Learning about my family lineage has been fascinating. At one point I took a DNA test to see if it would open new family lines (it did…but that’s another story). A curious bit of information that came from the test was that my patriarchal line is almost certainly Celtic.

That was a surprise because we know the Goble’s came from Southern England, which was conquered and reconquered by a number of non-Celtic invaders. Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans and even Vikings are highly intermixed in that part of the UK, pushing the Celtic tribes into Wales, Scotland and Ireland. So to find out I was Celtic was quite a surprise. I guess I can’t say I’m white anglo saxon protestant anymore; I’m white celtic protestant. WCP doesn’t have the same zing as WASP.

Anyway, long before this discovery I was curious about Celtic Christianity. Before it was the hip thing to study, I was reading books on it. For once I was a trendsetter.

So not to long ago a friend gave me a copy of Calvin Miller’s book The Path of Celtic Prayer. First published in 2007, this short book looks at what we can learn from the Celtic way of prayer. Miller uses six chapters to create six themes of Celtic prayer: Trinity Prayer, Scripture Prayer, Long Wandering Prayer (gotta love that name), Nature Prayer, Lorica Prayer (asking God for protection), and Confessional Prayer. I’m sure Miller could have gone to a dozen chapters, but this is a great book for a general introduction to the topic.

When my son Jedd turned 21 we took a guys trip to Ireland. We visited several of the old Celtic monasteries and saw much of the beauty of their architecture, scholarship and artwork. I wish I had read this book in advance because it would’ve been great fun to better understand it all. It makes me want to go back.

So yes, this book gets my recommendation. Obviously it’s not for everybody, but if the topic interests you it will be worth your time. It’s practical, simple, and yet still filled with the beauty of the Celts.