easy, excellent read

books:


	• Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics) Lauren F. Winner Paraclete Press (MA), 2007 - 161 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

easy, excellent read

This short, simple book brings ancient practices to life with ease, meaning and reverence. Winner is both humble and practical, sharing her knowledge and first-hand experiences with the spiritual disciplines described in the book while keeping her focus on grace. For those who are curious about biblical disciplines, this book is a very nice introduction and gives room for thought and discussion. Readers are left to apply the truths, not just practices or traditions, which makes it a good book for groups or friends to read together. As with Winner's other books, the honesty and sound doctrine encourage those who want to live out their faith in real ways, not just intellectualize or imagine their beliefs.

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Thought-provoking

We studied this book as a Lenten study with my church. It is a great comparison of Christian and Jewish beliefs. I came away more grounded in my faith and more intentional in my worship.

If you're questioning or if you are the most secure person in your faith, you can learn from this little book.

Each chapter stands alone and each deals with a different aspect of religion and worship (i.e., mourning, observing Sabbath, etc.)

I highly recommend it.

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Loved this book.

I loved every page of this book. The comparisons and contrasts between the Jewish traditions verses the traditions of Christianity were so enlightening. As a Christian we are not bound by the law, but I believe that I can benefit from many aspects of adding more thoughtful and intentional acts of worship to my day. I loved the sections on grieving and liturgy the most. I will use this book as a bit of a guidepost to help myself and my family rejoice in the fact that we are Christians who are freed through Christ, but who cherish the simple remembrances and acts of worship that bring us to the very reason we are saved.

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What a Delight

Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner is a delightful instructional on applying practices from the Jewish tradition to Christian spirituality. Having finished seminary in 2001 and learning some of these practices in class, I was happy to be reminded of many practices I am apt to neglect. Her conversational way of weaving personal stories and old traditions make Mudhouse Sabbath a real joy to read.
Winner's call to live our daily lives more attentively is heard loud and clear. I was struck at how many spiritual practices Christians gave-up as Christianity moved west. As a Baptist and lacking very many sacraments, I appreciated her ideas for making some of the everyday activities of life more holy whether it is eating, resting, aging, or praying. Three chapters in particular, "Hospitality," "Body," and "Weddings," stand out to me as particularly good words. Her chapter on hospitality resonates with my desire to experience authentic Christian community. She compares the messiness of her apartment with the messiness of her own life. She confesses that an invitation for others to enter her life also invites others to see her as she really is. She states, "Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests--we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are." I became aware of my attempts to sabotage closeness with others by attempting to only presenting a sanitized version of myself.
Winner's confession of her struggle with her own body image is tender and assuring as she draws the reader in to her experiences as a woman. Calling us back to Scripture and tradition, many readers might be surprised and pleased at the opportunity to grow into a new way of thinking about the human body. She correctly calls Christians back to the creation story and to consider that Western Christians have been, "Enlightenment people who liked to live Christianity in their minds rather than in their bodies."
Though I already thought of marriage as a sacrament, I must admit there is little that is sacramental about how we have done it in my tradition. In her application of Jewish tradition toward Christian marriage, I found the examples of how "privacy gives way to community" thought provoking with regard to their potential for solving problems young Christians face, particularly evangelicals. I do a number of weddings and I began to immediately brainstorm ways to incorporate ways to "push married couples into their community."
I recommend this book to people young and old who have maxed out at the Christian bookstore and are looking to deepen their Christian walk through intentional practices. This is not a book that will fill your mind with tons of facts and figures for your consideration. But like the title suggests, Mudhouse Sabbath is creative invitation to intentional Christian living.

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Wonderful!

Great book for thinking about the little things that mean big things spiritually. It gave me some great ideas for my own spiritual life. I plan to read this again for Lent and do more pondering. Easy to read and very user friendly.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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