Lauren Winner is an engaging writer. Her experiences of her Jewish faith, her journey of conversion to Christianity and her avid passion for reading create a most readable book; full of references to Christian Scripture and Torah, with personal tales and providing plenty of opportunities for personal reflection. In Mudhouse Sabbath, she discusses some of the traditions and practices of Judaism as they relate to Christian life. I find her musings to be most pertinent to my (Catholic) spiritual hungers at this stage of my life. I've shared some of her essays with my own spiritual group when they apply to something we have been discussing. Winner's own efforts to carry some of the Judaic practices into her daily life have meshed with ideas I have been pondering. I found myself wishing that the Jewish traditions of mourning were practiced more, and her discussion of prayer habits was a breath of encouragement to my own prayer life.

Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner is a delightful instructional on applying practices from the Jewish tradition to Christian spirituality. Having finished seminary in 2001 and learning some of these practices in class, I was happy to be reminded of many practices I am apt to neglect. Her conversational way of weaving personal stories and old traditions make Mudhouse Sabbath a real joy to read.
Winner's call to live our daily lives more attentively is heard loud and clear. I was struck at how many spiritual practices Christians gave-up as Christianity moved west. As a Baptist and lacking very many sacraments, I appreciated her ideas for making some of the everyday activities of life more holy whether it is eating, resting, aging, or praying. Three chapters in particular, "Hospitality," "Body," and "Weddings," stand out to me as particularly good words. Her chapter on hospitality resonates with my desire to experience authentic Christian community. She compares the messiness of her apartment with the messiness of her own life. She confesses that an invitation for others to enter her life also invites others to see her as she really is. She states, "Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests--we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are." I became aware of my attempts to sabotage closeness with others by attempting to only presenting a sanitized version of myself.
Winner's confession of her struggle with her own body image is tender and assuring as she draws the reader in to her experiences as a woman. Calling us back to Scripture and tradition, many readers might be surprised and pleased at the opportunity to grow into a new way of thinking about the human body. She correctly calls Christians back to the creation story and to consider that Western Christians have been, "Enlightenment people who liked to live Christianity in their minds rather than in their bodies."
Though I already thought of marriage as a sacrament, I must admit there is little that is sacramental about how we have done it in my tradition. In her application of Jewish tradition toward Christian marriage, I found the examples of how "privacy gives way to community" thought provoking with regard to their potential for solving problems young Christians face, particularly evangelicals. I do a number of weddings and I began to immediately brainstorm ways to incorporate ways to "push married couples into their community."
I recommend this book to people young and old who have maxed out at the Christian bookstore and are looking to deepen their Christian walk through intentional practices. This is not a book that will fill your mind with tons of facts and figures for your consideration. But like the title suggests, Mudhouse Sabbath is creative invitation to intentional Christian living.

We studied this book as a Lenten study with my church. It is a great comparison of Christian and Jewish beliefs. I came away more grounded in my faith and more intentional in my worship.

If you're questioning or if you are the most secure person in your faith, you can learn from this little book.

Each chapter stands alone and each deals with a different aspect of religion and worship (i.e., mourning, observing Sabbath, etc.)

I highly recommend it.

This short, simple book brings ancient practices to life with ease, meaning and reverence. Winner is both humble and practical, sharing her knowledge and first-hand experiences with the spiritual disciplines described in the book while keeping her focus on grace. For those who are curious about biblical disciplines, this book is a very nice introduction and gives room for thought and discussion. Readers are left to apply the truths, not just practices or traditions, which makes it a good book for groups or friends to read together. As with Winner's other books, the honesty and sound doctrine encourage those who want to live out their faith in real ways, not just intellectualize or imagine their beliefs.

Great book for thinking about the little things that mean big things spiritually. It gave me some great ideas for my own spiritual life. I plan to read this again for Lent and do more pondering. Easy to read and very user friendly.

I loved every page of this book. The comparisons and contrasts between the Jewish traditions verses the traditions of Christianity were so enlightening. As a Christian we are not bound by the law, but I believe that I can benefit from many aspects of adding more thoughtful and intentional acts of worship to my day. I loved the sections on grieving and liturgy the most. I will use this book as a bit of a guidepost to help myself and my family rejoice in the fact that we are Christians who are freed through Christ, but who cherish the simple remembrances and acts of worship that bring us to the very reason we are saved.

"Mudhouse Sabbath" is an invitation for Christians to enrich and deepen their faith by learning from the spiritual practices of Judaism. Lauren delves into the daily, weekly, and yearly practices of Orthodox Judaism that continually remind the faithful of the stories, grace, love, and presence of God. There is so much for Christians to learn about spiritual discipline from this beautiful little book. She discuses the practices of sabbath, hospitality, food and fasting, mourning, prayer, candle-lighting, etc. I have learned so much from Lauren already and I'm looking forward to my next Winner read, "Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life." Thanks Lauren for pointing us in the right direction.

"Mudhouse Sabbath" is an invitation for Christians to enrich and deepen their faith by learning from the spiritual practices of Judaism. Lauren delves into the daily, weekly, and yearly practices of Orthodox Judaism that continually remind the faithful of the stories, grace, love, and presence of God. There is so much for Christians to learn about spiritual discipline from this beautiful little book. She discuses the practices of sabbath, hospitality, food and fasting, mourning, prayer, candle-lighting, etc. I have learned so much from Lauren already and I'm looking forward to my next Winner read, "Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life." Thanks Lauren for pointing us in the right direction.

This book's subtitle, "An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline," is perhaps the best introduction to its theme - an exploration of how Jewish spiritual traditions can intertwine with and enhance Christian spiritual disciplines.

Lauren Winner brings a rich background to this subject. As a convert to Christianity from Orthodox Judaism, she is intimately familiar with the practice of spiritual disciplines in both Jewish and Christian culture. And without succumbing to a pluralistic perspective on the two religions, she shares insights on ways to incorporate rich Jewish traditions into the Christian faith - while upholding the ultimate truth and beauty of Christ as the center of the Christian faith.

The book's eleven chapters deal with traditional "spiritual disciplines" such as prayer, fasting, and keeping the Sabbath, as well as lesser-known ways to honor God in such areas as mourning, hospitality, candle-lighting, and weddings. Woven among the practical suggestions offered, and the often-humorous real-life anecdotes, are broader theological implications about the importance and meaning of spiritual disciplines.

I loved this book because it remains firmly rooted in Christian orthodoxy, while exploring ways that another tradition can enhance our own spiritual practices. That is an incredibly difficult balance to maintain, and Lauren Winner has done it here with insightful grace.

Winner provides a fresh perspective of spiritual disciplines in the genre of the spiritual formation movement, drawing on her Orthodox Jewish roots and current Episcopal practice. Given that Judaism is based on practice, Winner invites the typical Christian "do-it-yourselfer" into a rhythm of life from ancient roots, from how we approach our time, food, relationships, body or even the aging process itself. This brief read of 11 Jewish disciplines keeps the reader's attention through her own personal story and fascinating insight into the heart of Jewish life. She also re-contextualizes her roots in a new kind of liturgy. The text tends to be more descriptive than prescriptive, making it more inviting to readers exploring the heart behind spiritual practices.

Winner's book reminded me of another Episcopal writer, Debra Farrington, author of Living Faith Day by Day. While Farrington's book is more of an idea book of several practices drawn mostly from the European monastic tradition, Winner focuses on those from her Jewish roots. Both will help face-paced suburban followers, like me, to slow down and reflect. After reading Winner following the Rest of God, Rest of God, by Mark Buchanan, and the Great Omission, by Dallas Willard, I am more intrigued than ever how Christ-followers need to incorporate a human rhythm of their spiritual life. Bottom line: I've had it with programmatic Christianity. Winner reminded me that God built into His chosen people a way of life that kept them focused on Him in everything they did. I want my life to be more whole. Winner is rediscovering this for herself. I believe Richard Foster would appreciate this other stream of spirituality -- this Jewish stream -- which Winner invites us back to reconsider.

Lauren Winner does not fail to challenge the mind and delight the soul with Mudhouse Sabbath. Her insights and experience with Judaism continue to inform her Christian practise and enlighten other believers who seek to press beyond the assumptions of our own culture.

Even though I was raised in a Christian home in a New England state that still had Blue Laws on the books, my own family sunk into the mire of Sunday as 'just another day' when Home Depot and Safeway extended their Sunday hours. The Sabbath was intended by God to be a joyful day of rest and worship, a day to refresh our bodies and souls, but our dollar-driven culture has reduced Sunday to another day of chores and shopping. I became convicted of my own lack of Sabbath keeping while living in France, which is among the most secular countries in the world, yet the French are great keepers of the restful Sunday, even if practically no one goes to church anymore.

Upon my return to the US, it was a challenge to consecrate this day, especially as so many American Christians do not feel called to honor it beyond attending services. I was delighted to see Lauren Winner take up the challenge on this and other topics of devotion, to see how the Jewish faith can inform our Christian practise, not only on the subject of Sabbath keeping, but other important traditions like mourning, which have been sadly lost in our five-minute culture.

I highly recommend these thoughtful musings to anyone who seeks a deepening of faith and spiritual practise.

Christianity and Judaism have one complicated relationship. Christians worship the God of Israel, but claim He is Three Eternal Persons. Jews since 95 CE have considered Christians heretics and reorganized their Scripture in opposition to the burgeoning Christian Faith. Christians claim to have a fuller Revelation of God than the Jews, but Christians were martyred incessantly in the early centuries of the Curent Era. The Holocaust, is a horrible and tragic reminder of what can happen if anti-Semitism takes hold (as it did in Europe) even in the hands of non-Christians.

But, despite our mutual misunderstandings, and scarred and conflicted past, Jews and Christians are coming to the table to talk and discuss our similarities. In a wonderful example, Jaroslav Pelikan the late Eastern Orthodox Yale scholar was close friends with the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Some of the less finer examples are the Christian Fundamentalist sect "Messianic Judaism" which is prepostrious and offensive to both Jews and Christians but nevertheless our differences and similarities are being explored.

Lauren Winner, an amazing emerging voice in the Christian world was raised in a Jewish home, and converted to Anglican Christianity later in life from an apathetic agnosticism. Her writing is fluid and conise. Her voice is warm and sweet as she explores our spirtual relationship to Judaism and explores ways that Christians can resurrect these practices that the Early Christians practiced, as they were worshiping deep in the Roman Catacombs or the caves in Cappadocia. Written in a converstaional style, this book is a delight to pick up and read on any day, just to soak it in. For me, I found it a wonderful break from the scholarly books I so often and compelled to devour, or the tired polemics of a "Messianic Judaism" books bashing both Historical Christianity and contemporary Judaism. Winner finds a perfect balence that she explores with poise and grace. This book is highly recomended for those interested in finding out our similarities to the Jewish Faith (and a deep faith at that) and looking to our own past practices.

I recomend after reading this Richard J Foster's "Celebration of Discipline", Kallistos Ware's "The Orthodox Way" and Jim Forest's "Praying with Icons". The latter two are from the Eastern Orthodox tradition but are written to be accesible to anyone interested in finding out more about the ancient Christian Spiritual Practices (Ware is a former Anglican and Forest is also a convert and friend of Thomas Merton).

Though Provking Essasys on relationship/differences between Judaism/Christinity customs. Winner was raised Jewish and convereted to Christiniaty as an adult. This adds a unique perspective. Must Read.

Essays written by Jewish woman converted to Christianity, exploring some of the disciplines integral to Judaism that are not practiced, or minimized, in Christianity. Good food for thought on topics such as Sabbath keeping, fasting. The chapter on mourning the dead especially had me wishing that Christianity had specific, formalized practices for mourning our dead - strikes me as much healthier and more realistic.