Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When Sue Bender proudly announced to a friend that her first book, Plain and Simple had made it to the New York Times bestseller list, her friend immediately shot back, "But what number on the list are you?" Bender was shocked, realizing that nothing we accomplish seems like enough in our overly pressured world. In Everyday Sacred we follow Bender on her quest to make every moment enough. Cleaning a desk, sipping cappuccino, making computer connections, and appreciating freshly painted walls all become opportunities to satiate one's life with sacred encounters. The end product reads like an Amish quilt--simple vignettes sewn together to create a comfortable lifetime companion.
Book Description
With simple shifts of perception, each of us can find the sacred in every day. Like the vibrant yet simple quilts that led her to live within the Amish community and to write about the experience in her bestselling book Plain and Simple, the empty begging bowl is the powerful, inspirational symbol in Sue Bender's Everyday Sacred. In the tradition of the begging bowl, she discovers a simple, profound wisdom we can all live by. Just as a Zen monk goes out each morning with an empty bowl in his hands and accepts whatever is placed in the bowl that day as his nourishment, so can we start each day afresh and find, at the end of the day that extraordinary things have come our way.
Filled with the people, stories, and experiences that found their way into Bender's own bowl, Everyday Sacred teaches us that each step along life's journey is a miraculous opportunity to learn. Whatever we are doing-whether meditating, weeding a garden, serving coffee in a busy coffee bar, or listening to a friend can be done with our full attention and love. It is these small acts that make every day sacred.
"Reading Everyday Sacred, I felt as if I had spent an evening in lively conversation with Sue, searching for meaning through a variety of experiences, with myriad friends, and finding it at every turn" --Whitney Otto, author of How to Make an American Quilt
"It moved my whole being, seeped into my skin. Yes, I said, Yes. And the illustrations! ...They're wonderful." --Natalie Goldberg, author of Banana Rose
Sue Bender is an accomplished artist, author, and much sought-after lecturer worldwide. |
