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Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, By Ruth Haley Barton

Sacred Rhythms

Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation

Transforming Resources

by Ruth Haley Barton

Sacred Rhythms
Hardback
$26.99
  • Length: 192 pages
  • Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.25 in
  • Published: February 10, 2006
  • Imprint: IVP Formatio
  • ISBN: 9780830833337
Other Formats:

Logos Book Award Winner

Align the Rhythms of Your Life with God’s Presence and Purpose

Do you long for a deep, fundamental change in your life with God? Do you desire a greater intimacy with God? Doyou wonder how you might truly live your life as God created you to live it?

Sacred Rhythms invites you into a spiritual journey that nurtures your soul while aligning your daily life with the presence of God. Drawing from the monastic tradition of creating a rule of life, this book equips readers to integrate spiritual disciplines into their everyday routines, paving the way for authentic spiritual transformation that can only be brought about by God.

In Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for incorporating them into everyday life. Each chapter features practical exercises designed to help you integrate the practices, whether on your own or in a group setting. The final chapter weaves everything together, helping you structure your life for meaningful spiritual transformation.

In Sacred Rhythms, you will

  • Understand seven key spiritual disciplines: solitude, Scripture, prayer, honoring the body, self-examination, discernment, and Sabbath.
  • Learn to integrate these disciplines into your daily life, with practical exercises for both individuals and groups.
  • Create a ruleof life that makes space for God’s presence in your daily life.
  • Reflect on principles and practices for living a life of spiritual growth and transformation.

Sacred Rhythms invites you to deepen your relationship with God through establishing your own sacred rhythm of life with God. Begin transforming the rhythms of your life today!

REVIEWS

"Ruth Haley Barton offers much wise, sane, concrete help for people who are ready for the 'more' of God amidst their busy lives, and want a better way to arrange their lives to receive God's transforming presence. She clearly spells out an excellent rhythm of classical spiritual practices that can keep us open and available to God's transforming actions in and among us. She grounds these practices in our own deepest desires, connecting those desires with God's desire for our well-being. She shares some of her own personal experiences as a sometimes struggling Christian in an honest and inspiring way. She gives very helpful guidelines for using the book within a group of people who are seeking to create better conditions in their lives toreceive God's transforming presence.I think this book will be of enormous value to individuals and groups who are seeking to more fully ground all dimensions of their often fragmented and hectic daily lives in the liberating ground of God's transforming presence, with the help of a rhythm of vital spiritual practices that can keep us available to that loving presence."Tilden Edwards, author of Sabbath Time and Living in the Presence
"As a rule, books seldom become a classic during the author's lifetime. Ruth Haley Barton's book Sacred Rhythms is a deserving exception—full of beauty, depth and human realities that shape the soul. My own copy of Sacred Rhythmsis dog-eared, notes scribbled in margins and pages covered with highlighters. Ruth sees the terrain of conversion as a daily experience of self-awareness and need for God. This experience begs the question, What do I do with what I see about myself?Ruth answers with spiritual rhythms that can transform us into our true Christ-in-me self. Sacred Rhythms invites you to lean in and become people who incarnate the presence of Jesus in families, communities, churches, societies, workplaces and the world."Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, copastor of spiritual formation at Highrock Church in Arlington, Massachusetts, and author of Spiritual Disciplines Handbook
"Our natural tendency is to push, work longer and strive. In a kind, compelling and beautiful voice Ruth Haley Barton invites us to listen to an inner pulse that can be heard only when we are quiet. The path is one that Ruth has walked with honesty and integrity. The fruit of her labor is a sweet call to know our lives need not be harried or harbor fruitless exhaustion."Dan B. Allender, Ph.D., professor and former president, Mars Hill Graduate School, and author of The Wounded Heart
"If you desire more of God, if you thirst for a more authentic spiritual life, Sacred Rhythms is a reliable path and Ruth Haley Barton is a trusted and cherished guide. I have long admired Ruth and her work, and I am thrilled to see Sacred Rhythms released for a new generation."Todd Hunter, Anglican bishop and author of Deep Peace: Finding Calm in a World of Conflict and Anxiety
"Too many people are suffering with CFS (Christian Fatigue Syndrome). Ruth Haley Barton is herself a CFS survivor, and she shares here—in a warm and personal yet lucid and thoughtful writing style—how she has been restored to life's sacred rhythms. My experience mirrors hers, and I will enthusiastically recommend this book widely—both as preventative medicine and as needed therapy."Brian McLaren, speaker and author of A New Kind of Christian
"Ruth Barton confirms what you've suspected—there is more to life than what most of us are living. This volume serves as a great primer for helping us get in touch with and follow our longings—all the way to God!"Reggie McNeal, author of The Present Future and A Work of Heart
"Too many people are suffering with CFS (Christian Fatigue Syndrome). Ruth Haley Barton is herself a CFS survivor, and she shares here—in a warm and personal yet lucid and thoughtful writing style—how she has been restored to life's sacred rhythms. My experience mirrors hers, and I will enthusiastically recommend this book widely—both as preventative medicine and as needed therapy."Brian McLaren, speaker and author of A New Kind of Christian
"Ruth Haley Barton offers much wise, sane, concrete help for people who are ready for the 'more' of God amidst their busy lives, and want a better way to arrange their lives to receive God's transforming presence. She clearly spells out an excellent rhythm of classical spiritual practices that can keep us open and available to God's transforming actions in and among us. She grounds these practices in our own deepest desires, connecting those desires with God's desire for our well-being. . . .I think this book will be of enormous value to individuals and groups who are seeking to more fully ground all dimensions of their often fragmented and hectic daily lives in the liberating ground of God's transforming presence, with the help of a rhythm of vital spiritual practices that can keep us available to that loving presence."Tilden Edwards, author of Sabbath Time and Living in the Presence
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Read an Excerpt

CONTENTS

Introduction
1. Longing for More: An Invitation to Spiritual Transformation
2. Solitude: Creating Space for God
3. Scripture: Encountering God Through Lectio Divina
4. Prayer: Deepening Our Intimacy with God
5. Honoring the Body: Flesh-and-Blood Spirituality
6. Self-Examination: Bringing My Whole Self Before God
7. Discernment: Recognizing and Responding to the Presence of God
8. Sabbath: Establishing Rhythms of Work and Rest
9. A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation
A Note of Gratitude
Appendix A: Journeying Together
Appendix B: Leading a Group Experience
Appendix C: Choosing Spiritual Disciplines that Correspond to Our Needs
Notes

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BONUS MATERIAL

Visit The Transforming Center to find out more about Barton and read her blog posts.

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ABOUT Ruth Haley Barton

Ruth Haley Barton

Ruth Haley Barton (DD, Northern Seminary) is founder of the Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to strengthening the souls of pastors, leaders, and the communities they serve. Trained at the Shalem Institute and the Loyola University Chicago Institute of Pastoral Studies, she is a seasoned spiritual director, teacher, and retreat leader who has served on the pastoral staff of several churches. Ruth is the author of numerous books on the spiritual life, including Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Sacred Rhythms, and Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest.

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