The Practice of Saying No: A HarperOne Select

by Barbara Brown Taylor

In The Practice of Saying No , beloved author and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor reflects on the meaning of keeping the of saying no to work and doing, but instead celebrating stopping, resting on the porch, and taking the time to recognize our interconnectedness. The Practice of Saying No will appeal to anyone seeking more meaning and spirituality in their everyday lives. Barbara Brown Taylor, acclaimed author of Leaving Church and An Altar in the World (from which this eSelect is taken), writes with the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert ( Eat, Pray, Love ) and the spiritual depth of Anne Lamott ( Grace, Eventually ) and reveals how to encounter the sacred as a natural part of everyday life.

Genres: Religion

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 7, 2012

About the author

Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church (2006), won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark (2014), was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She has served on the faculties of Piedmont College, Columbia Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Georgia. In 2014 TIME included her on its annual list of Most Influential People; in 2015 she was named Georgia Woman of the Year; in 2016 she received The President’s Medal at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Mercer University and is working on her fourteenth book, Holy Envy, forthcoming from HarperOne in August 2018.

Reviews

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcomed Subversion

Our "Yes!" to the command to keep sabbath, the author reminds us, is also a "No!" to the life sapping need for certainty and control. To read Barbara Brown Taylor's artful reflections is to whet the appetite for Sabbath keeping in the same way that a baby's smile inspires a desire to return the favor.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available only for Kindle, this 26-page essay is actually an excerpt from Barbara Brown Taylor's "An Altar in the World." We are a society that loves to say "yes" to everything because that means we're busy. And if we're busy, we must be important, right? Most of us find it easier (and better) to do five things at once than to take two hours to do nothing. Taylor is advocating a new approach: Keeping the Sabbath holy. As in, take one day a week and rest for goodness sake--physically, spiritually and mentally. It will do a body and soul good! Fast, inspirational read.

[carole G Doughty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is spiritual based with a positive influence on the true meaning of rest and Sabbath. I was confused by the title but the content of the book provides the true meaning.

I like the Practice is Saying No. I have several friends that would appreciate the spiritual based book. The reading material makes appreciate Saturday and Sunday.

[Caroline W. Landrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keeping the Sabbath Holy

This book is not at all about what I thought it was going to be; however, I found within it more of what I actually needed to hear than what I thought I needed to hear. In today's world, it is way too easy to say yes. In keeping one day a week sacred, i.e., a Sabbath, we practice and learn to say no, and gain much, much more to make our lives whole.

[Betsey]

good reminder of Sabbath with usual Taylor Brown bio and good jabs.

[Lindsey Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practicing Sabbath

What a great, quick read that is too the point and bold. Thank you. I look forward to rereading this book again and again

[Chris Halverson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short piece has sat with me for a while now, it is informing my coming Lenten practices... I typed it by another star.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Barbara Brown Taylor is spot-on about learning to say no. One thing I know for sure, if one cannot say no clearly and unequivocally, one's yes means nothing.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbara Brown Taylor never disappoints!

Timely. Pertinent. Raw and untamed truth. Brown Taylor reminds us the Sabbath is so much more than rest. It is a part of our identity.