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Book Summary and Reviews of An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor

An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor

An Altar in the World

A Geography of Faith

by Barbara Brown Taylor

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Feb 2009, 240 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From simple practices such as walking, working, and getting lost to deep meditations on topics like prayer and pronouncing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see. Something as ordinary as hanging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of devotion if we pay attention to what we are doing and take time to attend to the sights, smells, and sounds around us. Making eye contact with the cashier at the grocery store becomes a moment of true human connection. Allowing yourself to get lost leads to new discoveries.

Under Taylor's expert guidance, we come to question conventional distinctions between the sacred and the secular, learning that no physical act is too earthbound or too humble to become a path to the divine. As we incorporate these practices into our daily lives, we begin to discover altars everywhere we go, in nearly everything we do.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Since everyone should know such a person, those who don't can - no, must - read this book, with its friendly reminders of everyday sacred." - Publishers Weekly.

"Many readers, especially the vast numbers of the "unchurched" but "spiritual," will find support and useful counsel. For most collections." - Library Journal.

This information about An Altar in the World was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Information

A follow up to Taylor's 2006 memoir Leaving Church.

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