A Companion in Crisis: A Modern Paraphrase of John Donne's Devotions

A Companion in Crisis: A Modern Paraphrase of John Donne's Devotions' by Philip Yancey, published by Darton Longman & Todd.

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, the crisis was often referred to as 'unprecedented' - in addition to the thousands of people who caught Covid-19, many others around the world struggled with anxiety, loneliness, paranoia, anger, depression, financial pressures and more, fearful of what the following weeks and months might bring.

To help him to make sense of the crisis, writer Philip Yancey searched for 'a guide who had survived such an ordeal and who offered wisdom for the ages'. He found this in John Donne's 'Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions', Donne's account of his near-death illness in 1623 as the bubonic plague raged through London, killing a third of its residents over three waves.

Yancey had first come across this book in his 20s but Donne's work took on fresh resonance as Covid-19 spread around the world. 'Here, at last,' writes Yancey, 'was a master tutor, a trustworthy companion in crisis.'

Despite being named by The Guardian in 2017 as one of the 100 best books of all time, 'Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions' is often seen as fairly inaccessible to modern day readers due to its complex language, its references to science and medicine from another age, and allusions to Greek mythology and obscure Bible passages. As the world went into lockdown, Yancey set himself the task of 'making more accessible to 21st century readers the timeless insights from one of our greatest writers... I know of no better account of someone confronting God during a health crisis... I wanted to extract from Donne's literary masterpiece universal truths on how to live and how to die... By recording his encounters for posterity, he became a guide who can help us face our own fears and confusion in the midst of a crisis, while also finding a way through it... His journal of wrestling with God is timeless, applicable not just for a crisis of illness but for any of the crises, large or small, that we moderns face on this troubled planet... In an act of either daring or folly, I decided to attempt a modern paraphrase of this classic work of suffering.' In doing so, Yancey forced himself to be 'brutally selective', taking out the more obscure references and modernizing Donne's writing style.

In 1623, Donne was the dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London, spiritually drained as he tried to provide pastoral comfort to his parishioners in the midst of the deadly pandemic of the bubonic plague. Then the first symptoms appeared on Donne's own body. For a month, he lay sick and isolated at home, hearing the funeral bells toll and wondering whether they would be ringing for him next. In his feverish state, Donne addresses God directly, like Job and Augustine, wavering between fear, paranoia, pleading, questioning and trusting in God, while experiencing many of the same situations as many faced during coronavirus - including enforced isolation, loss of appetite, sweats, interaction with doctors, insomnia, diagnosis and often painful treatments - and struggling to make sense of what he was going through. Forbidden to read or study, he was permitted to write - which led to what Yancey calls this 'raw account of confrontation with God during a personal crisis'.

Donne's 'Devotions' are split into 23 sections, each including a meditation, expostulation and prayer, which chart the stages of his illness, recovery and relapse. The text includes famous passages such as 'No man is an island' and 'Never ask to know for whom the bell tolls - it tolls for thee.' This new edition also includes seven chapters by Yancey which provide invaluable context for the 'Devotions', helping the reader to understand Donne's situation and appreciate his insights even more.

Donne's Devotions as paraphrased by Yancey include:

'I am a preacher impaired from fulfilling my calling.'

'Could this be the beginning of my end?'

'If our greatest misery is sickness, its greatest misery is solitude.'

'When we ourselves are the well that exhales the poison... then anyone - a neighbour, a friend, a relative or myself - may be a potential killer... to die from breathing in common air!'

'I've been through deep waters, O God, dealing with a sickness beyond my strength to resist. At such a time, I call on you for strength.'

LINK

www.dartonlongmantodd.co.uk/titles/2337-9781913657826-companion-in-crisis