Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have [Paperback]

Tricia McCary Rhodes (Author), Gary Thomas (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2008

Life is often chaotic. And no matter how hard you try to find space, to slow down, the chaos always seems to win. Tricia Rhodes's life is chaotic too. But in the midst of a time of household turmoil, Tricia learned to see God and coummunicate with him in whole new ways--not on a spiritual retreat, but right in the midst of the chaos of life. She offers us here a fresh view of connecting to God, one that focuses on quality time and frees us from the rigidity of a devotional life that may feel stifled, grow stagnant or bring about guilt when we can't keep up. These pages will help awaken you to the reality of God's presence in your life--just as it is--providing new ways to pray, to listen to God, to view others the way God sees them, to be guided by God. Ideas at the end of each chapter and suggestions for prayer experiments give practical suggestions for connecting with God and noticing his work throughout each day. God is not afraid of chaos. If a chaotic life has you running, let Tricia's words offered here help you run to God in the midst of it and discover the ways he can turn even chaos into something sacred.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Rhodes (The Soul at Rest) set out to write this book, she anticipated extensive time in prayer through long retreats and walks on the beach. It seems God had other plans: her grown son and his young family moved in, and solitude was suddenly quite thin on the ground. This, says Rhodes, is all too common and is in fact the point: we need to find ways to weave spiritual practice into lives already crammed with obligations. Like Denise Roy in My Monastery Is a Minivan, Rhodes uses short chapters to explore the idea that spirituality can and should be achieved within the context of the lives we actually lead, not the simpler ones we fantasize about. Can't find an hour for your daily quiet time? Try praying for five minutes, or even just one. Seize moments of silence amid the chaos; use the weekly Sabbath to more fully absorb God's restfulness; practice a regular fast. Rhodes capably draws on her own experiences and on Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions to advocate small, realistic steps on the path to holiness. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Tricia Rhodes's walk of faith is a well-paced pilgrimage. You will find counsel enough in these pages to bleed the hassle from all frantic discipleship. And the soul at the center of your hurriedness will be a soul at rest, for you will have found that gentle pace that tells the world it will be good for them to be around you, for you have walked the edges of her wisdom." (Calvin Miller, author of The Singer and The Path of Celtic Prayer )

"God is in the bedlam, and Tricia opens access to the hidden sacred moments of our jam-packed lives. With short, honest, hope-filled chapters and solid, doable application, Sacred Chaos makes it possible to live in God's presence, day after crowded day." (Jane Rubietta, speaker and author of Resting Place and Come Closer )

"Sacred Chaos is a sacred gem. I have long been a fan of Tricia Rhodes's writing, but this is her best work yet, her tour de force of real-life spirituality. It is eminently practical, while grappling seriously with the demands of everyday life. It is chock-full of arresting images; Tricia makes spiritual truth seem very vivid. She has mastered the art of making the mundane serve the cause of the marvelous and even the miraculous. Your life can find room for a growing and rich relationship with God; this book will show you how." (Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage and Sacred Pathways )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 183 pages
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press (May 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830835121
• ISBN-13: 978-0830835126
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an author and teacher and a native Californian. I married my college sweetheart Joe Rhodes, and we started a church here in San Diego longer ago than I care to admit. I have two great sons -- one surfs, the other skanks (I'll let you figure that one out). My oldest son has a lovely wife and they have given us three incredible grandkids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper!, July 12, 2008

By 

Jody Fernando "J. Fernando" (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have (Paperback)

While I'm an enthusiastic fan of the spiritual formation movement, one of my hang-ups with it is the lack of space in my life to implement practices like silent retreats or prolonged times of contemplation and meditation. It's not that I don't long for such times. It's just that, with two small children, a job, marriage, and household to manage, there is hardly enough concentrated space in my day to use the bathroom alone, let alone carve out extended quality time to spend with God. I might catch a half-hearted 15 to 20 minute quiet time once or twice a week, and then spend the other days feeling guilty that I didn't stop to read my Bible or say a prayer longer than two or three sentences.

Such is the background on why a book entitled Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have caught my eye. In the first few pages, Tricia Rhodes relieved a good portion of my guilt explaining the blur of her own life, and how she would wearily attempt to read her Bible and end up falling asleep. She tells how God orchestrated inevitable chaos in her daily routine in order to take her out of her comfort zone. "He was drawing me into new territory, expanding my borders by exposing my tendency to be far too focused on hours set aside for prayer as the barometer of my relationship with him," she writes. "What I experienced in ways I'd never imagined was God entering the fray, injecting my busyness wit respites of peace in his presence, punctuating my chaos with the stunning sense that he was drawn near."

The book offers many concrete and practical ways to integrate practices of the spiritual disciplines into daily life. Each chapter is short, and focuses on one specific way of connecting with God throughout the day. Each chapter also ends with a short practical activity. Throughout the book are ideas for specific `experiments' in spiritual practices. As I read through the book, I kept a quick-reference notecard recording Rhodes' suggestions for "making the chaos sacred". Samples of these suggestions include:

* Using feelings as a springboard for prayer
* Praying about God's presence in your daily schedule
* Praying for spiritual insight about others
* Practice lectio divina. Read. Meditate. Pray. Contemplate.
* Breath prayers

While I've read some books in the spiritual disciplines genre that either too ethereal or too common-sense-y (i.e. `I could have googled `spiritual formation' and written the book myself'), Sacred Chaos is simple yet profound, practical yet deeply spiritual. Don't let one more "Sacred ___" title scare you away. This one's a keeper.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book, August 3, 2008

By 

Rev. B. (Decatur, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have (Paperback)

This is my second book by this author and I am just as pleased with this as the first. I have only read a few chapters and have already found so much practical advice on how to have quality time with God in the midst of an extremely busy life. I am in full time ministry, and anyone who is will admit that sometimes to have a decent devotion is a struggle because you are always taking care of everyone else. The author shows us that we are indeed spending time in prayer and God's presence in the everyday things we do. She gives practical simple advice on how to make the most of every minute to assure that you are experiencing God and not just doing something out of habit or obligation. This is an author who I will always look to for books that will assist me in continued spiritual development.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book to simplify the important, October 7, 2009

By 

Work4Christ "His Servant and Loving It" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sacred Chaos: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life You Have (Paperback)

There are many disciplines that we want to undertake as Christians in our efforts to know Christ deeper and walk closer to Him. Unfortunately, we sometimes get so caught up in the "have to's" and "how to's" that we lose the reason why we are doing them in the first place. This book takes these disciplines and simplifies them, makes them easier to incorportate in our daily lives. By incorporating some of these into our lives, I believe we will be able to stress less and worship more. Worth the money and the time to read.