One of my lecturers used to say ‘Spirituality is an external manifestation of our internal desires, or more simply, how we live in the world’. On the basis of this, I have been periodically reflecting on how my internal desires (the ones that reflect God’s kingdom that is) are being played out, if at all, in the world of everyday life.
One of my central motivations in joining this whole ‘blog community’ thing was so we could begin or continue (depending on how well we knew each other before) to encourage and motivate each other to live lives that reflect that higher purpose (I think even the Scrivners can include themselves here) that we all want to be a part of.
My spirituality reflections tend to come under three headings, Our God, Our neighbour and Our world; and they detail various practices that I feel will help me live out my internal desires in the immediate future. Given the current state of my journey, I thought I would begin with Our God (I’ll probably post the rest over the next week or so). Please let me know what you think, offer me advice or even better, post your own spirituality plans.
Our God
Immerse myself in the sacred narrative of Christianity
Study and learn from the history of the Christian tradition
Keep a prayer journal
Repeat the Lord’s prayer daily
Pray the rosary
Follow the traditional Christian calendar
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I'm not totally sure what your on about Jon! I haven't had loads of sleep this weekend and so I might 'get it' tomorrow but can you simplify the concept please?!
It probably has more to do with the fact that I wrote this in a rush and less to do with your lack of sleep. Here it is in a nutshell....
All of us have desires or ideals that we want to live out, for example, to love our neighbour as ourselves is one. However, in reality these often don't happen, as left to our own devices we tend to let other priorities dominate.
One way to ensure that we live out our internal desires is to instill practices into our daily routine that manifest those ideals. I find that production of an action plan for the immediate future to be particularly useful. I tend to split my plans into dealings with God, dealings with neighbour and dealings with the world or environment for simplicity.
I have listed the practices I hope to carry out in the immediate future under the heading Our God. Let me know what you think. Hope that helps.
just out of interest, why do you want to repeat the Lords prayer daily? cos I reckon it could go two ways, it could work as a really effective meditation, but as it is quite long, daily repetition could lose its meaning and it could become a religious thing rather than derive any spiritual meaning (but maybe I'm speaking from my own weaknesses here!)
Also, what is a rosary and why would you recite it? I thought they were beads?
[Gutted.. just wrote a whole response and lost it. Grrr. here's a short version!!]
I understood this Jon, I think it's just Tim...!!
Completely interesting. I can see how splitting it up like that would be good to frame your thinking; I don't think that would work for me as I tend to bundle everything up more. This has made me think about what a good framework for me would be though, and I think that focussing for a time (month or so?) on a particular theme - eg, a period in christian thought, other faith traditions (christian and otherwise), an ethical issue, a book of the bible or whatever, getting my head round a load of different aspects and plundering my thinking for actions and reactions (which i'd probably find fell into god/ neighbour/world categories!). I'll have a think about that and keep you posted.
Liking your leanings - you might like de Mello's spiritual exercises if you haven't come across them before. I don't get on with them so well as i skim read terribly rather than centre in in a devotional sort of way, but I have 'wellsprings' which you can have if you'd like to have a go! No offense at all if you don't like it... Also, maybe you've done this already, but what about going to an early morning traditional sunday eucharist somewhere? This is something I've been thinking about recently as there's an 8am one just round the corner from my house, i reckon it might be an interesting discipline just to go once a month or something. Goes against much of my theology of church (and my even deeper convictions about the wrongness of early mornings), but heck.
Thanks, very inspiring, look forward to hearing more.
While walking today, thanks to your inspiration, I contemplated the Lord's prayer (see my blog) and I found I wanted to rewrite it to some extent.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done beginning with me, through me and by me, on earth as it is in heaven - immediately, unquestioningly? but how do I know thy will?
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive me my trespasses, which are mostly in my mind, as I try what I think is my best to forgive those who offend me.
And lead me not into temptation, as if you would, but make me aware of it and steer me clear, and rescue me when I fail.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory in each blade of grass, each leaf, each creature for ever and ever.
Like Joelzinho, I identify with Paul's words (I'm not keen on Paul as the sort of person I'd like to hang around with, but in this he seems more human.)While I'd say it's inevitably my own fault - bother, I stopped to answer the phone and now I can't remember what I was going to say!
I like what you're saying Joel, especially about the importance of the church's awareness of its vital role in saving the world.
Jon, I think the main central discipline I believe in is a daily quiet time. Just a decent bit of time in the morning, feeding on the word and talking to the Lord; asking to be filled with His Spirit for the coming day. Because it's not by might...
I really love it when Paul talks about being in prayer ALL THE TIME. That is something that I haven't even nearly got my head around practicing yet but I hope one day I will have that kind of relationship with the Lord.
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" (Eph 6:18)
Jodie, it certainly can go two ways. I personally find the repitition to be releasing, but then again, I'm one of those strange people who thinks liturgy is brilliant too. The vast tradition of spirituality that is inherent within our Christian history means that there are a number of prayerful/contemplative practices to choose from. If it doesn't work for you then there are plenty more practices on offer. Rosary beads are beads, but the catholics also use set prayers to pray on each bead as you work your way round the loop. More info here
Karen, splitting it up just tends to help me get to grips with the issues. I often find myself wanting to put a practice under more than one heading, it does have its limitations. I would be interested in de Mello's exercises, haven't heard of them until now, although I too am a bit of a skim reader. The early morning eucharist is a wicked idea. I went to a high anglican church when i was in Birminhgam last year and found the centrality of communion very powerful. I am going to check out my local catholic church on my way to work this morning.
Joel, I like the concept of redeeming the moments we missed. I hope, like you, that these practices will have a formative influence on my attitudes. It would be good for me to hear about your different regime.
Liz, I like the prayer, especially 'but how do i know your will?' I find myself puzzling over this one frequently. Phones are the bain of my life, always interupt you when you least expect it.
Dan, I was brought up on a diet of quiet times and as a result, I can't even hear the phrase without shivering and feeling nauseous. It would be interesting to hear a bit more about what your quiet time consists of. Did you do anything special to celebrate time travel's 50th anniversary?
I missed the anniversary! I was aware it was approaching, anticipating it, then when the day came some English were visiting me and it passed me by. What a backslider...
My quiet times usually involve reading the Bible: I've got 7 bookmarks at intervals through it and I rotate the section of the Bible I'm reading. Sometimes, if I'm feeling dangerous, I read from somewhere AWAY from the bookmarks. Then pray. Lord's Prayer is helpful to have balance in praying so often I use that structure, obviously making it specific to the people and situations etc that I'm praying about.
I have to have quiet and be still though, to let God speak; so I know what He wants me to pray for - if I do all the talking I know I'll be wasting my time praying my will and not getting any closer to God. Relationship is the ultimate aim, of course.
Roger Forster teaches that the prayers of the saints of Rev 5:8 are the bowls, not the incense (grammatically, it's correct that way) and God provides the incense: the substance and fire of our prayers. I like that, but then, I would.
I just put this link on your earlier post but thought it might be missed there, so take a look at this:
http://www.gifttree.com/show.product.php?product_id=6262&version_id=1
I'm gonna do a post on this when I have time- for sure
Jon, I really like what you say. I have some rosary beads on order (I really do, from a French guy who's a big fan of Aquinas). I look forward to the coming posts. Just two queries. What do you feel keeping a prayer journal does, and what is the benefit of following the traditional Christian calendar (except the obvious presents at Christmas and chocolate at Easter!)
Joelly, I am very much the same as you. I live a very unstructures, unorganised life (which is why I am posting at 2:12am). It has its benefits, in that I am pretty relaxed about timing on the whole, not uptight etc, but there are major problems for me, especially as a Christian. Discipline is wha I need, but I'm not disciplined enough to put them in. I read ONE day of read the Bible in a year, and forgot.
I'm not saying this as an excuse, I constantly live in the frustration that I am not doing enough to be close to God, but at the same time, I think it is probably easier for a lot of people to fit these sort of things into their lives.
Meaningless rant over, rage subsiding, feeling returning...
TIm, a prayer journal helps me pray. Actually making a point of writing down the words helps me to focus on what I am saying. I find it really difficult to 'just pray', having the practice of writing a weekly or monthly prayer (depending on how well I stick to my plans), gives me the space to actually do it.
With regards to the Christian year, the following quote by Dennis Bratcher got me completely sold on the idea,
'The Christian church, following earlier Jewish tradition, has long used the seasons of the year as an opportunity for festivals and holidays, sacred time set aside to worship God as the Lord of life. While Jewish celebration revolves around the Exodus from Egypt, the Christian Church year focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus. The sequence of festivals from Advent to Resurrection Sunday becomes an annual spiritual journey for worshippers as they kneel at the manger, listen on a hillside, walk the streets of Jerusalem, hear the roar of the mob, stand beneath the cross, and witness the resurrection! The rest of the church year provides opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the coming of Jesus and his commission to his people to be a light to the world.'
Enough said.
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