An Altar in the World
A Geography of Faith

Barbara Brown Taylor is our twenty-first century Henri Nouwen. I'm immensely grateful for AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD, for its elegant, lively prose, yes, but mostly for its practical application of a big-hearted faith. In the prologue, Taylor writes, "What is saving my life now is the conviction that the......more

I wondered how I had forgotten that the whole world is the House of God. Who had persuaded me that God preferred four walls and a roof to wide-open spaces? When had I made the subtle switch myself, becoming convinced that church bodies and buildings were the safest and most reliable places to encou......more

I read this with my small group (six women, including two widows in their 70's/80's and four "empty nesters" in their 50's and 60's) over the last six weeks; each week, the six of us would meet to discuss two chapters. This is the second book we've read together, so we knew a little about each other......more

I liked "Leaving Church" and "Learning to Walk in the Dark", but "An Altar in the World" was the first of Taylor's books to profoundly affect me. So much so, that I decided to incorporate the spiritual practices she discusses into my Lenten observance this year. She is such a graceful writer and the......more

It's been a long time since I devoured any book in just one day. I was led to this one by nothing less than divine urging, when I was supposed to be reading another book I'd been asked to check out in order to lead a discussion group about it. I felt blocked about that one for some reason, couldn't......more