Receiving This Life: Practicing the Deepest Belonging

by Kara K. Root

Amid a frantic pace of life that often leaves us feeling disconnected and ungrounded, Receiving This Life helps the reader engage with life and become attuned to their belonging to God and each other. Kara K. Root empowers the reader to embrace life as sacred and receive it as a gift. The book offers reflections on living a life of presence and receptivity that seeks meaning and responds to God's promptings. It invites and models a stance of attunement that orients us toward receiving life's ordinary, holy moments as a gift, returning us to our deepest belonging. It includes prayers and liturgies that can be used by individuals, families, or congregations over and over again. Receiving This Life is a natural follow-up to Root's first book, The Deepest Belonging --pairing prayers and liturgies with further devotional essays on many of the topics covered there, such as death, disillusionment, sabbath, hope, and connections between human beings.

306 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2023

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing I hate most about this book is that it's not portable, so that I can't take it with my everywhere. It is full of stories, prayers, practices, and journaling prompts for those, in community and alone, who want to be attentive to God's presence. Now not all of the prayers and practices are equally compelling to me; but that is to be expected. There is plenty of variety and people are going to resonate with different practices. This book should be essential reading, and not just for pastors. It is engaging, readable, and profound.

[Ryan Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book and resource. I have found Kara to be the type of pastor I might be able to embody. Her book prior to this, called “The Deepest Belonging,” was one of the best books I’ve ever read.

This book was different in style, as it felt more like short sermons for chapters with prayers and resources at the end of each section. It made for a great devotional each morning, with powerful words about an array of topics on living well. Highly recommend.