Quotes

Linda Wertheimer (National Public Radio): Why did you think that a book of prayers was a good place to start for this kind of conversation about the way we ought to be? Marian Wright Edelman (director of Children’s Defense Fund): Well, I didn’t start out that way. This book [Guide My Feet] kind of wrote itself. As I said in the introduction, I started off trying to write a policy book, and while prayer has been an integral part of my life without which I couldn’t survive, it would never have occurred to me to pray out loud or to write a book about prayer and meditations. But, you know, as I sat down to try to write chapters to respond or struggle with Dr. King’s question in his last book—where do we go from here, chaos of community?—I got terrible writer’s cramp and I would find prayers and meditations tumbling out, and so I just let go and let come out what will, and the result is this. But I think it reflects my own worry about the spiritual famine in our country. I think it reflects the spiritual hunger I sense among young people and older people who feel that there’s something missing in this celebrity crazed, material-thing crazed society, and we’re looking for something deeper. And so it was a spontaneous offering and sharing which is as surprising to me as I’m sure it will be to many readers. — Marian Wright Edelman