Book Review: An Altar in the World

I just finished reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. Taylor, formerly an Episcopal priest and now a professor of religion, suggests that there are spiritual disciplines to be practiced in everyday life, right in the midst of our busy worlds. She places the reader firmly back in flesh and bone--rather than the usual spotlight on mind or spirit that I'm used to--and describes a kind of daily living that brings a sense of the sacred into the simple and mundane things of life.

That may all sound a bit ethereal and abstract, so let me give you a list of the spiritual practices she covers in her chapters:

• Waking up to God
• Paying attention
• Wearing skin (being in tune with body)
• Walking
• Getting lost
• Encountering others
• Living your vocation with purpose
• Saying no (Sabbath)
• Physical labor
• Willingness to feel pain
• Prayer
• Pronouncing blessings
  

I had not read Taylor's acclaimed earlier book, Leaving Church. It's a memoir, and I was looking for something that would enhance my spiritual walk rather than simply reading someone else's story. I found this book to be just what I was seeking: creative, spiritually refreshing, and perspective-jostling. Not that I would take everything and put it into practice tomorrow, but in quiet ways I'm putting some of the concepts to work.

I like the idea of integrating spiritual disciplines right into the stuff of one's day. I like the idea of being aware of others and of God's presence in and around oneself and others. I love the concept of seeing oneself and others through God's eyes throughout the day. I like the idea of finding rest by saying "no," and physically wandering off down a trail and wondering what the wandering will bring you, spiritually.

So, yes. I would highly recommend the book. And if you read it, may you be blessed.