Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices

by Brian D. McLaren

Book Overview

Shines a practical light on the spiritual disciplines that have been in use since the time of Abraham. In a sense, every day of our lives is labor. It is questionable if you can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices that have been in use for centuries, everything from fixed-hour prayer...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849901146
• ISBN13: 9780849901140
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Good ontroduction to the series.

Well written. I don’t agree with everything he writes, but at least he makes me think. Good study questions too.

It will help you find your way.....

This is the first book in the Ancient Practice Series and by 2010, different authors will write books that cover Prayer, Sabbath, Fasting, The Sacred Meal, The Pilgrimmage, The Liturgical Year and Tithing. This book is about the rediscovery of Christianity as a way of life and not just a system of beliefs or putting it another way how do we find sacredness in all that we do, everyday. How do we become more spiritual and less religious? How do we tend or care for our souls or how do we strengthen our character? Brian's writing always challenges me to think, to reflect, to listen to God to become all that God wants me to be. On page 16, Brian writes, "spiritual practices are about life, about training ourselves to become the kinds of people who have eyes and actually see and who have ears and actually hear, and so experience...not just survival but life. " Brian reviews how these practices got started and are practiced by 50% of the world's largest faiths, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Brian reflects on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, walking in this new way of life and seeing His Kingdom and how we fit into it. How we become more learners of this way so that we can model it for others. He follows the life of Jesus with the life of Paul and how Paul's life echoed the life of Jesus by being "reconciled with God, one another, and all creation in a global community." Brian's humility also comes out in his writing, how he has learned these different practices from different friends who come from different backgrounds. These have added richness to his his spiritual journey and have clarified where the destination of this journey is to take us. I will let you discover what the practices are but I have found this book to be practical, raising questions, having a time at the end of each chapter to reflect or to discuss with others various implications through the spiritual exercises. Page 185, "It would be tragic for you to read this book and walk away with a longer to-do list." Page 188, " The ancient way is about joining God in the spending of every day." This book has been helping me to find my way. Maybe it will help you too.

Very few people are devout Christians in the modern era; modernity erodes faith

Very few people are devout Christians in the modern era; modernity erodes faith. "Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices" is a guide to finding one's faith through looking to the past and the older methods of faith. With advice on following ancient practices of early Christians to restore one's faith in today's world, suggesting disciplines such as fixed hour prayer, sacred meals, pilgrimage, fasting and other concepts, "Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices" is highly recommended for community library Christian studies collections.

Loved it

So, all in all, I loved Finding Our Way Again. Loved it. Been carrying it around, sneaking pages when I could... I think I want to make it the text for our Life in the Way of Jesus theology pub, the one designed to introduce folks in our church to the disciplines. Not because the book itself is an exhaustive treatment of spiritual disciplines, but because in the whole sense of "If you want some people to build a boat, don't give them the plans, give them a love of the sea" this book will, I think, give people a passion for Christianity as a way of life which includes a set of common practices that enrich us, change us, and form us. First, the quibble, then the good stuff. The book is heavy on seeing commonality between the spiritual practices of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Our beliefs about many things, most notably the person of Jesus, may divide us in some senses, but Brian brings out at the beginning and end of the book the fact that when it comes to practices like prayer, fasting, sabbath, reading/meditating on/memorizing the Scriptures, we have much in common. I asked him why he emphasized this and he gave me two reasons- 1st, the editor of the series asked him to. But second, Brian says he's an evangelist at heart. His desire is to tell everyone who wants to hear it about Jesus. In his mind, emphasizing our commonalities leads to friendships and relationships... and those are the lines along which the Gospel flows best. Imagine trying to talk to your Muslim neighbor about Jesus. Sound tough? Now imagine trying to have the same conversation after you have shared meals together, walked and talked about how you pray, what things you pray for, how you try to order your life around times of fasting and sabbath... Makes it a bit easier. The third reason this emphasis, which Brian didn't mention but that the book makes clear is Brian's desire to see peace reign in the world. The last words of the book: "What if there is a treasure hidden in the field of our three great monotheisms, long buried but waiting to be rediscovered? And what if the treasure is a way... a way that can train us to stop killing and hating and instead to work together, under God, joining God, to build a better world, a city of God? What if our suffering and fear are not intended to inspire deadly cycles of defense and counterattack in a vain search for peace through domination, but instead, what if they can serve to break and soften us like a plowed field after rain so that the seed of God's kingdom- a few notes of God's eternal harmony- can grow within us and among us? This is my hope. And this is our hope. Amen." I was actually looking forward to writing a completely positive review of this book, but that last little bit, while I agree completely with the end goal of peace, is lacking so much the active ingredient of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, that it feels... not just incomplete, but actually off the mark. Do I want Christians, Muslims and Jews to (as Bono and th

Uplift Your Spiritual Life

Finding Our Way Again is a book you will want to keep close. Less a book than a spiritual guide, Mclaren focuses his attention on the reader - challenging each of us to take a close look in the mirror, especially if you call yourself a Christian. Early in the book he reflects on a conversation with Dr. Senge about why people seemed to be moving away from Christianity towards Eastern Religions. Senge says, "I think it's because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief." The rest of the book invites the reader to see Christianty as a way of Life that impacts all of life's moments, not just the holy hour on Sunday morning. Rejecting "militarist scienfitic secularism, pushy religious fundamentalism, and mushy amorphous spirituality", Mclaren points to a fourth way to enagage the spiritual life -- bringing ancient spiritual practices to bear on the emerging world. So if you are up to the challenge I encourage you to live your way through Finding Our Way Again, not only reading the text but also using the spiritual exercises to refresh your soul and your perspective of what it means to follow Jesus. Craig Kennet Miller 7 Myths of the United Methodist Church