Ouch. This book can hurt, on a lot of levels. Walter Brueggermann assumes in his book Prayers for a Privileged People that the privileged (you and me) face unique challenges that require prayers of a particular kind.

That’s essentially true, I think. The prayers of a privileged people would be substantially different than the prayers of somebody who does not know where her next meal is coming from. And the temptations faced will be significantly different. I’ve covered such topics as these in various posts on this blog.

But to see it in writing, to see the requests that we privileged people are likely to present to God … well, it’s more than a bit depressing, to be honest. It all comes across as a bit whiny. Do we need a Super Bowl Sunday prayer? Or one for Tax Day? Well, I guess, sorta. But I don’t like it.

So no, I didn’t like this book. But it did challenge me. It forces me to think how my own words and actions (which are very flawed) are perceived.

I hate it when that happens.