{"id":4274,"date":"2021-12-08T13:51:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T13:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2021-12-08T13:51:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T13:51:07","slug":"the-remarkable-ordinary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/08\/the-remarkable-ordinary\/","title":{"rendered":"The Remarkable Ordinary"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Attention\u2019s Invitation<\/span>
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If there is one message in The Remarkable Ordinary<\/em>, it is the same chord that tolls throughout all Buechner\u2019s writings: pay attention.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Review by Abigail Storch<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In a letter to her friend Alice Tuckerman, a fifty-four-year-old Emily Dickinson famously quipped that there was only one commandment she ever obeyed: Consider the lilies<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s a joke, in a way, the thought of commandments like this,\u201d writes Frederick Buechner in The Remarkable Ordinary<\/em>, \u201cbut in another way it is the kind of commandment Jesus gives in different ways again and again, that this life is, in a way, a parable: Consider the lilies of the field. Consider what it was to find that thing you had lost, that coin, that ring . . . . Pay attention to these things.\u201d If there is one message, one invitation in The Remarkable Ordinary<\/em>, it is the same chord that tolls throughout all Buechner\u2019s writings: pay attention. Pay attention to what happens in your life. Pay attention to the small things, the boring things, the strange things. Pay attention to the painful and the beautiful and the surprising.<\/p>

Published in 2017 by Zondervan, The Remarkable Ordinary <\/em>is a collection of Buechner\u2019s mostly unpublished writings, largely drawn from the transcripts of a 1987 Norton lecture and a 1990 Laity Lodge presentation. Most people know Buechner only by his oft-quoted definition of vocation (\u201cwhere your deep gladness and the world\u2019s deep hunger meet\u201d), which is unfortunate, as he is a distinguished novelist, preacher, and autobiographer with a wide-ranging, fascinating body of work. He is the author of no less than thirty books, including fiction based on medieval hagiography (most notably Godric<\/em>, a 1981 Pulitzer finalist), four memoirs, and his \u201clexical trilogy\u201d\u2014an alphabetically-organized index of theological and biblical terms, with Buechner\u2019s fresh, free-associated commentary on each word or topic. His work is characterized by incessant curiosity and an attempt to shake off the baggage of religious language, to display the wisdom and wonder of faith to a world that considers religion to be dull at best, and harmful at worst.<\/p>

These features are on full display in The Remarkable Ordinary<\/em>. The slim, 120-page book is organized by the editors into three parts: first, it presents Buechner\u2019s philosophy of attention, how literature and art call us to hone this skill, and what it has to do with faith. Second, it particularizes this philosophy, focusing specifically on narrative and the power of storytelling. Third, it invites us to practice the art of attention by reflecting with Buechner on several key events in his life, looking for what he calls the \u201csubterranean moments of grace.\u201d The unwritten fourth section, of course, is the exercise of listening to our own life, looking deep into our own story.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Paying attention, loving God, and loving one\u2019s neighbor: for Buechner, these are the same; they are seamlessly interwoven.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The richest section of the book is, without question, the first, entitled \u201cStop, Look, and Listen for God.\u201d In this section, Buechner applies his bright intellect to various kinds of art, investigating what sorts of questions they pose and how. He opens with the famous Bash\u014d haiku:<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0An old silent pond.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Into the pond a frog jumps.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Splash. Silence again.<\/p>

What is this haiku doing? What exactly is it asking us<\/em> to do? For Buechner, the answer is simple: it\u2019s framing a moment in time. It isn\u2019t trying to mean or convey; it\u2019s simply putting a border around something that seems to matter, and it\u2019s asking us to put everything else aside for just one minute and simply look<\/em>. The same is true, Buechner says, for painting. It\u2019s outlining something, setting it off so we can really see it. Music: it\u2019s edging time, asking us to look deeply into time, to \u201ckeep time in another way\u2014keep in touch with it, keep your hands on it somehow.\u201d<\/p>

For Buechner, the invitation of art is the same as that of faith. \u201cIt seems to me almost before the Bible says anything else, it is saying that\u2014how important it is to be alive and to pay attention to being alive, pay attention to each other, pay attention to God as he moves and as he speaks,\u201d he writes. Paying attention, loving God, and loving one\u2019s neighbor: for Buechner, these are the same; they are seamlessly interwoven. We may not be able to pay attention perfectly, all the time; who could? \u201cBut,\u201d Buechner writes, \u201cwe can do more than we do\u2014more than we do, surely we could do that.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Something holy is happening, even in this riven, ruptured world, even now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If there is a part of the book that feels out-of-place, it is the opening of the second section, an interlude entitled \u201cThe Laughing Face of Maya Angelou.\u201d In this anecdote about Buechner\u2019s experience becoming friends with Angelou when they were both lecturers at the Trinity Institute, Buechner realizes that he and Angelou share much in common, despite obvious differences in race and background. The short chapter interrupted what would have otherwise been a patterned argument for Buechner\u2019s philosophy of attention, and for this reader, the jump into <\/em>story came too soon; if it was to appear, it should have been later in the book.<\/p>

The second section is rounded out by an essay on narrative; in which Buechner argues that the part of what it means to listen to one\u2019s life \u201cin a religious sense is to affirm that there is a plot to one\u2019s life\u201d even if such a design is difficult or sometimes impossible to recognize. This sets up the third section, which is devoted to Buechner\u2019s reflecting on key events in his own life. Those familiar with his memoirs will find very few revelations in these reflections; he once again rehearses his father\u2019s suicide and the dark shadow it cast over him for fifty years; his broken relationship with his mother; his years at the Lawrenceville School, Princeton University, and Union Theological Seminary; and his writing and teaching careers. Nevertheless, in reflecting again on these experiences, Buechner models the discipline of attention that he outlines in the first half of the book\u2014conveying, most importantly, that it is never over. The act of paying attention is only valuable insofar as it is constantly renewed so as to become habitual. Buechner advises us to consider our stories as the rabbis advise us to consider the Torah: like a prism, turn it and turn it again, for all is in it.<\/em><\/p>

Attention\u2019s invitation: Buechner certainly isn\u2019t the first to remind us of it. Poets and artists have implored us to pay attention for as long as there have been poets and artists. But in today\u2019s world, when our attention is a product that is bought and sold, one can scarcely be reminded too often: Sit. Listen. Something holy is happening, even in this riven, ruptured world, even now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Abigail Storch<\/strong>\u00a0is a graduate of Eastern University and Yale Divinity School. Originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, she now lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Remarkable Ordinary\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> was published by Zondervan on October 3, 2017. You can purchase a copy from the publisher’s website here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there is one message in The Remarkable Ordinary, it is the same chord that tolls throughout all Buechner\u2019s writings: pay attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":4277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-newsletter","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/1638935993.jpg?fit=1500%2C1383&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4274"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4294,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4274\/revisions\/4294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\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