 | | |
| Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Disciplines (Pocket Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Lauren F. Winner
Publisher: Paraclete Press (MA)
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $1.55
You Save: $13.40 (90%)
Buy New/Used from $1.55
Avg. Customer Rating:  (16 reviews)
Sales Rank: 21389
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 161
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 1557255326
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9781557255327
ASIN: 1557255326
Publication Date: February 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 A return to the good stuff November 15, 2008
I've just finished Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline by Lauren Winner. I confess, I bought the book in the name of the author only, I knew nothing about Mudhouses nor was I craving a more disciplined life. Good thing, too, the book mentioned the former only once and the latter was so cleverly woven in that I didn't know I was being disciplined at all!
Winner grew up in the south, daughter of a Baptist and a non-practicing Jew, allowably went through what any child of that sort of union would wrestle with, landing comfortably in Orthodox Judaism until her twenties when she switched over to the other side. Which is the truth, but, from reading this book, one would think she was still quite infatuated with her former religious bent.
She seamless correlates themes in Judaism with Christianity--takes what we call the Law and turns it into a Labor of Love. And somehow blows the dust off of age old traditions and into the faces of Christians who poo-poo Old Testament practices in the name of New Testament freedom.
There's always been something so appealing to me about the Law. While most people putter out of their Read Through The Bible in a Year around Leviticus, I usually get lost somewhere around Psalms. I'm serious: 150 chapters feels much more daunting to me than lists of Dos and Don'ts. If there is one habitual sin in my life it is the sin of the Law. Binding them so tightly to my doorposts that I couldn't see the blood of the lamb if it was painted over my head. Grace feels far away, the Law feels tangible.
In Mudhouse Sabbath, Winner teaches us silly Christians how the law wasn't a list of Must Dos, as much as it was a gift from the Creator to remember Him. Isn't it easy to forget? Because we shun the practices and the cleansing habits, we forget He created us and knows our innermost beings. Because we know He wants obedience more than sacrifices and fasts, we wander aimlessly searching for a command to obey, losing sight of the discipline in hearing that fasting affords. Because we abhor empty rituals and written prayers, more comfortable with speaking our own language to God, we stop praying altogether because who of us always has the words?
There's no implore to discipline in this book. I never once felt I was being coerced into yet another Path to Freedom in Christ (through this very specific list of rules). Instead, Winner tells the story of her ancestors and of God. She teaches history to we who have forgotten, ignored, or just never knew. She has remembered her creator in the days of her youth, so when the evil days come, she won't be one to say "I have no delight in them (Eccl. 12.1)!" This book is refreshing delight all the way through.
 Hidden Treasure September 21, 2008
This book was given to me as a gift. I hadn't read any of her stuff before, but heard good things about the "Girl Meets God" book. I really liked her perspective, being that she comes from a Jewish background and converted to Christianity later in life. It is a very profound book in that it discusses and pokes questions at how to marry both Jewish traditions and Christian traditions. I think it is one of the best "spiritual disciplines" books that I have read (much easier to read than Richard Foster). A must give gift to any younger person interested in a more traditional/spiritually disciplined faith.
Holistic Challenge August 18, 2008
This simple little spiritual conversation about a woman's journey through her new faith and the yearning for the spiritual living of the Judaism she left behind. My husband and I shared this book together, and as 20 somethings trying to live an authentic and holistic Christianity we found this a beautiful and thought provoking work.
Companion for a Spiritual Journey July 26, 2008
Lauren Winner is an engaging writer. Her experiences of her Jewish faith, her journey of conversion to Christianity and her avid passion for reading create a most readable book; full of references to Christian Scripture and Torah, with personal tales and providing plenty of opportunities for personal reflection. In Mudhouse Sabbath, she discusses some of the traditions and practices of Judaism as they relate to Christian life. I find her musings to be most pertinent to my (Catholic) spiritual hungers at this stage of my life. I've shared some of her essays with my own spiritual group when they apply to something we have been discussing. Winner's own efforts to carry some of the Judaic practices into her daily life have meshed with ideas I have been pondering. I found myself wishing that the Jewish traditions of mourning were practiced more, and her discussion of prayer habits was a breath of encouragement to my own prayer life.
What a Delight June 30, 2008
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.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |