Altars

I've been reading An Altar in the World  by Barbara Brown Taylor and it is simply lovely. Especially as someone who hasn't darkened the doors of a church in oh about 7 months. She speaks about finding altars in our every day lives: in paying attention, in encountering others, in living with purpose, and in saying no. I'd encourage anyone who is spiritual, religious, searching, seeking, or interested to pick it up.

Some of my favorite excerpts so far...


"Because if we have never been strangers, then that is because we have never left home. The people of Israel did leave home, repeatedly. They knew what it was like to hear keys turning in locks and shutters being shut when they walked into a new town holding their children by the hand."


"It is hard to watch the eleven o'clock news with your heart wide open, letting in the misery of neighbors near and far, and then sleep soundly through the night."


"When pain is as ubiquitous as air, why comment on it? Better to go where the pain leads, down to the ground floor where all the real things are: real love, real sorrow, real thanks, real fear. After a tete-a-tete down there you can lose your appetite for tabloid gossip and shopping news."

"The degree to which we believe our faith is what makes us human is the same degree to which we will question the humanity of those who do not share our faith."


Chapter by chapter I've been challenged to find altars in the world right where I am because that's also right where God is. Her whole idea of altars in the world comes from Jacob's encounter with God. Jacob marks the spot where God comes to him in a dream and declares it "Bethel, House of God."

Over these past few months I've found several Bethels of my own outside of 4 church walls. In these places I've felt God's presence more strongly than I ever did in a pew and for that I am thankful.

Upon our move we fully intend to immerse ourselves in a faith community (although we're still not sure where we fit) but I will never stop seeking these altars in the world.