Frederick Buechner - The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life

Contents

About Frederick Buechner

Frederick Buechner brings the reader to his knees, sometimes in laughter, sometimes in an astonishment very close to prayer, and at the best of times in a combination of both.

The New York Times Book Review

With profound intelligence, Buechners novel does what the finest, most appealing literature does: it displays and illuminates the seemingly unrelated mysteries of human character and ultimate ideas... One of our finest writers.

Annie Dillard, Boston Globe

If Frederick Buechner subordinated his nature and chose to write on naughts and nothings, he would still exalt his readers. When he is in representative harmony and writes of the accessibility of God to humanity and of humanitys agreement with its potential divinity, we, the readers, are lifted up, buoyed up, and promised wholeness.

Maya Angelou

You dont have to be in the habit of going to church to listen to such a literary minister; you dont have to be a believer to be moved by Mr. Buechners faith.

John Irving

Frederick Buechner is a beacon. When we cant remember what is true and what it all means, hes the person we turn to.

Anne Lamott

Frederick Buechner has inspired me not only with his writing, but with his generosity of spirit. Im incredibly thankful.

Rachel Held Evans

He isnt trying to persuadehes trying to understand what he himself believes and thinks. And that honesty is more persuasive than the most polished argument.

John Ortberg

Frederick Buechner doesnt just show us how to write; he shows us how to live.

Philip Yancey

Frederick Buechner is not just a wordsmith but an image-smithhes the bridge between Gutenberg and Google.

Len Sweet

To each new generation, his work is a revelation.

The Lutheran

Frederick Buechner gives new life to Christian truth.

Katelyn Beaty

He raises the bar not only for Christian writers, but for all of literature.

Mako Fujimura

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Also by Frederick Buechner

Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABCs of Faith

The Book of Bebb

The Clown in the Belfry: Writings on Faith and Fiction

A Crazy, Holy Grace

The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found

Godric

The Longing for Home

The Magnificent Defeat

Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Whos Who

A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces

The Sacred Journey: A Memoir of Early Days

Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons

The Son of Laughter

Speak What We Feel (Not What We Ought to Say)

Telling Secrets: A Memoir

Wishful Thinking: A Seekers ABC

The Yellow Leaves

ZONDERVAN

The Remarkable Ordinary

Copyright 2017 by Frederick Buechner Literary Assets, LLC

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition August 2017 ISBN 9780310352525

ISBN 978-0-310-35190-0 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35163-4 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-35252-5 (ebook)

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV). Copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Art direction: Curt Diepenhorst

Interior design: Denise Froehlich

Zondervan Editorial: John Sloan, Robert Hudson, Gwyneth Findlay

First printing August 2017 / Printed in the United States of America

T he issuing of a new Frederick Buechner book began as a project three years ago. Some of his unpublished 1987 Norton and 1990 Laity Lodge lecture materials were the well from which this volume, The Remarkable Ordinary, would spring. If its one thing publishers of Frederick Buechner hear, it is whether there is more that he has written. The answer is now yes.

Most book jackets for Buechner say something like this: Frederick Buechners books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. He has been called a major talent by the New York Times and one of our finest writers. He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

What those jackets dont say is what Buechner does on the page, as far as inspiration, as far as hope, as far as faith.

Frederick Buechner is a writer for devout skeptics and loyal believers. Those who read him find out that while he believes in a God who works in the ordinary world, he understands why there are questions as to why he doesnt unleash his extraordinary powers into a hurting world. He wonders with the reader and does not condemn. But he does seek out Gods mystery and his power. And he finds both, in the common things and in the painful things.

Buechner writes with the brush of an artist about things we know and think we know. The things we have heard over and over in church, and now seem worn and tired, Buechner makes fresh and gives new angles to find even more depth.

Buechner writes about grace and beauty, love and hope, darkness and light, tragedy and blessing, despair and joy... But he does so in a way that is unexpected, freshly creative, not bound in time, sometimes outrageous, sometimes scandalous, but always speaking about the God we know we can believe in.

Now to the subject of this book. Frederick Buechner shows the reader how to stop, look, and listen to life. He reflects on the connection between art and faith, and how both teach us how to pay attention to the remarkableness of our lives, to watch for the greatness in the ordinary, and to use our imaginations to see the greatness in others and love them well. As we begin to stop, look, and listen to our lives and what God is doing in them, we begin to uncover the plot of our lifes story. And as we learn where the plot is taking us in our search for meaning and peace, we finally have the eyes to catch glimpses of joy through our devotion and prayer.

Anyone familiar with Buechners writings, particularly his memoirs, will already know about his fathers suicide and his familys attempts to deal with that tragic loss; indeed, his fathers death haunts much of Buechners writing, and he tells the story over and over again throughout his books. This book is no different, but in the lectures from which this book is derived, he tells his story in a more personal way, giving us a slightly different lens through which to view tragedy and Gods presence within it.