Over the past couple of years, I’ve read several of Frederick Buechner’s memoirs and sermon collections. One reason his writing appeals to me is that he’s a master of writing about faith in a way that draws everyone in—not just Christians, but non-Christians, as well. He writes about the human condition in ways everyone can connect with on multiple levels. One way he does this is through incorporating a lot of sensory details.

Francine Prose writes in Reading Like a Writer, “Details aren’t only the building blocks with which a story is put together, they’re also clues to something deeper, keys not merely to our subconscious but to our historical moment” (207). This is true of Frederick Buechner’s wide deployment of details in his books. He invokes all five senses to enable his readers to believe he is a trustworthy narrator, to have a fuller understanding of his experiences, and to connect what they have known in their own lives to what he is sharing from his life.

His book The Remarkable Ordinary incorporates those same details. His words help us see the ordinary in a new light. His words help us know it’s okay to dwell in the mundane.

Here’s more from the book’s publisher:

Your remarkable life is happening right here, right now. You may not be able to see it - your life may seem predictable and your work insignificant until you look at your life as Frederick Buechner does.

Based on a series of mostly unpublished lectures, Frederick Buechner reveals how to stop, look, and listen to your life. He reflects on how both art and faith teach us how to pay attention to the remarkableness right in front of us, to watch for the greatness in the ordinary, and to use our imaginations to see the greatness in others and love them well.

As you learn to listen to your life and what God is doing in it, you will uncover the plot of your life's story and the sacred opportunity to connect with the Divine in each moment.