"Recapturing The Wonder: Transcendent Faith In A Disenchanted World"

The rhythms that shape our lives, Mike Cosper writes, are often profoundly secular--and commercial. From Super Bowl Sunday to Valentine's Day and beyond, our lives are full of commodified sentiment. They have become "disenchanted."

Cosper, founder of Harbor Media and a former pastor in Louisville, Kentucky, says that for many there is "a subtle-but-strong resistance to faith and a skepticism toward anything that veers toward the supernatural. … A disenchanted world is a material world, where what you see is what you get." Religion becomes a personal take-it-or-leave-it affair.

His new book invites readers into a different set of rhythms, into a Cosmos ("an orderly creation full of meaning, … full of mystery, a place where … an unseen spiritual realm is constantly at work….").

As Christians prepare for Ash Wednesday and Lent, a time of contrition, the book's message, about rethinking the stories we tell ourselves, seems fitting. Those from different faith traditions will find much to savor as well.

"Recapturing The Wonder: Transcendent Faith In A Disenchanted World" ($17 in paperback from InterVarsity Press; also for Amazon Kindle) focuses on seven "pathways" or spiritual disciplines to aid readers in "embracing a different story and, with it, a different set of habits and practices."

Cosper notes the importance of the rhythms of the Church year and introduces "breath prayers" to mark the shorter moments of our lives. This is not a life of "spectacle and hype" (he contrasts the "glory cloud manifestations" at Bethel Church in Redding with the idea that God's presence "is often much simpler, quieter, and more subtle").

There are big moments, of course. Easter is coming. "Who needs a greater drama than death, resurrection, and scandalous grace?"

At times we need to enter into solitude with God, but then into solidarity with others. Gifts we give should reaffirm "bonds between people." There is a time of feasting and fasting (and Cosper provides practical help).

Such a life "oriented around the spiritual disciplines is not a pathway to pleasing God but a pathway to experience the joy of God that is already ours in Jesus." It is to live in an enchanted world.

Lookout Point: A spiritual oasis

Lookout Point is "nestled next to the Skyway," where "Butte Creek is barely visible when gazing down from the canyon rim at the Lookout. It meanders like an ebony thread between the cavernous walls of the canyon. ... On cold, misty days, mountain ravines are hidden from view by thick layers of fog."

This was the place Norma Brumbaugh visited, for an hour each week for a year, starting with Good Friday 2009. "The Lookout became my place of release, its view inspiring me to contemplate and pray." There she found "solace and healing. I received in a seamless blend the awe of creation knit with my belief in a loving and caring God." Her journal has become "The Meeting Place: Moments With God At Lookout Point" ($17.99 in paperback from Inspiring Voices; also available in Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook e-book formats).

The author "is still active in agriculture in the Chico area. She is a mother of five, grandmother of two, reading specialist, and teacher. For most of her life, she has been active in the church." Though she has been involved in many ministries, "her passion ... is to help draw people to find God in an intimate relationship." The author's own deep emotion and spiritual questioning are recorded in each of the meditations in the book. She is faced with the loss of a marriage, the estrangement of a daughter, job stresses, and her own anger and fear.

Influenced by the Christian mystical tradition, Brumbaugh's meditations range from poetic reflections ("the sun--hidden for these moments: / the brightness subdued in grey screen / but your glory is here--I feel its warmth. ...") to contemplation ("It is interesting that even in my fifties, I am still learning many lessons about life. People are complex beings. To be healthy in our human emotions is formidable at times").

"Father," she prays, "I want to think about you. Draw my thoughts to you. Fill me with your presence. Renew my mind. Speak truth to me. Expose my wrong thinking, wrong conclusions, and areas of blindness."

Brumbaugh finds comfort in Jesus Christ, the gift of Christmas, but never complacency. There is much to learn. At Lookout Point, she realizes, "it is good to be here."