has written the next book to guide my small church group of women who have been reading, writing and reflecting together for a year: Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love. We plan to read one of the 31 meditations. Each day includes an opening prayer, a short reading, a short scripture reading, time for silence, a collect prayer corresponding to the scripture, and a closing prayer. The opening and closing prayers are repeated each day. As always, Ó Tuama is able to distill the essence of scripture into beautiful prose and prayer that resonates deep within. Also included in the book are a few essays. I will use the one about writing collects to guide my small group to write their own or revise Ó Tuama’s as he graciously makes space for. My only suggestion for improving this prayer book would be to offer multiple opening and closing prayers. While repetition can usher us into the ritual, Ó Tuama’s words are such a treasure I found myself longing for more.
June 2, 2025
The opening is packed with powerful requests (e.g. may we find moments of encounter even in isolation). They help to pause and center for the day. In addition, I had not encountered a collect before. What a beautiful way to use poetry as prayer! I found myself appreciating the format as well as the beautiful sentiments. Padraig's ability to align the poetry, scripture and collect was amazing!
July 15, 2024
I love Padraig o Tuama’s podcast and poems so I expected this to have some real prayers and poems in it. All 31 days repeat the same 2 prayers and a short bible verse - why the repetition? Was it just to make the book big enough to sell? Without the repetition, this book is just 30 short poems with a fascinating introduction and an enlightening appendix.
November 2, 2025
Poet and theologian Pádraig O Tuama presents 31 daily prayers and readings that invite deeper engagement and reflection. The two main prayers are repeated each day, which makes sense here, but it takes up a lot of space. Don't be tempted to skip over the introductory and closing essays since they're the best part. Actual rating: 3.5
August 13, 2024
I loved this little collections of a month worth of meditations and a few little essays and prayers at the end of it. It is wise and thoughtful and spoke to my heart and the heart of others who came across it. I loved it.
June 17, 2025
“This is a way of living / That’s worth living daily.”
Ó Tuama holds so much space in his theology for nuance and mystery. I truly think in 100 years time he’ll be seen as a great mystic or somethin. Makes me sort of maybe not want to not be a Christian anymore.
Ó Tuama holds so much space in his theology for nuance and mystery. I truly think in 100 years time he’ll be seen as a great mystic or somethin. Makes me sort of maybe not want to not be a Christian anymore.
October 23, 2024
Daily rhythms and readings that focus on the present state of our hearts in the present places we live. A resource I will return to again and again.
February 28, 2025
This was lovely and good and a wonderful spiritual companion for the past month. I’ll be returning to this again and again. 🩵
December 26, 2025
Padraig’s prayers and quotes are timely and fascinating!
December 26, 2025
Thankful for Pádraig’s lovely voice in today’s world.
April 1, 2024
Surprise: I found the essays before and after the daily prayers to be what stuck with me the most. I’m reading this, I’ve added it to my morning routine. But what this bloke has to say about collects, about isolation and the company of Story, about Mary and the Maries, and about language and conflict are just too too too good. Take or leave the daily opening and closing prayers; stay for the collects and his brilliant poetry.
May 9, 2025
I’ve loved so much of Padraig O Tuama’s work: his podcast, Poetry Unbound, and his collection of reflections on poems by the same name, as well as various poems and prayers of his I’ve come across here and there. So I decided to read this book of daily poems and prayers during Lent this year, to displace my habit of scrolling social media & news first thing in the morning.
The book has 31 daily readings—made up of a reading, a scripture reading, and a form of prayer called a collect, sandwiched by the same opening & closing prayer each day (which for me, got awfully repetitive). My mileage varied with the various readings & prayers, but I loved how O Tuama used the collect format. A group I lead at church frequently writes collects based on our group reflections, so seeing the way he both worked within & expanded the form—in response to each day’s scripture reading—was fascinating.
This ended up being just okay for me—I didn’t resonate with it as much as I’d hoped, and having the SAME opening and closing prayers reprinted every day (length-wise, they were often equal to the rest of the day’s readings) started to grate on me! I do plan on checking out more of O Tuama’s collections of prayers, hoping others resonate with me more.
The book has 31 daily readings—made up of a reading, a scripture reading, and a form of prayer called a collect, sandwiched by the same opening & closing prayer each day (which for me, got awfully repetitive). My mileage varied with the various readings & prayers, but I loved how O Tuama used the collect format. A group I lead at church frequently writes collects based on our group reflections, so seeing the way he both worked within & expanded the form—in response to each day’s scripture reading—was fascinating.
This ended up being just okay for me—I didn’t resonate with it as much as I’d hoped, and having the SAME opening and closing prayers reprinted every day (length-wise, they were often equal to the rest of the day’s readings) started to grate on me! I do plan on checking out more of O Tuama’s collections of prayers, hoping others resonate with me more.
April 19, 2025
Beautiful.
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