Singing the Psalms with My Son: Praying and Parenting for a Healed Planet

What will the future hold for our children? In a time of looming climate catastrophe this question inspires anxiety, fear, and guilt.

In Singing the Psalms with My Son, Wilson Dickinson charts a path where the practices of parenting lead to transformation and hope. The everyday tasks of caring for children radiate with the alternative energy of creativity and cooperation. If we learn from them, our homes can become schools for movements of joy and justice, rather than fortresses fearfully set against the world.

Dickinson turns to the Psalms for guidance on this journey. The prayerful poetry of the Psalter gives us refuge where we can cry in lament, while still joining creation in praising God.

With honesty, humility, and humour, Dickinson weaves meditations on individual Psalms with reflections on life as a parent. We accompany him and his son as they find the sacred and revolutionary possibility of ordinary activities—like reading children’s books, playing in the backyard, and celebrating holidays. Coupled with guidance for personal and communal use, these meditations invite us to harness the power of parental love and childish wonder to work for a hopeful future.