Author discovers the sacred in the ordinary

From Austin-

In her new book, "An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith," the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor discovers the sacred in daily experiences - from acts as seemingly ordinary as hanging the clothes on the line to making eye contact with a grocery store clerk. For Taylor, whose acclaimed memoir "Leaving Church" detailed her departure from pastoring an Episcopal church to become a professor, the world beyond the church walls offers a wealth of opportunities to deepen one's spirituality. The author of 12 books, Taylor is a professor of religion and spirituality in Georgia and will be discussing "An Altar in the World" at BookPeople on Tuesday.

American-Statesman: You see a longing among people - whether they are weekly church-goers or `spiritual but not religious' - to have a deeper experience in everyday life. As someone who has lived both a traditional religious life as well as a more free-form spirituality, can you identify where this longing springs from?

Barbara Brown Taylor: I think of longing as a holy thing, not something to be fixed - because it keeps a person open to other people and to new ways of living his or her own life. Where does it come from? Theologians have long debated whether there is a "God-seed" planted in every human being, which may be watered or not. Longing for God would be one of the fruits of such a seed. But I am not sure religious language is necessary. Anyone born from a woman's body is going to have an ancient memory of being in unity with an Other, long before that Other's name was known, and may long to experience that kind of unity again. At the most ordinary level, I think people have some sense of what gives them life - more rest, more love, more safety, more meaning - and they never stop longing for more of those life-givers. Longing is only a problem if we're taught it must be satisfied - that there is something wrong with us if we continue to long for things that are not presently in our reach. But I have always found longing very sweet - not just a reminder of what matters most to me but also a source of connection to other people who feel it, too.

More here-

http://www.statesman.com/life/faith/author-discovers-the-sacred-in-the-ordinary-689221.html