Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was given to me as part of my sabbatical and it was extremely useful to help me process my thoughts and feelings. Barton has a way to cut through the outer parts of my soul and then helps me examine what is deep inside my heart. Using the ancient practice of lectio divina, a way to read the Bible slowly so that readers truly get what God is saying, the author guided me to that place of rest that Christians so desperately need.
Besides reading the Bible more for transformation instead of information, Barton talks about honoring the body and the Sabbath. As Christians, we don’t fully realize just how integral our bodies are. When we are tired, we make bad decisions; it is true physically and it is just as true spiritually. God designed the human body to sleep eight hours every day and to have one day of rest. We are finite and to quote Inspector Harry Callahan, better known as Dirty Harry (portrayed by legendary actor Clint Eastwood), A man’s gotta know his limitations. Just as we rest physically, we rest spiritually by knowing that even though God empowers us, at the same time, He didn’t expect us to do everything. We are not indispensable.
By the grace of God, I found the rest I was looking for.
I highly recommend this book and probably will re-read it once a year.
amicusveritae 