thoughts on "The Sacred Slow"

            I’m generally in a rush to get somewhere, or to get something done, and at the same time I’m trying to learn to rest and relax in God's presence, to experience Sabbath rest.  I know that fast and furious is okay in an emergency, but every day and everything shouldn’t be an emergency. So we’re back to slow, and once again I agreed to read and blog about a book based on the title.

            And the title is intriguing, The Sacred Slow: A holy Departure from Fast Faith (by Alicia Britt Chole, W Publishing Group, 2017) sounded like it would be just what I needed to help me ease back into a gentler pace, a more sustainable pace, a pace that would help me better connect with God.

            Unfortunately, the book doesn’t work for me. The chapters are short, and as a devotional that’s probably a good thing, but I had trouble staying focused on even a few short pages.  I wanted something that would slow me down, give me time to talk with God, time to be still in his presence, and besides I don’t do well at journaling, so the ‘exercises’ at the end of each chapter, seemed like one more thing I needed to hurry to get done.

            Additionally some of the exercises seemed more like something one would be asked to do as a part of their therapy, rather than time with God.

            I imagine that my opinion of this book is based more on my personality and style than it is the book itself, and there are probably any number of people who would be able to bask in God's presence through these exercises---I’m just not one of them.

I received a copy of this book from HandleBar in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.  

3/5

Opening our Eyes to the Remarkable Ordinary

Sometimes we need to learn to open our eyes and see God at work. Yes, learn to see Him at work. Sometimes it’s obvious, but other times, we have to force ourselves to think about why we’re not seeing God in our neighborhood and in our lives.  

Frederick Buechner writes in such an engaging style that it’s easy to gloss over the important stuff without even seeing it. My how art imitates life. His book The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look and Listen to Life (Zondervan, 2017) points out that we are often so busy looking for something beyond ordinary that we don’t see the remarkable. It’s happening here. It’s happening now. And yet we miss it.

Sometimes we need to slow down, not easy to do in today’s hectic world, and be careful that you don’t fall into the trap that Buechner, in his 90’s has no choice but to slow down. Being slow is a learned art form.  And it’s in art that we often see the remarkable, or at least teaches us what to be looking for. Those who have a strong faith walk might also be able to see the remarkable: after all we’re used to being told that God is present in even the smallest detail.

And this master storyteller points out the importance of laughter, but also, and no surprise here, of telling stories. Stories matter, and we all have them, but like God, like the remarkable, we often don’t see them, and so we miss out on much of what’s going on in our lives.

The Remarkable Ordinary is filled with stories. Stories that point out how we travel on a journey, to an unknown destination, but if we take time to stop, look and listen to life, we generally end up with a life of peace—better than we used to be, even if we still have room to grow.

5/5

I received a copy of this book from Handlebar in exchange for my review 

A Crazy Holy Grace

The name Frederick Buechner sounded familiar, but I didn’t know from where (and I still don’t) so when I got an email asking if I would like HandleBar to send me a copy of his Book A Crazy, Holy Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory, (Zondervan, 2017) in exchange for a review, I gladly said ‘yes’. I’m certainly not disappointed.

This is a short easy to read book, that has to be read more than once. Perhaps easy to read is misleading. It flows, short anecdotal accounts of things that matter in his life. But there are so many different layers that are only uncovered after a 2^nd or 3^rd rereading.  You pick how you want to read it: as a devotional, as a Readers Digest ™ collection of stories, as a collection of theological essays, or as a starting point for you to get honest about your own pain, your own memories, and your own pathway to healing.

And let’s be honest: we all struggle with pain.  And further honesty means we have to admit that we all have those memories. But pain and memories don’t have to define us. In the midst of darkness, we can still find hope and healing thanks to that “crazy, holy, grace”. Buechner shows us that there is a path up, and remembering the past is often a good way to get started on that path.

5/5

I received a copy of this book from Handlebar in exchange for my review