false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223645097m/123302.jpg 123302 4 Frederick Buechner's <I>The Alphabet of Grace</I> is a small but lyrical volume of essays that moves through a single day in three chapters. It is no particular day, and yet, as Buechner suggests, each day of life is an invitation to be truly alive. "Live a day of it and see," he writes. "Nobody claims that it will be entirely painless, but no matter. It is your birthday, and there are many presents to open. The world is to open."<p> This gets us very close to the sweet center of this little book--and of Buechner's work more generally. He makes no claims for himself as special; "most of the times I am indistinguishable from the rest of the herd that jostles and snuffles at the great trough of life." But he also knows how to listen, how to pay attention to the small moments of life where grace in fact breaks through. Two apple branches clack together: this becomes the metaphor for the "clack-clack" of his life, which is also the sign of "the occasional, obscure glimmering through of grace." Sometimes, this book reminds us, God comes not in the whirlwind but in the still small voice of our ordinary moments. <I>--Doug Thorpe</I> 2041876 1969 The Alphabet of Grace total:109|5:39|4:39|3:26|2:5|1:0| 109 439 149 8 5 1 false false Mon Mar 23 06:33:01 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 06 23:06:11 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 23 06:33:01 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Dec 01 11:42:41 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 01 11:44:52 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jan 11 12:48:48 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 12:49:56 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat May 23 13:51:09 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 13:51:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Dec 29 04:18:06 -0800 2007 Fri Sep 21 08:52:29 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 21 08:54:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Fri Jun 15 10:06:39 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 15 10:07:16 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Tue Aug 28 10:03:14 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 10:03:14 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Jul 13 11:20:33 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 11:22:27 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Wed Nov 04 13:01:59 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 13:01:59 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Oct 28 23:42:16 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 23:42:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 07:05:30 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 07:05:19 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 07:05:30 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Oct 06 08:31:08 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 08:31:08 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Sep 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 10 16:39:12 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 19:52:23 -0700 2009 2 5 0 false false Wed Sep 09 11:55:43 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 11:55:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 06 17:48:10 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 17:48:10 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Sep 02 08:58:09 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 08:58:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 31 08:00:56 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:00:58 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Aug 27 08:06:58 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 08:06:58 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Nov 19 09:19:29 -0800 2009 Thu Aug 20 14:51:15 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 14:51:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 10:41:45 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 10:41:45 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=123302