Title: Word by Word: a daily spiritual practice

Author: Marilyn McEntyre

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

 

“But I don’t wanna do it that way…”

Reading this excellent book takes an extreme amount of discipline—it did for me, anyway. It is set up as a daily devotional, yet I wanted to power right through it as fast as I could. 

Instead, I followed the intent of the author by reading a section each day, on the day it was meant to be read. Exercising the discipline, I gained more from the words printed on the page and those etched in my soul.

The Author’s intent

Marilyn McEntyre invites the reader to dwell on 20 words—20 verbs, to be exact—over 20 weeks. She welcomes us into the discipline by asking the reader to immerse themselves in a reflection on the same word each day for seven days in a row beginning with Sunday. 

Each day consists of just a handful of paragraphs where McEntyre challenges the reader to look at the verb in a way unlike any other view taken before. 

WOW!

She says, “The practice of living with a single word for a week can become a compliment…” to other spiritual disciplines. 

 

Later in the introduction, she describes the delight she has had in discovering “…how words may become little fountains of grace. How a single word may become, for a time, “equipment for living.” How a single word may open wide wakes of meaning and feeling. How a single word may, if you hold it for a while, become a prayer.”

 

Are you listening?

The first word  McEntyre offers is “Listen.” I’m a good listener. I used to tell my staff I heard everything, even their most faint whisper. Real as that might be, I became a better listener as I pondered the reflections about “listening” each day for one week.

“Listen…

    …for the guidance you need.

    …for the need behind the words

    …into the silences

    …as an act of participation

    …through the noise of the music

    …courageously

    …when you pray”

Hearing is not listening. It is a step in the right direction, but it is not the finish line. I learned more about listening in one week of meditations than I had in hours and days and weeks of management training on the job.

 

One coin; two sides

There are 19 more words. Some of them seem like different sides of the same coin—words like “Resist” and “Allow.” Or words like “Be Still” and “Rejoice.”

 

 

How will reading this book help you? Taking time to reflect on the word, the grace of the word according to prompts from the author, you will personalize how the word, the verb, the action word, can impact the actions of your life and the lives of those closest to you.

 

 

Well-read

My copy of the book is marked-up, dog-eared, Post-It noted, and highlighted beyond recognition. When I am writing something of my own—an essay, a chapter, a recollection, or a sermon, I can use Word by Word: a daily spiritual practice, to bring me back to things I learned over those worthwhile 20 weeks.

You will enjoy including Word by Word: a daily spiritual practice, by Marilyn McEntyre, in your daily moments of reading and reflection.