The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

A compelling, literary journey through spiritual disciplines, The Sacred Way offers guidance to the Christian's voyage through life. This book is authored by Tony Jones, who is an ordained minister and earned his Ph.D. in 2011. Jones has authored numerous articles and eleven books, including the recently published The Earth is Flat. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and is a visiting lecturer at Rochester College. Based on observations and personal experiences, Jones discovered a growing disconnect between Christians and God. This book addresses a solution to the "aching sense of loss, incompleteness, and half-remembered engagement with the shaping of the soul" (7). Jones' quest for a solution eventually led him to the past of ancient Christianity, where he discovered a rich history of spiritual disciplines. Jones asserts that in an age of cynicism, it's inspiring to look back to an age before the world had been explained by science and psychology. In the bustling world that exists today, God is easily lost in the noise. By engaging these spiritual disciplines, Jones affirms that a stronger, beautiful relationship with God can exist. Jones carries out his instruction by offering a detailed analysis of sixteen different spiritual disciplines. While many of them correlate and provide similar experiences, each is unique in its own way. These disciplines matter to any Christian looking to form a stronger relationship with God. They pull exercises and experiences from the past, applying those practices to a current-age context in which the global Christian community has easy access and a clear understanding of how to engage in spiritual disciplines. This book redirects focus and provides a new learning opportunity for Christians seeking a more resilient bond with God. The Sacred Way is written to be both appealing and informative. Without overwhelming the reader, Jones manages to provide extensive detail and history behind each of the spiritual disciplines. He carefully explains the theology and background for each one, using both historical contextual evidence and well-researched third-person accounts. Additionally, Jones skillfully weaves his own thoughts and personal experiences throughout each chapter--not so much that he limits the factuality of his work, but enough to keep the reader engaged. He also provides an abundant amount of helpful resources, some of which may be unexpected. While the book includes basic citations and "for further reading" tips, Jones also provides several Websites for blogs and helpful information. This book gracefully walks the fine line between instructive and interesting. Another strength of this book lies within its carefully plotted formatting. The chapters are clustered together into two sections: Contemplative Approaches to Spirituality and Bodily Approaches to Spirituality. This allows the reader to make at least one clear distinction between the sixteen disciplines, which makes digesting the material much easier. To enhance this manner of organization, every chapter follows a very strict framework. They begin with a letter from the author, followed by a quote, then a story, and then information regarding history, theology, and practice before wrapping up with another quote. For example, in his chapter regarding lectio divina, Jones tells a very compelling story about a man who stumbled across lectio divina without even realizing it. The experience ended up changing the man's life, but Jones was careful to state this experience is not always the case (47). He then divulged into the history of the discipline, but continued to bring it back to the surface, giving it value, purpose, and ultimately meaning to the reader. Overall, The Sacred Way is both likeable and educational. Shortcomings in this book are few and far between, but there are a few challenges across which the reader might come. For example, there are several references to terms specific to Eastern Orthodox and Catholic faith that are not fully explained. While Jones addresses the use of these terms, he often assumes the reader is somewhat well-versed in the language of these faith groups and neglects to hash out more than a quick a definition. Jones is writing for evangelicals, but a new believer may be unacquainted to the terminology. In fact, many sects of Christianity do not employ such practices either, rendering a gap between his expected understanding and actual audience. The antiquity behind the spiritual disciplines is extraordinary, but the history behind some of the contextual language (i.e. Dessert Father and Mother, labyrinth, icon) would prove most beneficial to the unfamiliar reader. Despite his superb organizational efforts, Jones can still at times be slightly ambiguous in his writing style, particularly when switching from first person to a story told by someone in first person. In this case, as found on pages 37-40, the reader may struggle to know when the narrative of someone else ends and the author picks up again. This switching of first-to-first and first-to-third person without proper segues can disrupt the clarity of the message, thus cheapening the otherwise insightful story and application that Jones is making. This book is helpful for any Christian who is struggling to connect with God. Not only does Jones provide numerous concrete and abstract examples for such improvement, but he has managed to take old, sacred practices that have been somewhat lost to this current generation and turn them into desirable, achievable goals for an improved relationship with God. In a world where distractions and confusion continue to fade God out of the picture, Jones has brought forth a work that will not only unite Christians with God, but with each other as well through spiritual disciplines and a thirst for something more. The Sacred Way is a worthwhile read, and if one can make the effort to practice the spiritual disciplines prescribed, then "Christians will engage in these spiritual practices not out of duty or obligation but because there is a promise attached: God will personally meet us in the midst of these disciplines" (18).

I initially read this book when it was released and yet I continue to return to it and recommend it to others. It’s one of the best surveys of historical church practices with very simple explanations of each one.

I am a Deacon in the Catholic Church. It is refreshing to read a book on spirituality from the protestant perspective. An unfortunate by-product of the Reformation was "tjhrowing out the baby with the bath water. The author has re-discovered spiritual practices that for years have been shunned as too Catholic. In reality, we have more in common than differences. There will be a day when all Christians will recognize that we are one Church centered on Jesus Christ. Tony Jones has done all Christians a great service by re-introducing common worship practices.

This book does a decent job hitting on some major themes and various practices of spiritual disciplines, but it does not do a great job. For those wanting a very brief introduction into some specific ancient practices of Christianity, then this book would do the job. I hope there are some better books on this topic, though, as anyone wanting to put these practices into practice would need to do more research. For those wanting a resource on the spiritual disciplines (and then having the option to look up specific practices elsewhere), it's easy to find much better works.

Good book. Covers a lot of ground and sacred practices and has some great insights. Jones covers much and has some nice personal stories to share.

I have really enjoyed reading age old spiritual practices and implementing them in my personal quiet times with God. I'm doing it together with a group of friends and I've really enjoyed gaining more insight from them. It's helped me desire to be in Gods presence all day long! It's a must-read!

Tony Jones, the author, is one of the leaders of the emerging church movement that is reenergizing Christians and welcoming new Christians everywhere. This book is very easy to read. It is written in a gentle, quite, intimate, insightful and conversational way. It invites you to explore and to share in spiritual practices that may or may not new to you. I aminspired by this reading.

i would definitely recommend this overview of various spiritual exercises.S

This book is great. I bought it as part of my studies as a Theology student, and it was a great basic review of Spiritual Practices. It is easy to read and interesting, with small diary entries at the beginning of the chapters to introduce the book really well.The only flaw, is that the book doesn't go into a lot of detail about any of the practices. However, for a layperson not studying spiritual practices, this book is a great way to find new ways to grow your relationship with God.

Coherent, thorough, informative and enjoyable. The theology section in each chapter is excellent. I especially like the practise sections as you can then see how you could start taking up these practises in your everyday life.

fantastic book i must read for all those looking for a deeper walk with God.

I haven't finished reading it yet but it's worth the purchase.

Very informative overview of traditional spiritual practices. Jones has taken an inclusive look at these practices providing us with opinions,history and the theologies surrounding each one. A very easy read for those looking to undertake a practice they are not familiar with.