1. Foster speaks of "reading with the heart". How do we move from reading with an information-gathering, analytical mindset into a place where we are reading to hear a word from God, reading for spiritual transformation, reading to serve the deeper longings of our hearts?
2. The book, Spiritual Classics, offers readings around twelve spiritual disciplines practiced by Christians over the centuries. The disciplines are:
- meditation
- prayer
- fasting
- study
- simplicity
- solitude
- submission
- service
- confession
- worship
- guidance
- celebration
What is your emotional response that term?
What role do spiritual disciplines play in your life?
How do you see the relationship between spiritual discipline and spiritual transformation?
Raading for next Friday, Sept 15: Joyce Huggett on Meditation
5 comments:
Until recently, the long list of 12 spiritual disciplines has felt like a great weight--12 more tasks to fit into my day, my life, 12 more reasons to feel burdened by not doing enough! And that on top of physical disciplines, parenting disciplines, work disciplines. Maybe it's the word "discipline" that's gotten into my way. Ruth Haly Barton speaks of "practices" and "sacred rhythms". She describes arranging our lives for spiritual transformation as a response to our longings for more of God. Thinking of seeking out ways of living that are congruent with my deepest desires opens up new possibilities for me.
scott stephenson said...
Two images came to mind reading the introduction:
We are sheep under a shepherd, and we graze under the Lord's watch; the sheep consumes and ruminates on what the Lord has provided. There is not a lot of critical thinking or point of view going on with the sheep - there is simply the instinct to consume, and enjoy.
We are receivers who are being tuned to the Lord's frequency. We need to be willing to have our dials adjusted, and to recognize that the most important thing is the information coming over the channel. A receiver that is not in right relationship with the signal is not going to fulfill its purpose. And, above all, the receiver has to be turned on and in the presence of the signal (Romans 12) to receive anything.
Richard Foster lives this life of reading with the heart. Having heard him speak recently, I was struck by the calm joy he radiates. But the joy shines forth from a life of engaging deeply with Christ Himself. And that is what I want...to be engaged deeply with the wild man of Nazareth. So how do I get there?
I wonder if the idea of "reading with the heart" is similiar to the difference between how we eat. You know how sometimes you eat just to eat. You are hungry, you are tired, so you just eat....fast, not paying much attention to the flavors and textures of the food...just consuming.
But other times, you savor. You enjoy each morsel. You are not so much consuming the food as you are consumed by the food. You go slower. You notice more. You taste more. You use every sense to become more awake to your eating. You know meals like this....meals where you remember not just the fact that you had a meal, but you recall the red crisp tartness of the raspberries, the teal-colored fluted edge of the bowl that was your grandmother's in which they sit, the jaunty yellow sunflowers perwinkle hydrangeas, fushia zinnias and bright freesias that perfume the room, the checked blue and white tablecloth on the table on which they rest, and the company across the table that enhances the food all the more.
In a culture that prizes more and faster, this is the opposite. It is the savoring, the slowing, the sustaining of wonder. It is not how much can I eat, but how delighted can I become in each morsel....and that changes me from this rushed person to this centered person, looking at Jesus as He looks at me, laughter in his throat, and a wink in His eyes.
As with any new learning, there are times the mechanics seem to be all we think about. How to lift the arms at the proper angle when one uses the new weight machine at the gym. How to pronounce the accent in the new line of French or Italian one is learning. How to hear the soft flow of the oboe in the midst of a symphony concert. How to engage in conversation with a new friend.
But slowly, as we grasp the mechanics of the spiritual disciplines, we are strengthened with new muscles that draw us up into new places...places that surprise us, like that place where we can hit the tennis ball harder because we lifted the weights, where we can enjoy the whole theme of the concert because we also can pick out the thread of the tune that the oboe carries.
The spiritual disciplines thus become the deep muscles of my life of faith, a core that holds me well in the moments of joy and the moments of sorrow, in the moments of choices that are not easy.
Who among us doesn't have disciplines? We have the discipline of brushing our teeth, of washing our clothes, of paying our bills, of studying for the course we are taking.
The mechanics of the new disciplines at times seem weighty, too much to learn. But when I look at the lives of others who walk deep with Christ, that spurs me on to experiment in this realm of growth. I want to be changed. And like a physical gym experience, the muscles only develop as I return again and again to the gym. And so I do a variety of types of exercises which change my flabby body into a toned one. So too entering into the disciplines changes me from a couch potato follower of Christ to a well toned spirit, alive to the very One who invites me to the joy of life with HIm.
These disciplines of the spirit invites me to more of Jesus...and in the end, He is all I desire. And that very desiring is fueled by the disciplines....kindling that bring my soul to a deep warming joy.
stan runnels said...
Sept 8--
"read with the heart"
"Be encouraged by their lively faith and intimacy with Jesus Christ"
"The transformation in us is God's work. It is a work of grace. That deeply transformative grace comes to us not through our own doing but as a pure gift."
In the world of radical objectivism in which I find myself, a quiet invitation into the mystery of the heart (where God has done God's best work) is refreashing. I look forward to praying and listening with the heart.
Stan Runnels+
St. Paul's KCMO
srunnels@stpauls-kcmo.org
We've just finished the noon Friday Reading & Reflection Group here at the Bonhoeffer House. I wanted to tell you friends on the blog that one student brought up Lane's wonderful image of savoring as a meal as being similar to reading with the heart. I thought you'd smile to know that you all are part of the conversation in the living room as well as in cyberspace! Keep the rich thoughts coming...
Peace, karen
Post a Comment