Some authors clearly are gifted writers, have a way with words, and express themselves with little effort, so it seems. Tish Harrison Warren impresses me as one.

Having not grown up in liturgical church world, her book title intrigued me. The hope that she’d make connection between what happens on Sunday to living Monday through Saturday seemed promising and refreshing. Hope found.

Our hearts and our loves are shaped by what we do again and again. -Chapter 2, Making the Bed: Liturgy, Ritual, and What Forms a Life

The weekly worship ritual has always challenged me. In comparison to my growing up years in Baptist world, I knew the song title of the next hymn just by the page number. It’s been a while, but I believe “Victory in Jesus” was #296 in our hymnal. After a couple of decades, that familiarity led to dry and rote worship for someone that it’s all they’ve known.

Warren gives purpose behind the repetition. Much like making the bed daily, our minds and spirits are formed by worship’s repetition. Chapter three expands this idea through the ongoing necessity of brushing teeth. A three-year-old doesn’t understand the why that a twenty-three-old can’t imagine questioning or stop practicing.

How should we respond when we find the Word perplexing or dry or bring or unappealing? We keep eating. We receive nourishment. We keep listening and learning and taking our daily bread. We wait on God to give us what we need to sustain us one more day. We acknowledge that there is far more wonder in this life of worship than we yet have eyes to see or stomachs to digest. We receive what has been set before us today as a gift. -Chapter 5, Eating Leftovers: Word, Sacrament, and Overlooked Nourishment

Chapters 6 and 8 held the most meaningful connections for me. Using the everyday examples of a fight with her husband and sitting in traffic, Warren basically said, “Peace, though hard work, is possible; patience, though power-producing, is pretty basic.”

I imagine the final three chapters could hold the most meaning for other readers. She paints the holiness of communion, work, and Sabbath through the strokes of calling a friend, drinking tea, and sleeping. These principles alone are worth the effort to add this book to your “to read” list.

For those who attended a liturgical service today and may have left wondering or wandering, I’d encourage you to take some time with Warren.

For those churchgoers who can’t imagine being impacted by liturgy on Sundays or any other weekday, chances are the lens your using needs adjusting. This book can help.

For those who are curious about practicing sacred living but not sure where to start, give this book a look. It may be found in the liturgy of your existing ordinary.