I've just finished Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline by Lauren Winner. I confess, I bought the book in the name of the author only, I knew nothing about Mudhouses nor was I craving a more disciplined life. Good thing, too, the book mentioned the former only once and the latter was so cleverly woven in that I didn't know I was being disciplined at all!

Winner grew up in the south, daughter of a Baptist and a non-practicing Jew, allowably went through what any child of that sort of union would wrestle with, landing comfortably in Orthodox Judaism until her twenties when she switched over to the other side. Which is the truth, but, from reading this book, one would think she was still quite infatuated with her former religious bent.

She seamless correlates themes in Judaism with Christianity--takes what we call the Law and turns it into a Labor of Love. And somehow blows the dust off of age old traditions and into the faces of Christians who poo-poo Old Testament practices in the name of New Testament freedom.

There's always been something so appealing to me about the Law. While most people putter out of their Read Through The Bible in a Year around Leviticus, I usually get lost somewhere around Psalms. I'm serious: 150 chapters feels much more daunting to me than lists of Dos and Don'ts. If there is one habitual sin in my life it is the sin of the Law. Binding them so tightly to my doorposts that I couldn't see the blood of the lamb if it was painted over my head. Grace feels far away, the Law feels tangible.

In Mudhouse Sabbath, Winner teaches us silly Christians how the law wasn't a list of Must Dos, as much as it was a gift from the Creator to remember Him. Isn't it easy to forget? Because we shun the practices and the cleansing habits, we forget He created us and knows our innermost beings. Because we know He wants obedience more than sacrifices and fasts, we wander aimlessly searching for a command to obey, losing sight of the discipline in hearing that fasting affords. Because we abhor empty rituals and written prayers, more comfortable with speaking our own language to God, we stop praying altogether because who of us always has the words?

There's no implore to discipline in this book. I never once felt I was being coerced into yet another Path to Freedom in Christ (through this very specific list of rules). Instead, Winner tells the story of her ancestors and of God. She teaches history to we who have forgotten, ignored, or just never knew. She has remembered her creator in the days of her youth, so when the evil days come, she won't be one to say "I have no delight in them (Eccl. 12.1)!" This book is refreshing delight all the way through.