Our Book in Bloom this week is AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD: A Geography of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor. I finished the book, though I didn’t want it to end. As the blurb on the cover says: it’s not a page turner, it’s a page lingerer. I highly recommend a highlighter (which I used on at least every other page) so you can go back and revisit your favorite passages. If you’re looking for a “thinking/feeling” book, and you like to read about faith and how to have a greater connection to the world, then this is the book for you. Although Taylor was a preacher, she isn’t preachy. She’s a gifted writer and that alone makes one dive into the material and get lost in it. The fact that she is also wise makes the swim a long, leisurely one. – Malena Lott

From the publisher:

In her critically acclaimed Leaving Church (“a beautiful, absorbing memoir”—The Dallas Morning News), Barbara Brown Taylor wrote about her experience leaving full-time ministryto become a professor, a decision that stretched the boundaries of her faith. Now, in her stunning follow-up, An Altar in the World, she shares how she learned to encounter God far beyond the walls of the church.

Taylor reveals meaningful ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see, from simple practices such as walking, working, and prayer. Something as ordinary as hanging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of meditation if we pay attention to what we’re doing and take time to notice 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. As we incorporate these practices into our daily lives, we begin to discover altars everywhere we go, in nearly everything we do. Through Taylor’s expert guidance and delicate, thought-provoking prose, we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world we live in.

About the Author
Barbara Brown Taylor’s last book, Leaving Church, was met with widespread critical acclaim including the New York Times, USA Today, NPR’s Fresh Air, and others. Taylor spent fifteen years in parish ministry and was named one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world by Baylor University in 1996. She became a professor of religion at Piedmont College in 1998 and also teaches spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. Still a priest in the Episcopal church, Taylor has traveled the world in pursuit of sacred wisdom, finding most of what she needed in her backyard. She lives on a working farm in rural north Georgia with her husband, Ed.

Get the book here.