The Rest of God

October 10, 2005
In his fourth book, Christian pastor Buchanan delves into the concept of the Sabbath, by which he means both a day and an attitude. He campaigns persuasively for readers to revive the Sabbath as a refuge from our pervasive and spiritually destructive culture of busyness. Buchanan's prose is fresh and immediate, earnest and self-effacing at the same time. Each chapter is peppered with vivid stories from his own childhood and ministries as well as insightful retellings of biblical narratives. Each chapter also ends with a practicum the author calls a "Sabbath liturgy"—something to try out like choreographic notes, "not to be followed slavishly." Indeed, these invitations to put his ideas on living the Sabbath into action are not PowerPoint-style bulleted lists, but brief narrative passages spiced with more stories and engaging insights. The book can be taken as a whole or read piecemeal as rejuvenating brief sermons. It will aid those Christians looking to step off the hamster wheel of modern working lifestyles and find the rest of God—not just "actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God—the things of God's nature and presence we miss in our busyness."