You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
justjohnson93 's review for:
Mudhouse Sabbath
by Lauren F. Winner
An Orthodox Jewish woman converts to Christianity, then proceeds to share with her fellow Christians about the riches of Judaism's approach to spiritual formation as opposed to Christianity's. This is the unique tale of Lauren Winner and her memoir Mudhouse Sabbath, written just seven years after her conversion to Christianity. She had not yet gone on to earn seminary degrees, be ordained in the Episcopal Church, or become a professor of Christian Spirituality at the prestigious Duke Divinity School. Why did she become a Christian only to deeply miss and yearn for her old Jewish ways? In short, Jesus. While in the book she never wavers on her commitment to Christianity, she nevertheless misses the Jewish rhythms and routines that “drew the sacred down into the everyday."
Winner riffs on eleven “spiritual disciplines”, loosely speaking, that both Jews and Christians share to some degree: sabbath, fitting food, mourning, hospitality, prayer, body, fasting, aging, candle-lighting, weddings, and doorposts. Some of these disciplines are completely shared ones that she believes “Jews do better.” Others maintain specifically Christian forms that “would be thicker and more vibrant if we took a few lessons from Judaism." Fewer are more explicitly Jewish and would seem foreign to most Christian traditions, yet may still have a word to say. This was a short and extremely pleasant read that provides much to ponder--and more importantly, practice--in the realm of spiritual formation.
Winner riffs on eleven “spiritual disciplines”, loosely speaking, that both Jews and Christians share to some degree: sabbath, fitting food, mourning, hospitality, prayer, body, fasting, aging, candle-lighting, weddings, and doorposts. Some of these disciplines are completely shared ones that she believes “Jews do better.” Others maintain specifically Christian forms that “would be thicker and more vibrant if we took a few lessons from Judaism." Fewer are more explicitly Jewish and would seem foreign to most Christian traditions, yet may still have a word to say. This was a short and extremely pleasant read that provides much to ponder--and more importantly, practice--in the realm of spiritual formation.