Receiving the Day ― Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time

Embrace time as a gift--not an obstacle

Receiving the Day invites us to open the gift of time, to dwell in the freedom to rest and worship that God intends for us and for all creatures. In this book, Dorothy C. Bass shows how Christian practices for rest and worship continually welcome us into a way of life attuned to the love of God, neighbor, earth, and self.

Bass does not aim to provide clear instructions for creating a schedule that solves all our puzzles about how to live in time. Rather, convinced that Christian faith bears great wisdom about time, Bass offers an account of the weekly practice of keeping sabbath, along with other practices by which Christians have sought to live faithfully in time.

These practices have been lived by diverse communities of faith across centuries and cultures. Through them, we can learn to dwell more graciously, attentively, and faithfully within the hours and days we have. We can also learn to share the gift of time gladly and gratefully with others, in and for this world God loves.

Dorothy C. Bass is a practical theologian and church historian. During twenty-five years as director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith, a Lilly Endowment project supporting the renewal of Christian theology and life, she wrote, edited, or coedited more than a dozen books. She has spoken widely on vocation and spirituality.