ISSUE 74
AUTUMN 2001
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'Look Up and Dream'

by Robert Rietti
Published by Valentine Mitchell

An appreciation of the book by the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"....That is the recurring theme of Robert Rietti’s engaging reminiscences "Look Up and Dream". Time and again he tells us of occasions in which the hand of God seems to have been directing the affairs of man. He calls them ‘small miracles’. Coincidence? Happenstance? Luck? So they might seem to one for whom that is all there is, for whom the universe circles endlessly in the void, blind to our hopes, deaf to our prayers. But Rietti speaks to us with the voice of faith, real faith, not the hectoring variety convinced of its own righteousness, all too ready to use the perfection of God as a rod to chastise the imperfections of mankind. His, rather, is the faith of one who stands always open to surprise, his ear carefully attuned to the music of God beneath the noise and clamour of daily events. Rietti knows what we too often forget, that God speaks to us in the ‘still, small voice’, meaning the voice that we only hear if we are listening. To one without faith, life all too often confirms his or her lack of expectations. But to one for whom the presence of God is a perpetual possibility, Heaven discloses itself, often when we are least expecting it. This is a lovely and a moving book, inviting us to look at our lives again and recognise the moments at which we were touched by the sheltering winds of Divine providence and for a moment felt the whisper of eternity, signalling a purpose beyond the winds of chance and a Presence behind the rush of every day events."

Sir Robert Rietti O.M.R.I.
40 Old Church Lane
London WN9 8TA
Tel: 020 8205 3024 Fax: 020 8200 4688
Email address: robert/rietti@ispc002.demon.co.uk
Website: www.ispc002.demon.co.uk


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