I read this book several years ago.
In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a
million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper
understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster
has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring
spiritual guidebook came to be.
Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline
explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith.
Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true
path to spiritual growth can be found.
Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these
areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer,
fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines
of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better
place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us
nearer to one another and to God.
Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of
our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the
abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating
how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to
our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can
be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines,
shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of
Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual
growth.