"Sylvie Vanhoozer weaves an exquisite telling of what it is to live in the fullness of the seasons, both of nature and the church. From her opening description to closing benediction, a luminous beauty is present in every page. This is a book I want to read and live through again and again, all the year through."Lancia E. Smith, publisher of Cultivating Oaks Press
"This wonderful book is artistic in every way. Sylvie Vanhoozer's study is a powerful reminder that we need to honor seasons in our lives, just as Scripture and the church calendar require, artfully punctuating life's significant moments. The bookis deeply rooted in location, often southern France where Sylvie grew up. Thus it is incarnational in the best sense, as all good art should be. Two types of illustration permeate the book. First, the santons—figures for the crèche from Sylvie's native Provence—'saintlets' which, unlike the haloed figures of classical art, are simply local personages: the baker, the farmer, the seamstress . . . and by implication, you and me. Second, there are marvelous botanical illustrations of plantsand vegetables that go with each season, such as the bell flowers for Easter or the thornbush for passion week. This book is not just to be picked up each morning but to be savored all year. As Kevin, Sylvie's husband puts it in his foreword, it is 'life changing.'"William Edgar, author of A Supreme Love: The Music of Jazz and the Hope of the Gospel and professor emeritus of apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
"Sylvie Vanhoozer's winsome and infectious compendium is about learning in practical and endearing ways to use our imaginations and behold Jesus becoming incarnate in the seasons of our days. But more profoundly, it is about letting our lives be transposed so we become characters in the story of God in Christ. Here you will find something for body, mind, and spirit to cluster round Christ's earthy throne of grace. This book will make your soul grow."Samuel Wells, vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London
"This tender, beautiful, and entirely original book does indeed offer an art de vivre, an art of living. The age-old wisdom embedded in the traditional seasons of the Christian year is brought to new life and made available to us in new ways."Malcolm Guite, poet, theologian, and author of Mariner: A Theological Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"What then are we to do with this book so unlike any other? Shelve it all alone and give it pride of place? It is a work of art. Or might we slip it in a pocket to carry through the afternoon? Or better, allow ourselves to be carried by it througha calendar of seasons, instructed in the folkways of each one, in unexpected beauty and surprise? Might we allow this book to ask us questions, make us wonder, tell us new and ancient stories of other places, other times? And surely, if we listen, if we pay attention, we will see and learn. We will be charmed; we will be changed. For yes, this lovely book is just that fine."Linda McCullough Moore, author of The Book of Not So Common Prayer
"Opening Sylvie Vanhoozer's The Art of Living in Season is like stepping through the wardrobe on a great Narnian adventure! Everyday saints, like you and me, are invited on pilgrimage through the pages of this thoughtfully conceived, beautifully designed, and deeply moving book. Bring your gift, indeed, your very self, and follow Sylvie's story—as she invites us to journey with Christ through the Christian year. A marvelous resource for individuals, families, and congregations alike!"Todd Wilson, cofounder of the Center for Pastor Theologians
"Fine wines are grown in historically acknowledged terroirs—that French word meaning a very specific mix of soil, grade, hours of sunlight, and harnessed minerals. The distance of ten feet can be the distance between a ten-dollar wine and athousand-dollar wine. In this book, Sylvie Vanhoozer studies the terroir of everyday life and the complex interplay of each person's history, geography, personality, and God-call. Her protagonists? The small santons of French provincial life, miniature clay figures that are brought out each Advent and who represent ordinary people (us!) on pilgrimage to the Christ child. This book is a delightful blend of memoir, nature journal, and theological reflection on a unique tradition from southern France that invites us to root our own lives in the Nativity, such that it takes on the contours of our terroir and can become fine wine."Julie Canlis, author of Theology of the Ordinary
"My spiritual life has long been shaped by the liturgical calendar, but this book opened a cornucopia of new insights (and delights) for me. I was utterly charmed, a smile dancing on my face as I read each chapter. The adventure starts in Vanhoozer's native Provence with its distinctive Advent traditions, and from there she artfully shows us by her felicitous language and personal example how to incorporate the wisdom of her tradition where we each live and work. Along the way she helps us taste a culinary spirituality, inhabit an earthy theology, and practice a neighborly hospitality, all the while anticipating our eternal home with God."Bobby Gross, author of Living the Christian Year: How to Inhabit the Story of God
