Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

Winner of a 2006 Logos Book Award Do you long for a deep, fundamental change in your life with God? Do you desire a greater intimacy with God? Do you wonder how you might truly live your life as God created you to live it?Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God's transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives. Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a rule of life that allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines, this book takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life. Each chapter includes exercises to help you begin the practices--individually and in a group context. The final chapter puts it all together in a way that will help you arrange your life for spiritual transformation.The choice to establish your own sacred rhythm is the most important choice you can make with your life.

"Christian spiritual disciplines are all the rage, and joining the legions of 'how-to' books reintroducing contemporary Christians to ancient practices is this offering by Barton, a spiritual director and retreat leader (Invitation to Solitude and Silence). With elegant writing and a personal touch, she covers the basics handily — the role of desire and longing in relationship with God, praying with scripture, and the need for solitude, self-examination, discernment and Sabbath. She concludes with an exercise that helps one develop a 'rule of life,' or commitment to 'structure and space for our growing.' What makes Barton's handbook different from the rest is her personality; she describes the practices with the gentle touch of an understanding and knowing mystic, telling her own stories along the way. Barton recounts the time she and her bicycle were run over by a minivan (miraculously, she was not seriously hurt) and as she recuperated, she pondered whether this accident was a time to reconsider her need for Sabbath: 'I did not want to acknowledge the possibility that it was that hard for God to get my attention.' This book is a wonderful starting point for Christians eager to more deeply explore the life of the Spirit." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Barton takes readers into an understanding of seven key spiritual disciplines and practical ideas for incorporating them into daily life. (Practical Life)