202 – Discipleship – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

A few weeks ago a young man spoke at our church on his work with the organization Youth with a Mission  ( http://www.ywam.org/ ). He spoke in part of his working in the YWAM’s “Discipleship Training School.”  I had not heard of this organization before and being a curious person I did some research.

When I looked at the online information about the “Discipleship Training School” part of its structure impressed me ( http://www.ywam.org/dts/ ).  In each of the topics covered ( http://www.ywam.org/training/dts-teaching/ ) they address

“concepts to understand and apply,”

“attitudes to nurture,” and

“activities to do.”

I like this approach.  Too often in our church teaching I have seen so much emphasis on “concepts” and getting the right concepts, we spend no time speaking of attitudes or if we do we only name the attitude and do not help people find ways to make that attitude active in their lives.  Nurturing the attitude and naming ways activities work toward that are forgot or short changed.

What can we do to nurture the Christlike life in ourselves and others?

What can we do at our churches to more intentional in nurturing Christlikeness?

 

201 – Quiet – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

Allow me to share two quotes today.  First from John Cage,

“My favorite piece of music is the one we hear all the time, if we are quiet.”

When you find yourself quiet today, pay attention.  What music is there?

And maybe the words of Marian Wright Edelman might also be there,

“Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others.”

Maybe grace has brought you to the quiet to hear something in your soul or perhaps the soul of another.

Give thanks in that quietness.

 

200 – When We Answer – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

I first heard of Frederick Buechner many years ago and remember thinking I should read his books.  I found one, started reading it and soon stopped.  For whatever reasons, I could not follow his writing and could not understand him.

A few days ago I came across a copy of The Hungering Dark and opened it to this prayer,

Almighty and everlasting God,

Only speak to us that we may hear thee.  Then speak to us again and yet again so that when in our hearts we answer they by saying No, we may at least know well to whom we say it and what it costs us to say it, and what it costs our brothers, and what it costs thee.  And when at those moments that we can never foretell we say Yes to thee, forgive our halfheartedness, accept us as we are, work they miracle within us, and of they grace give us strength to follow wherever love my lead.

We bless thee for him who shows us the way, and is the way and will be, we pray, at the en of all our ways.  Grant that even on stumbling feet we may follow him into the terrible needs human heart.  Remember,  Remember us. For thy mercy’s sake.  Amen.  (Frederick Buechner, “The Hungering Dark,” New York, The Seabury Press, 1969, p 69)

This I understand.  I have walked that way and continue often in those steps.

What about you?  What do you hear? Supplication? Confession? Commitment?

 

199 – Prayer Beads – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

Last week I came across this article on prayer.  I invite you to notice how ancient prayer practices have modern day effects even with some of our youngest.

Let Us Pray – by Melanie Gordon

“What does prayer look like? How do you pray? The concept of prayer can be particularly vague for children. How do we speak to their concrete, yet very imaginative, minds to let them know that God is listening? At Allen Memorial United Methodist Church in Oxford, Georgia, the children know how to pray.

“One way that they have learned to pray is through using the ancient prayer form of prayer beads, a simple chain of beads that children can make. As children hold and feel the beads, they are reminded that God is with them and listening to them. If their minds wander while in prayer, they can squeeze the beads to help them refocus on what they are saying to God and what they hear God saying. The beads can each represent a person for whom they want to pray or something specific they want to tell God. They can use each bead to offer a blessing to people they care about or for people they don’t even know. The beads make prayer more accessible to children who are tactile learners.

“The families at Allen Memorial UMC are using prayer beads with their children as a way of helping their children stay connected with God.  Parents have discovered that when their children use prayer beads they are more likely to initiate prayer and develop their own ideas about how to pray. In one family, after spending devotion time making beads with other families in the community, one of the young daughters chose beads to represent different people she wanted to pray for. The next  day she told her mother that “the red bead was to pray for you, but now it is also love; the green one was to pray for the dog, but now it means creation.” The beads expanded her prayer life and gave her a concrete way to talk about her experience of prayer.

“Questions for Discussion

“How is your congregation equipping parents to be spiritual leaders in the home and nurture the prayer lives of children?

“What are the forms of prayer that your congregation regularly uses in worship? In what ways could congregational prayer be enhanced to be more engaging to children and others who are tactile learners?

“What are the prayer ministries, beyond the worship service, of your congregation? How are children incorporated into these ministries?”

http://www.gbod.org/lead-your-church/best-practices-romans-12/resource/let-us-pray-issue-199-may-16-2014

Some good questions are asked in the article that should give us pause to consider.

 

198 – Start – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

A very short quotation from Mother Teresa today,

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.”

Nothing needs to be added.

 

197 – Sabbath – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

The other day I came across an interesting article online, “Rooted: The Submerging Church” by Lee Wyatt.  There were a number of things that caught my eye, and this morning I want to point to you some the ways he envisioned Sabbath.

Slow Down (Sabbath from Speed) – as Brooks, a character in “The Shawshank Redemption” said upon release from prison after fifty years, “The world’s gone and gotten itself in a big … hurry.”

Sign Out (Sabbath from Cyber-Space) – If cyber-space becomes our primary connection to life, it has become a surrogate reality.

Stay Put (Sabbath from Mobility) – My ability to get up and go whenever I please often inhibits God’s call for me stay and grow where God pleases.

Shut Up (Sabbath from Words) – Just listen!

Stoop Down (Sabbath from Controlling) – Humility, the grace to confess that I am a creature (who is not in control) and not God (who is) by which we live.

Stare (Sabbath from Distraction) – Distraction and diversion are .. the heart of the enemy’s strategy to disable our living humanly.

Sing (Sabbath from Memos) – Discursive, linear, pragmatic thought rules most of the time.

Share (Sabbath from Me) – My life is my relationships, and relationships mean sharing. I must learn to share my necessities of life (food, communitas, faith) and joys and burdens with others while receiving their gifts and sharing their burdens as well.

Simplify (Sabbath from Clutter) – I need to pursue the path of downward nobility rather than upward mobility, divest, and de-clutter.

Sleep (Sabbath from Self) – Sleep, enough sleep is a basic form of selflessness and trust.

What do you think?  Are these some ways to think about our need for Sabbath?

What can you add to his list?

You can find the complete post at –

http://marginalchristianity.blogspot.com/2014/04/by-leewyatt-rooted-submerging-church.html

196 – Passion – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

One of the mailings that finds its way to my inbox most all weekdays is from the Yahoo Group, Awareness-TheWaytoLove.  Each mailing is a very short piece from the writings of Anthony de Mello, S.J.  Last week this appeared in my inbox,

“What’s so original about this man?” asked a visitor.  “All he gives you is a hash of stories, proverbs, and sayings from other masters.”

A female disciple smiled.  She once had a cook, she said, who made the most wonderful hash in the world.

“How on earth do you make it, my dear?  You must give me the recipe.”

The cook’s face glowed with pride.  She said, “Well, ma’am, I’ll tell yer.  Beef’s nothin’, pepper’s nothin’, onion’s nothin’.  But when I throws myself into the hash, that’s what makes it what it is.”  (from “Conversations with the Masters” by Anthony de Mello, S.J.)

How often have any of us asked why a spiritual practice has fallen flat for us?  Why does it seem so stale and mechanical?  Or maybe why a class or worship service has failed to inspire us?

Should I ask, “How much of myself have I thrown into this?”  “Where is my passion for this?”

What are you throwing in the “hash” today?  What are you holding back today?

 

195 – Eastertide – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

Well … we made it through Lent … and then Easter Sunday and now it’s over and we can rest.  Anyone feeling that way this week?  A lot of us were very busy during these past weeks and for many reasons.  It’s natural that we are ready for some rest and for things to get back to “normal.”

It was not too many years ago that I heard the expression “The Great 50 Days of Easter” for the first time.  It speaks of the 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost.  It’s also called Eastertide.  I had always thought of Easter as one Sunday that came and went each year.  The person who spoke to me of the 50 days also said, “It’s a time to learn to live into Easter.”

Last year a local congregation asked me to speak at their Wednesday evening services for several weeks after Easter.  I picked a number of the Psalms from the Eastertide lectionary and talked about the “The Easter Psalms.”  I asked the congregation each week to consider how the Psalm might help us learn to pray as Easter people.

Can I ask that of you this week?  Can I ask that of you during this season of Easter?

What are you finding each day is it to pray as Easter people? We live in the light of Easter Sunday, as a people touched by resurrection.  Dare I say “made alive by resurrection?” If that’s the case, then why not spend some time over the next weeks asking what it means to you to pray as Easter people.

What do you think?

 

194 – Praying with Others – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

The past few weeks I have been thinking about when we prayer together and recently these remarks by Thomas R. Steaglad from A House of Prayer: The Power of Praying in Community found their way to my inbox,

Why do so many praying Christians feel as if their prayers “die at the ceiling” or echo in the dark? Perhaps something crucial is missing.

I suggest that what’s missing is the sense and the experience of deep connection and real community: of spiritual intimacy not only with God but with other praying believers. Believing and praying others, members of our spiritual family who gather with us … are a gift of God to absorb the echo of isolated orisons. Believing, praying others help us hoist before God the concerns that are too heavy for any one of us alone to lift “past the ceiling.”

I believe God has placed it in our hearts to pray together: to meet in some place and time, to give ourselves to some form or fashion, to pray both with and for one another. When we don’t pray like that, or do so only rarely, we sense the loss even if we cannot articulate it — as when we hunger for something we cannot name.

What do you find when you pray with others?

 

193 – Listening – Intention on the Spiritual Journey

Posted on by
Reply

The other day I came across this from Madeleine L’Engle,

“To pray is to listen, to move through my own chattering to God, to that place where I can be silent and listen to what God may have to say.”

Sometimes we “define” prayer as “talking to God.”  Would it be better to think of it as “talking with God?”  Or even at times sitting quietly with God.

We don’t get to know our friends or loved ones if we do all the talking when we are together.  I would guess we don’t get to know God if we do all the talking.

Might I suggest that as you make time to pray you also make time to listen?