Pray Like a Gourmet: Creative Ways to Feed Your Soul

In the interest of full disclosure, I have known David Brazzeal, the author of Pray Like a Gourmet, since we were freshmen in college. I have also followed along on his blogsite of the same name and have participated in some of the activities and dialogue on that site. Also, it was my privilege to attend one of his prayer workshops (which he calls “prayer tastings”) where he elaborated upon his concepts of prayer. The workshop was done in the context of a shared meal to emphasize the “gourmet” aspects of his approach to prayer. In addition to food and instruction, there was music, interactive participation, and periods of quiet meditation. When David asked me to review his book, I was happy to do so and he sent me an advance copy to review. That being said, I must also say that Pray Like a Gourmet is one of the most complete and accessible volumes on prayer that I have read.

David Brazzeal shares some of
his "prayer recipes"

Beautifully illustrated, the book is organized in an intuitive manner that would make the book a wonderful guide for small group study or for individual practice. What struck me is how the author expands the notion of prayer and offers the reader a prayer guide that is borne out of his own deep longing for a more real and meaningful connection with God.

Just as a good meal will offer a full range to the palate from light to heavy,  from savory to sweet, Pray Like a Gourmet encourages the reader to experience a wide range of prayer practices. Brazzeal offers a number of “prayer recipes” from his own experiences. He describes many simple prayer activities designed to help one break out of his or her prayer-time rut. Throughout the process, the author encourages the reader to live with gratitude and to take note of the world in which we live. One example is his “Slice of life” prayer practice:

Take just one “slice” of your life—focus on a moment of transition, of confusion, of illness, of inspiration, of transcendence. Then begin to “thank” your way through all the details: the people, the events, the decisions involved at that crucial time. Feel free to express your gratitude however you feel at the moment: say it, sing it, draw it, write it, walk it, or eat it . . . the more variety, the better (and the more interesting).

Brazzeal advocates a number of different ways to practice prayer and meditation such as walking through the park and taking note of the people you see, doing a “museum meditation” at the local museum of art, or a “forest walk” to nurture a sense of wonder, praise, and gratitude.

A "prayer tasting" workshop led by the author of Pray Like a Gourmet

A quick glance at the Table of Contents will show the reader something of the range of prayer practices that the author presents: praising, thanking, confessing, blessing, observing, meditating, asking, interceding, etc. He even includes an important section on lamenting. Here the author very skillfully guides the reader in how to bring our sorrows and losses before God. The lament is a form of prayer we can find in scripture, but it is often not covered in your typical religious instruction.  It is certainly not addressed enough within the context of prayer and it is one more indication of the book’s authenticity – that it is not just the “nice and lovely” that we include in our prayers to God. Moreover, as the author points out very early on in the book, prayer is not just a matter of asking for things.

Having been to one of David Brazzeal’s Prayer Tastings, and now having read his book, I can heartily recommend Pray Like a Gourmet for individual or group study. The book also comes highly recommended by others who have previewed it, such as this quote from Brian McLaren: 

If I were a beginning cook, I would want a guide who was experienced, flexible, enthusiastic, and sensitive to the questions and insecurities of an absolute beginner. And if I were a beginner in prayer, I would want David Brazzeal to be my teacher. Even as someone who has prayed for most of my life, I found PRAY LIKE A GOURMET to be nourishing, delicious, and delightful.  

Details: 

  Author: David Brazzeal

  Paperback: 192 pages

  Publisher: Paraclete Press (April 28, 2015)

  Language: English

  Price: $18.99

  ISBN-10: 1612616275

  ISBN-13: 978-1612616278

  Product Dimensions: 7 x 8.5 inches

About the Author

David Brazzeal makes his home in France where he enjoys warm baguettes from the boulangerie and fresh cheese from the marché. Since 1986 alongside his wife Sanan, David has worked with the International Mission Board in Brazil, Guadeloupe, Québec and France, playing a leading role in five innovative new churches. Whether writing poetry, creating guerrilla labyrinths, or electro-meditative music, his work is inspired by the synergy that exists between the spiritual and the creative. He loves nudging those who are creative toward deeper spirituality and those who are spiritual toward heightened creativity.

-

The Art of Prayer

My friend, David Brazzeal, has a new blog, Pray like a Gourmet. It is definitely not your run-of-the-mill devotional blog, but he does have some energizing things to say about how we can pray. David is an American living in Paris and has a keen interest in the creative and fine arts. He brings this interest to bear in his writings. His stated goal is "encouraging those who are creative toward deeper spirituality and those who are spiritual toward heightened creativity."

So if you have an interest in spirituality or the creative arts, take a look at David's blog at http://praylikeagourmet.com/.

David also has some interesting activity on his other blogs:

• Cache-Cache Expérience
• Creative Spirituality
• Guerrilla Labyrinths

*

Smart Cookie Award

I was recently surprised and honored to receive the Smart Cookie Award from Rick Watson who has a popular blog, Life 101. Thanks, Rick!

I understand that there are some rules that go along with this award. Here are the rules:

           1. Thank the award giver and link back to them in your post. 

           2. Share 4 little known facts on anything.  
           3. Pass this on to other "smart cookies" you may know. 

Here goes:
1. Thank the award giver and link back to them in your post.  (See above)  
2. Share 4 little known facts on anything. 

• The commonly used idiom, “spitting image,” was originally “spit and image.” I, like most, had heard the phrase as “spittin’ image” and just assumed that it was that habit of dropping the ‘g’ that is so often done in the South. When I learned of the “correct” phrase, it just made life more frustrating. That’s the problem with being a grammar geek – you are frustrated by all the incorrect grammar going on all about you. 

• Cholesterol actually performs a vital function in your body. Any student of anatomy knows that cholesterol forms a protective sheath around every nerve fiber in your body. Without that protective sheath, your nerves become damaged – leading to muscle pain and atrophy as well as declining mental function. That’s the problem with being an anatomy geek – you are frustrated by the pharmaceutical companies that make millions of dollars by foisting drugs on the public to reduce cholesterol which in turn can damage important neural pathways. It’s unnerving, really. 

• Groundhog Day is an American substitution for Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation, which was traditionally the time to announce the dates for Good Friday and Easter. This was important in the olden days, because those dates marked the coming of spring and the days of planting. Of course, the date for Easter is lunar based and varies. It can be as early as March 22 or as late as April 25 (hence the question of early spring or 6 more weeks of winter posed to the groundhog). That’s the problem with being a history geek – you get frustrated by people not knowing why they do the things they do. 

• Light roast coffee actually has more caffeine than dark roast due to the roasting process.  Once I was in Starbucks at three o'clock in the afternoon and requested their light roast blend of the day. The person behind the counter countered, “We don’t brew that one in the afternoon, it has too much caffeine for this late in the day.” That’s the problem with being a coffee geek – you get frustrated by other coffee geeks telling you what kind of coffee you need to drink when.

3. Pass this on to other "smart cookies" you may know.
Here are three from my blog reading list that I always enjoy visiting:

• David Brazzeal at http://davidbrazzeal.wordpress.com/. David is an artist/writer living in Paris, France. I'm always interested to see what he is posting.
• Tim Lennox.com at http://timlennoxonline.blogspot.com/. Tim is a journalist who blogs from the state capitol of Montgomery, AL. I like the way he provides a daily concise presentation of interesting items in the news. 
• Language or Parole?, at  http://langueorparole.blogspot.com/, by Jeremy Patterson is a fascinating read. Sometimes he writes in French of Japanese, so I have to skip over those, but the ones in English are always interesting.

*