By Frederick Buechner
Zondervan 2017
121 pages Spiritual
Frederick Buechner was a writer, a theologian, a philosopher.
He had the ability to say things that we all would like to be able to say—to connect
his words with people’s hearts. Written in 2017, The Remarkable Ordinary
is one of his last books. It came from a series of lectures Buechner gave in
1987 and 1990. He died in 2022 at the age of 96.
It is a brief book, divided into three sections: Stop, Look,
and Listen for God; Listening for God in the Stories We Tell; and Telling the
Truth. In the Forward by the book’s editor, John Sloan suggests that Buechner
is a writer for devout skeptics and loyal believers. He seems to understand his
readers and wonders with them without condemning the questioning. He wants to
find the inner light within people and to celebrate the way that light shines.
I found myself underlining sentence after sentence and
writing comments over and over. This particular book seemed to touch my soul.
Was I feeling particularly vulnerable, or did Buechner have the remarkable ability
to connect with my thinking, my concerns, my worries, and my cares.
Somehow reading Buechner’s words helps the reader pay attention to the ordinary in life and find the
joy in the ordinary. He tells many stories about his life and how those
incidents in his life helped him find peace. He suggests that we listen deeply
to our stories and use them to find our own peace.
The words of Frederick Buechner came to me at the right time
and the right place. I can’t wait to discuss it with my church book group next
week.
I also read and reviewed A Crazy Holy Grace. You can
find my review here.
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