Liturgy of the Ordinary

Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

By: Tish Harrison Warren

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman

Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us. Each chapter looks at something - making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys - that the author does every day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day.

©2016 eChristian (P)2016 eChristian

Refreshing Change of Pace

Sarah brings to light how walking with Jesus doesn't always involve heroic moments. Life is not a movie and it's possible, albeit necessary, to serve God in every part of our ordinary day.

Started for convenience

A friend's church started a book club/Bible study of this book. Normally I'm working during the time they meet, but I found myself off work a little early...and not quite finished reading that week's chapter. So I quickly downloaded the book and listened on my drive home, and I'm so glad I did!

I'm a liturgical church girl myself, so I enjoyed the connection between the historic liturgy and the patterns in our daily lives. The book is a great read... but the audio book is like sitting down to coffee with a likeminded friend who is encouraging and challenging the way you think about the monotony of work and chores and parenting as...worship? Yes! And as soon as I finished the first listen, I knew I had to go back to make sure I really took it all in (and hear the chapters that I had read previously).

An engaging listen

Author engages our faith and our intellect in this easy to listen to book. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to live a “with God” life.

Refreshing!

I did not grow up with a life of liturgy — that aspect was left out of my baptist upbringing — but this book speaks to my heart in such powerful ways! What a gift it is to view the daily tasks of motherhood as a life of liturgy and worship.

The narrator’s great job enhances the contents

...and gives my mind’s eye a mental image of the author as being a person I can relate to. I really enjoyed this narrator.

The book itself is an awesome way of pointing me toward being mindful, the specialness, the sacredness of the everyday things and how these ordinary things are reminders of God’s love and heart toward His believers.

A must read!

This is an absolutely love little book! It’s a short listen and the author’s writing style is warm as well as educational. The narrator does a fabulous job and has a great voice as well.

Much needed for followers of the way of Jesus

This book is influential to know how to truly see God beyond the spectacular and into the ordinary.

Profound and practical

I am new to liturgy in church and worship but have recently begun attending a church that uses liturgy. I find it very refreshing after a lifetime of another way of worshiping and this book was so helpful in understanding its purpose. She is an excellent writer and the narrator is very good. I plan to listen to it again.

Extraordinary in the Ordinary

We were chatting on the Five Minute Friday Twitter feed a couple of weeks ago about seeing life amid the virus lockdown. I made the comment, “Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary … Every Day. Good days. Bad day. All days.” I’ll often include some version of that mantra when I sign books.

That led to suggestions from my fellow tweeters to read the book Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren. Since I was heading to South Carolina for a long weekend, I downloaded the audio version. It was just over four and a half hours long — a perfect listen for the leg of the journey.

Good choice, ladies. The book is filled with nuggets of information — sermons, really, camouflaged as witty, real life stories you or I can readily relate to. Or, in other words, storytelling with a message.

Warren is an Anglican priest. In this book, she makes the connection between the ordinary and how it illuminates the extraordinary. Chapters follow an ordinary day including such mundane topics as Waking (and how it relates to Baptism and learning to be beloved); Making the Bed (liturgy, ritual, and what forms a life); Brushing Teeth (standing, kneeling, bowing, and living in a body); Losing Keys (especially relevant given my experiences related to confession and the truth about ourselves); Eating Leftovers (word, sacrament, and overlooked nourishment); Fighting with Her Husband (yes, it is that real with the lesson on passing the peace and the everyday work of shalom); Checking E-mail (blessing and sending); Sitting in Traffic (liturgical time and an unhurried God); Calling a Friend (congregation and community); Drinking Tea (sanctuary and savoring); and Sleeping (sabbath, rest, and the work of God).

Often, I was with Tish in spirit, reflecting on my reactions to everyday events. No, I do not like making my bed. Yes, I lost my keys. Yes, I have had fights with my wife. Yes, I do get agitated when I’m forced to sit in traffic. No, I did not look at sleep as God’s means to refresh us.

I can’t share individual phrases that caught my attention because, as an audio book listened while driving, some of my attention was drawn to weaving traffic. Suffice it to say, however, there were enough of them to draw a glance at the radio and a few times when I hit rewind.

I do believe God speaks to us through the ordinary, the mundane, the everyday. And I do believe when He does, that ordinary, mundane, everyday event is transformed into something extraordinary. Tish Harrison Warren believes that as well. And if you listen or read her words, you will, too.

Beautiful lens through which to perceive God daily

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I probably listen to it too quickly. I did fight the urge to listen at 1.25 speed. Nonetheless, this book is better consumed a chapter a day or a chapter a week, so that the observations and practices can become habituated into daily life. I especially loved the chapters about waking up, sitting in traffic, and savoring. I listened to this during Advent of 2021, and, sadly, this season gets cheated by the Christmas rush. These three chapters slowed me down to help me be with my savior in the ordinary.