Living passionately in our daily routine
I was tearing through the exhibit hall towards the end of General Convention in Columbus, OH, last summer, a woman on a mission. I was searching for a book for a group of women who gather each week to share reflections and offer prayers. They had just finished “The Cup of Blessing,” by Joyce Rupp and were looking for something new.
I rummaged through book stall after book stall, looking for just the right thing. It had to be engaging. It had to have some solid connections to the daily lives of real people. It had to have good theology. An Episcopal author would be a definite “plus.” Discussion questions would be the icing on the cake.
I hit pay dirt at the Church Publishing exhibit. There it was: “Your Daily Life is Your Temple,” by Anne Rowthorn, an engaging book with real-life connections, a theologically-sound book by an Episcopal author. It was on sale at an irresistibly good price. “I could write some discussion questions myself,” I thought.
The book really is a good conversation starter and is a natural for a spirituality group. Its focus is on the ways we encounter God in daily life – places like our families, our friendships, our work, our homes, the way we manage our money. Rowthorn invites us into these places through her own stories, memories and reflections.
She writes, “To seek and find God in a myriad of ways every day of our lives, we do not need the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. We do not need the vision quest in New Mexico to experience and follow God in our lives. We are more likely to feel our loving God reaching to us in an encouraging smile of a loved one, in the hug of a child returning home, in the kindness shown us by a complete stranger, in a red sunset lighting up the western sky, and in the still of the descending night.”
Rowthorn, who has lived in and traveled to many places all over the world, shares her family’s experiences with the grace of a natural story-teller. It is easy to connect with her experiences that help us discover God in our own.
This is also a book about the spirituality of practice – those things we do that grow out of our spiritual formation – our formation in the faith. When she tells stories of hospitality, we think of our own. When she describes the challenge of using our money in wise and sound ways, we get some insight into our own household economics. When she writes of discovering God in art, we remember those works of art that have moved us.
It is a book that can widen our every-day world a bit by reminding us that God is in the midst of all. And it is also a book that she hopes will be helpful both to people who are steady church-goers and those whose membership and attendance are a little less consistent. It is, she says, for “anyone who seeks to live passionately and can be coaxed into looking at the ordinary circumstances of your daily routine as building blocks for a more passionate life.”
Maybe this would be a good book for a group of folks who are new to the church-a starter book about where we find God in our daily life that could lead toward that more traditional inquirers’ class. A book that might help folks form some of their questions.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, I have a set of discussion questions. Request them via e-mail at kristip@spokanediocese.org.
