Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Jones, T. (2005)The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life
I'd say there was one word that summed up my religious life: obligation.
1 had been taught that the way to connect with God on a daily basis is to have a 30-minute "quiet time." That is, you should sit down with your Bible open, read it a little, and then lay a bunch of stuff on God, making sure to mention how excellent he is before running through the list of all the things you need.
1 found this style of personal devotion to be a pretty shallow well, and it wasn't long before 1 was doing it only every other day; then once a week, and then, well, never. Taking the place of my 30~minute quiet time, however, were hours and hours of that great reli- gious tradition: guilt. Here was the equation: God is out there + God wants to hear from me + I'm not talking = failure by me.
After about 10 years of this, and hearing this same pattern corroborated by many people who were also trying to listen for God in their lives, something occurred to me: People have been trying to follow God for thousands of years, Christians for the last two thousand. Maybe somewhere along the line some of them had come up with ways of connecting with God that could help people like me.
15
All can it use the same kind of spiritual exercises, but one suits this person, and another that. Different devotions are suited also to the seasons, some being best for the festivals, and otbers for ordinary days. Wefind some helpful in temptations, others in peace and quietness. Some things we like to consider when we are sad, and others when we are full of joy in the Lord.
Thomas it Kempis
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1 had been taught that the way to connect with God on a daily basis is to have a 30-minute "quiet time." That is, you should sit down with your Bible open, read it a little, and then lay a bunch of stuff on God, making sure to mention how excellent he is before running through the list of all the things you need.
1 found this style of personal devotion to be a pretty shallow well, and it wasn't long before 1 was doing it only every other day; then once a week, and then, well, never. Taking the place of my 30~minute quiet time, however, were hours and hours of that great reli- gious tradition: guilt. Here was the equation: God is out there + God wants to hear from me + I'm not talking = failure by me.
After about 10 years of this, and hearing this same pattern corroborated by many people who were also trying to listen for God in their lives, something occurred to me: People have been trying to follow God for thousands of years, Christians for the last two thousand. Maybe somewhere along the line some of them had come up with ways of connecting with God that could help people like me.
15
All can it use the same kind of spiritual exercises, but one suits this person, and another that. Different devotions are suited also to the seasons, some being best for the festivals, and otbers for ordinary days. Wefind some helpful in temptations, others in peace and quietness. Some things we like to consider when we are sad, and others when we are full of joy in the Lord.
Thomas it Kempis
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