Adjusting to Sabbath Rest

What I learned this week about Sabbath rest is that it is not a one day adjustment. It calls for the adjustment of your whole life. I began thinking about it early in the week, realizing that I needed to change my laundry habit. I also had given thought to simplifying our Sunday meals. I picked up my old copy of Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald that has a wonderful section on Sabbath. I want to enjoy and reconnect with my family as a part of this rest. I desire to refresh my soul with meditative quiet. I tried to prepare. However, I did not fully tweek my week to take full advantage of my Sabbath.

I did get some time with the family. I couldn’t rest enough to take advantage of the early morning quiet I had. I had to late in the week sought out the book I mentioned. And, what bothered me the most is that due to a lack of planning I started my evening Sabbath scurrying to get a hair cut before the shop closed at 6:30. I could not put it off since I was sharing briefly at a friend's church and I looked like a very Grizzly Adams! I consoled myself with he fact that I spent the evening with Grizzly Jr. (Kyril), and had a great conversation with the hair stylist. Nonetheless, it is no way to start a day of rest!

I did greatly enjoy ending my Sabbath rest with 3 friends praying Vespers at The Commonplace. And I did receive a challenging word that I will be meditating on all week as I seek to bring my work in line with it. (That is for another post.)

So, armed with my new knowledge and with 6 days to prepare, I will be in a better place to rest on my next Sabbath eve.

Contemplation and Missional Activism

"Through the years I have notice that among the people most dedicated to missional activism, you find either (a) people burned out because of the difficulty of the task, or (b) people who have learned to undedrgrid their activism with contemplation, with quiet resting, finding God in the center of normalcy -- including the normalcy of struggle and hard work. "  (Brian McLaren, a Generous Orthodoxy, pg 197)

I ran into this observation while re-reading Brian's book.  It kind of sums up my experience and longings in relation to my own missional activism through Common Heart / Common Cupboard.  The only difference is I am both of the people he describes.  I guess kind of a schizophrenic amalgamation, a burn out / contemplative.   Maybe I am a slightly chard wanna be monk struggling to find that place of Shalom in the busyness of 21st century America.

Too often I am losing it.  I feel the flames flaring out.  And as I do I find comfort in prayer, scripture meditation, my daily rhythm, listening to the Bible,  and reading spiritually supportive books.  One area I lack, that I think would certainly help me, is to connect more with folks who are traveling a similar journey.

With all that in mind I have begun to set aside Sunday 6pm - 8pm for Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Scripture Meditation at The Commonplace.  It is not really something that Common Heart is doing.  It is really just me and anyone who wants to join me.  I want to take this time to focus, lifting up my heart to the Lord allowing him to restore, form, and fill.  

The Missio Dei Breviary

I recently came upon this online guide to morning and evening prayer put out by an intentional Christian community in Mineapolis, Missio Dei. I like it for its simplicity and for its focus inward on our heart, as well as outward toward the world. Being thouroughly based in scripture and drawing from a variety of Christian traditions, it seems to anchor my heart in the steadfast faithfulness of God while awakening my heart to grater faithfulness in living as a follower of Jesus today. Check it out .... thebreviary.com

How do you not forget? - Part 4

This is the last part in my series of posts stemming from an email from a friend asking me, "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?" My first two principles had to do with how I approach my life. It is key to realize that my life is hidden with God in Christ and that in him I live and move and have my being. These form a foundation so that I can build the spiritual practices I enumerated in parts 2 & 3. But now the principle I want to briefly talk about here in part 4 deals with time.

One of the distinctives of our modern existence is that we no longer have "any time" for truly important things. Our lives are busy. Quite frankly, we are to busy caught up in so many things. My life is full. I commute 2 hours a day. I am at work 9 hours. I personally answer all calls to Common Heart and respond to emails. Most Saturday mornings I help out at the cupboard, deliver groceries, or lead outreaches. I have friends I visit, write, call, try to stay in contact with. I have two active boys that I endeavor to love, spend time with and bring up in the Lord. I love my wife and spend time with her talking about the day, our plans, our life together, I volunteer at church. Yet, I still daily and regularly spend time with Jesus. One key is my daily rhythm I shared in part 2, but the main thing I do is I endeavor to "redeem my time".

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

Time belongs to God. He is the Lord of time, the Lord of my time. This includes time I spend waiting on line. The time I spend walking back to the shop to check on a project at work are included as well. It includes each moment I use up muttering impatiently as I wait at a stop light. It includes time spent on cleaning, grooming, and necessities. I have found that I can redeem those mundane moments by, as the NIV translates Eph 5:16 ,"making the most of every opportunity".

For instance, I have been known to read my Bible while I wait on hold on making a phone call to a prospective customer. I actually once meditated on Psalm 23 while having a cavity filled. It sheds new light on "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" as the dentist drills out a cavity.

These verses are about much more than just redeeming moments to pray or meditate on scripture. It is about living our lives fully for the Lord. Allowing his purposes to fill all that we do, causing all our moments to bring glory to God. There is an old hymn I love by Frances R. Ha­ver­gal that expresses this fuller thought.

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

(Read the lyrics and hear the original melody at cyberhymnal.org)

Now I hope you have not gotten the idea that I am perfect at any of this. I am truly no expert in the answer to the original question my friend asks, "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?" These are just a few things I do. How do you keep talking to God through out the day? How do you motivate your thoughts heavenward?

How do you not forget? - Part 3

The question was ... "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?" When my friend first asked me that in an email, my email response just poured out in a form of a list. In parts 1 & 2 I looked at the two foundational principles that make up my mind set as well as my daily rhythm of prayer. With parts 1 and 2 covering the first 3 on my list I am now on number 4.

4. I pray in the Spirit often through out my day. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:15" I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also." The Spirit making intercession through the prayer language he has given me is just a part of who I am in the Lord. My experience is that it releases me to just trust him more. As Jude encourages, "Building yourself up in your most holy faith, praying in the Spirit." (Jude 20)

5. When I find myself in need I look to heaven in my heart. (Psalm 121:1-3) It usually takes the verbal expression of "Help me Lord". It often comes when I can't find something. Or if I am running late. In these kinds of mundane situations, but it also comes when I am at the end of my rope and I just don't understand what God is doing.

6. When something good happens I thank God. I just say "Thank you." I have not yet achieved the admonition of Paul in 1 Thesalonians 5:18 - "In everything give thanks ..." I am working on it!

7. I try to stay away from being religious, and I walk with God and talk with him as my true friend. This means that I carry on conversations with him as I go about my day. I just talk to him about anything. Micah 6:8 tells me that to walk humbly with God is one of the 3 biggies that God requires along with doing justice and loving mercy.

8. I verbally remind myself to trust in God, to not trust in my self or my strength. (Psalm 28:6-8) I might say something like, "Keith, you can trust God in this." Sometimes I remind myself to praise God, or to thank him. Others may not be around to encourage me not to forget, so I have to remind myself sometimes.

9. I confess my faults, but don't let them get me down. I am depending on Christ's perfection not mine. (1 John 1:6-10) The key really is that I can't let them get me down. A friend of mime, Doug Roberts, says it pretty clearly, "That is not who I am, that is just the dumb thing I did."

10. I meditate on scripture. (Psalm 1:1-3) I used to memorize scripture a lot. (Psalm 119:11) So now I have a number of scriptures that are brought to my mind. I also meditate on the daily readings I do as part of my rhythm in part 2. Meditation in its simplest form is just thinking deeply about scripture. Applying it to your daily life. Allowing it to question you and responding in prayer to God about it. One resource I have used recently, is a podcast called "Pray as You go". It is available at iTunes and is also available as an mp3 download at http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/. It is a daily 10 minute guided meditation. I like to use them as I commute.

I have one more item on my list. But that is for another day.

How do you not forget? - Part 2

This is the second part of an answer to a question a friend asked me - "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?" My last post on this topic could be called my outlook on life. My (undivided) life is "hidden with Christ in God" and "in him I live and move and have my being". This seems to set my heart to realize that God is at work all around me and in me, and if I seek to see my life and my world this way, how can I not "not forget".

But this post and the ones following are in the realm of practice. What do I do?

I used to have a "daily quiet time". You know what I mean, don't you. Set apart an hour with God a day, at the same time every day. Pray and read your Bible. This works for many people, I suppose. It did for me at a certain time in my life. But I don't do that any more. For me it seemed to condense God to just an hour of my day.

Instead I have come to practice what may be called a daily rhythm of prayer. What I mean is that I pray daily at the specific times throughout the day, following the pattern of the Hebrew prophet Daniel (Daniel 6:10). For me this rhythm generally follows the pattern of my commute to and from work and lunch. Also I often pray before I go to bed. I use a form known as the daily office. I generally use a Celtic Christian liturgy posted on this site ... NorthumbriaCommunity.org. (You can find a link posted to the right under my profile.) Although I have memorized the psalms and prayers that make up the “liturgy” of this daily office, I mix it up with spontaneous non-written prayer. Also I employ periods of silence, meditation and singing as well. There are daily bible passages that are scheduled to be read, and I generally pull them up on my computer at work and read and meditate on them by “stealing a moment” while waiting on hold or between customers or at other times.

This practice or using a rhythm of prayer according to the cycles of my day, has helped to transform my days and my moments from just hurriedly moving to my next destination or chore, to realizing God is present in all the times, seasons, cycles and patterns of my days. It helps me to move from mere mundane to recognition of Emanuel, God With Us.

Am I perfect at this? No. After 18 months do I still struggle at times to implement it? Yes. Do I always sense God's presence in it? No. Do I sometimes miss a beat in this rhythm? You bet ya. But I have found that by having my prayer follow the patterns of the ebbs and flows of my day, it makes it easier to get back on track and in tune with God, when I skip a beat. I also find that this rhythm helps me to keep Jesus in the center of the simple patterns of my day, and so I look to him through out the day.

How do you not forget? - Part 1

Earlier this month a friend of mine asked me a question in an email. Truthfully, I am not sure why he asked it of me. I am by no means an authority. I am just a traveler on the way. And I have lots to learn.

The question was: "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?"

Although I do forget and I am nowhere close to unceasing prayer as Paul urges followers of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:17), I have several things that I do practice that have helped me in my endeavor to keep God in my thoughts and keep my heart set on him. I will be sharing them in this blog over the next several posts.

The first is that I know that my life is hidden with Christ in God. I have and do meditate on this thought found in one of Paul's letters to young followers of Christ in the first century (Colossians 3:3). There are other places in the Christian Scriptures that speak of my life being in Christ, or Christ living in me as well. This is a key thought to me. I have only one life. And it is hidden with Christ in the God.

This means that all of my life is sacred. I do not have a home life, a work life, a family life, a social life, etc I have a God life .. .it is hidden in him. If that is true then he is in all my life from the most mundane and normal activities to the most exciting and unusual. And if my life is in him, and he is in my life, then all my life can be worship. Strange thought, but true.

Not only is my one life hidden with Christ in God but in him I live and move and have my being. This thought is from a sermon given by Paul recorded in Acts 17:28. God surrounds me and moves all around me. I look for him in my day. I look for signs of his love. I recognize his care and protection. I see his actions as I live my life.

To me these two thoughts are key to the question ... "How do you keep talking to God throughout the day? I mean, how do you not forget?" As I have meditated more on them and continue to invest myself in the truth of them, it becomes harder to forget to talk to the One who loves me like that.