92 – Holy Week – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

It seems to me Holy Week is a time for reflection so in the interest not creating more noise I am providing the following link to the Scripture for Holy Week and a prayer from that same site –

http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=B&season=Holy%20Week

God of steadfast love,
light of the blind and liberator of the oppressed,
we see your holy purpose in the tender compassion of Jesus,
who calls us into new and living friendship with you.

May we, who take shelter in the shadow of your wings,
be filled with the grace of his tender caring;
may we, who stumble in selfish darkness,
see your glory in the light of his self-giving.

We ask this through him whose suffering is victorious,
Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

91 – Holy Week – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

We are coming to the end of Lent with Palm Sunday and Holy week almost upon us.  What will Holy Week be for you?  Will you continue some Lenten practice?  Will you continue reading some work that has been part of Lent (or perhaps started long before Lent)?

I would like to challenge you for Holy Week to in some manner consciously journey that week with Jesus.  Perhaps what you are already doing does that for you or will lend itself to that walk. Or perhaps you want to add a more intentional time with Scripture for this week.  I have found a number of web resources I would like to share with you.

The Lectionary Pages at the Vanderbilt University Library

http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=B&season=Holy%20Week

All the lectionary readings for Holy Week (and the entire year) are well presented at this site.

Roman Catholic Mass Scripture Readings

http://www.universalis.com/mass.htm

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/index.cfm

Both these sites are very good but Universalis.com, while very good, might be an experience in information overload.

Mission St Clare

http://www.missionstclare.com/

You will find the full Daily Office here with the accompanying Scripture.  If you are not familiar with the Daily Office (this is an Anglican version from the USA Book of Common Prayer), this is a good place to see it.  But be warned, it can be overwhelming to some.

But what about a much “lower” tech and traditional approach?  Open the Scripture to the passion narratives in the gospels (Matthew 26ff, Mark14ff, Luke 22 , John 12ff) and begin reading.

Let your “reading” be the starting place for you.  Don’t be so focused on reading that you forget to spend time with God.  As you turn your gaze toward God you might want to see what else comes into focus.

I pray for a blessed journey through Holy Week for you.

 

90 – Spiritual Formation – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

A few weeks ago I came across a blog post entitled, ” A Simple Pattern of Spiritual Formation” ( http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/a-simple-pattern-of-spiritual-formation }.  As you might expect that caught my attention.  It mentioned a book by Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God.  I have not read the book yet but I wanted to share a quote from the book posted on that blog.

“By studying the spiritual development of children, Jerome Berryman outlined a simple but insightful pattern that I believe applies equally well to adults. When given quiet, contemplative spaces, children will more often report a sense of God’s presence with them. This resulted in Berryman’s first exclamation, ‘ahh!’—a sense of wonder and awe. ‘This sigh,’ he said, ‘suggests the presence of the nourishing mystery that feeds and yet overwhelms us with awe.’

“As our minds with their cognitive ability catch up to the experience, there is a second exclamation, ‘aha!’—discovery. We come to recognize God more fully, and with him we discover new truths about ourselves and the world around us.

“These discoveries result in joy—the exclamation of ‘haha!’ Our dreary and frightening vision of the world is replaced with a joy beyond understanding. Finally, this cycle of awe, discovery, and joy compels us back into a posture of anticipation and silence so we might be with God once again.”

When given quiet, contemplative spaces –

    ahh – wonder and awe

    aha – discovery

    haha – joy

What do you think?  Can such discovery come when we enter that space?

“He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven'”. Matthew 18:2-4

 

89 – Presence – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Years and years ago in school I remember the teacher calling roll and us answering the teacher when our name was called, “Present.”

I had not thought of that for years until I was thinking about the “practice” of Presence – The quality of our being fully present to the moment, to what is going on right now in me and around me.  We might think we are always present, but are we?  Maybe we are thinking about something we have to do later today or tomorrow, or thinking about, even worrying about something that happened yesterday or in the not so near past.  All that keeps us from being present to the here and now; keeps us from seeing and hearing what is “right now” in front of us.  Maybe C. S. Lewis caught some of the importance of presence in The Screwtape Letters when had Screwtape write to Wormwood,

“The Present is the point at which Time touches Eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone, freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with Eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present—either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself; or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.”

Today, will you answer, “Present” when you are called to pay attention to what is before you?

 

88 – Solitude, Silence and Prayer – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

One day I am going to make a survey of what writers claim is the “most important” spiritual practice.  That’s not for today but I suspect I would find prayer, silence and solitude as high on most lists. You might even think of those three as the “Holy Trinity” of spiritual disciplines.

For today I want to point you to something Henri Nouwen wrote in The Way of Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry,

“Solitude, silence, and unceasing prayer form the core concepts of the spirituality of the desert…. Solitude shows us the way to let our behavior be shaped not by the compulsions of the world but by our new mind, the mind of Christ. Silence prevents us from being suffocated by our wordy world and teaches us to speak the Word of God. Finally, unceasing prayer gives solitude and silence their real meaning. Thus we enter through our heart into the heart of God, who embraces all of history with his eternally creative and recreative love.  But does not this spirituality of the desert close our eyes to the cruel realities of our time? No. On the contrary, solitude, silence, and prayer allow us to save ourselves and others from the shipwreck of our self-destructive society. The temptation is to go mad with those who are mad, and to go around yelling and screaming, telling everyone where to go, what to do, and how to behave. The temptation is to become so involved in the agonies and ecstasies of the last days that we will drown together with those we are trying to save.”

What gives your life perspective and stability?

 

87 – Lent – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Today, I still find I am thinking about Lent and how we keep Lent, or any spiritual practice, in the proper focus.  I want to direct your attention an article and a blog post I read this past week.

(1) Mark Galli, “Giving Up Self-Discipline for Lent

(2) JoHanna Reardon, “I Gave up Worry for Lent

Is Galli right when he writes, “Lent is supposed to have more spiritual overtones than the mere self-improvement mantras of New Year’s. But I suspect that for many of us, Lenten disciplines are more about us than about God. More about getting our act together in some area that continually discourages us and repeatedly sabotages our self-respect. The advantage of Lent over New Year’s resolutions is that we can bring God to our side, and the whole church is there to cheer us on. But for many of us, I suspect, it’s one big self-improvement regimen, with God as mere personal coach”?

And then, ” … what my Lenten successes have done more than anything else is inculcate pride and self-righteousness. Spiritually speaking, that’s one step forward and two steps back.”

I encourage you read the entire article and think about his critique of spiritual disciplines.  You will also want to pay attention to the theology that informs his critique as you evaluate what for you is helpful or not in what he writes.

When JoHannan Reardon told her husband she was giving up worry for Lent he asked, “Aren’t you suppose to give up something you enjoy for Lent?”  So what is the discipline of Lent about?  Reardon writes, “But last year I took time to pray about what I should give up for Lent. I asked God to show me a dependency that truly was hindering my relationship with him.”

Do you think Reardon gives us a good starting point to evaluate any spiritual discipline?  I encourage you to read her blog post.

How are doing this Lent?  What are you doing or not doing for Lent?  And more importantly, why?

 

86 – Ash Wednesday – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

This Ash Wednesday I have been drawn to a well known prayer of Thomas Merton –

My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But, I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart for that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

It strikes that perhaps our Lenten journey should begin with the honesty, humility and trust that Merton exhibits.

Blessings on your Lenten journey.

 

85 – Lent – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

“Last year, and again this year, Mark Roberts has posted on his blog several reflections on Ash Wednesday and Lent (see below for links).  Since we are only a week away from Ash Wednesday, I thought it good to point you to his posts.  Additionally, he addresses a theme we have focused on the last couple of weeks, when spiritual disciplines/practices lose their proper focus.

Mark Roberts writes,

“A Pastoral Word: Let me note, at this point, that if you think of Lent as a season to earn God’s favor by your good intentions or good works, then you’ve got a theological problem. God’s grace has been fully given to us in Christ. We can’t earn more of it by doing extra things or by giving up certain other things in fasting. If you see Lent as a time to make yourself more worthy for celebrating Good Friday and Easter, then perhaps you shouldn’t keep the season until you’ve grown in your understanding of grace. If, on the contrary, you see Lent as a time to grow more deeply in God’s grace, then you’re approaching Lent from a proper perspective.”

What do you think?  Has Roberts overstated the case or is his warning needed?

You can find his posts on Lent and Ash Wednesday at –

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/how-lent-can-make-a-difference-in-your-relationship-with-god/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/ash-wednesday-practice-and-meaning/

 

84 – Spiritual Disciplines – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

I recently came across a blog post by Richard Beck that echos some of the same warnings we heard from Scot McKnight last week,

” … I was trying to push back on a strain of Christianity I see in both my students and the larger Christian culture. Specifically, when the student said ‘I need to work on my relationship with God’ I knew exactly what she meant. It meant praying more, getting up early to study the bible, to start going back to church. Things along those lines. The goal of these activities is to get ‘closer’ to God. To ‘waste time with Jesus.’ Of course, please hear me on this point, nothing is wrong with those activities. Personal acts of piety and devotion are vital to a vibrant spiritual life and continued spiritual formation. But all too often ‘working on my relationship with God’ has almost nothing to do with trying to become a more decent human being.  The trouble with contemporary Christianity is that a massive bait and switch is going on. ‘Christianity’ has essentially become a mechanism for allowing millions of people to replace being a decent human being with something else, an endorsed ‘spiritual’ substitute…. The point is that one can fill a life full of spiritual activities without ever, actually, trying to become a more decent human being. Much of this activity can actually distract one from becoming a more decent human being. In fact, some of these activities make you worse, interpersonally speaking.”

Do you think spiritual disciplines/practices ever get in the way of being a more decent human being?

ps – you can read the entire post at http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2009/08/bait-and-switch-of-contemporary.html .

83 – Spiritual Disciplines – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Scot McKnight in 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed refers to spiritual disciplines as a “new fashion” for Christians (p 96).  Is that what they are?  Maybe the latest “fashion” for “in the know” and “in the vogue” Christians.  We will try them on and wear them for a while until a newer “fashion” comes along.  Over the last several years there have been many books written addressing spiritual disciplines and spiritual practices.  The ongoing conversations these books provoked have benefited many people and I count myself as one of those who has benefited from this discussion.  But  I sometimes worry that we can become so enchanted by spiritual disciplines we lose focus on what is essential.

Scot McKnight speaks to this problem when he writes, “We can practice spiritual disciplines for three different ends: We can do them in order to convince ourselves that we are pious, we do them to gain the approval of others, or we can practice them in order to love God and others more.  They can be self-absorbing, and other-absorbing, or they can be God-pleasing.  God designs spiritual disciplines to increase our love for him and for others.  Spiritual disciplines that do not result in living the Jesus Creed [loving God, loving others, loving self, Mark 12:29-31] are done for unworthy ends.” (p 97)

Do you think he has named the test any practice of spiritual disciplines must pass?