An Altar in the World

Starred review from January 12, 2009
Author of an acclaimed memoir (Leaving Church
) and a gifted preacher, Taylor is one of those rare people who truly can see the holy in everything. Since everyone should know such a person, those who don't can—no, must—read this book, with its friendly reminders of everyday sacred. Taylor's 12 chapters mine the potentially sacred meaning of simple daily activities and conditions, like walking, paying attention, saying no to work one Sabbath day each week. Hanging laundry is setting up a prayer flag, for God's sake. Since Taylor, an Episcopal priest, no longer pastors a church, she can “do church” everywhere: in line at the grocery store interacting with the cashier, walking a moonlit path with her husband. Her candor is another of the book's virtues: she is a failure at prayer, and cannot explain why or how it is, or isn't, answered (“I do not know any way to talk about answered prayer without sounding like a huckster or a honeymooner”). Savor this book.

October 1, 2008
Taylor (Piedmont Coll. & Columbia Theological Seminary; "Leaving Church") has written a winning book that balances memoir and spiritual guide. Acknowledging that many see themselves not as "religious" but as "spiritual," Taylor offers a journey through forms of spirituality that can be found and celebrated outside conventional religious or churchly practice, e.g., walking, housework, and pronouncing blessings. As evinced by the success of her earlier work, she writes fluently, with an eye and ear for the striking image and memorable phrase. Many readers, especially the vast numbers of the "unchurched" but "spiritual," will find support and useful counsel. For most collections.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Author and narrator Barbara Brown Taylor's welcoming tone and spot-on phrasing combine perfectly in this engaging consideration of nature and the divine. In chapters with such titles as "The Practice of Getting Lost" and "The Practice of Carrying Water," the theology professor and former Episcopal priest blends discussions of the mystical with the everyday. She is an engaging teacher whose easy-listening voice and practiced pacing help convey her thought-provoking lessons on living intentionally. That hanging laundry on a line, for example, could be as contemplative and hopeful as hanging Tibetan prayer flags made me want to eschew my dryer. This is a listening experience to savor as we reach for "more meaning, more feeling, more connection, more life." A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine