This year as we each do the work of crafting a personal rhythm of life, we will continue to explore our deepest desires in our relationship with God, self, others, and the world. Last night, Kellye Fabian brought us into the fourth relationship, our relationship with the world.
Kellye began with a powerful statement: “God’s response to the sinfulness and rebellion and brokenness of humanity was blessing.” The heart of the Gospel is that we have been loved so that we can be a blessing to the world. To be a blessing we must be willing to see, to speak well of, and to sacrifice in order to love our neighbor. Blessing is more than being nice. True blessing requires giving a part of ourselves for one another.
Kellye continued, “What we need most to carry out and participate in God’s mission is to be transformed. We need God’s eyes and God’s heart to be people out of whom the love of Christ flows naturally.” This happens when we actually practice loving and blessing, and when we practice disciplines that open our hearts and open our eyes. Kellye then led us in a practice of seeing and praying for the world in images.
This week, will you continue to practice this discipline? What images do you see on a regular basis, in the newspaper, on websites, or on Facebook? Will you make time to pray using the images you see? Will you also choose to be intentional about blessing someone? How will you see, speak well of, and sacrifice to love someone this week?
Let’s also continue to craft a description of the life we long for in our relationships with God, self, others, and the world. This handout will help you write a description of the life you desire. You can also find additional information on this journey including some examples of descriptions from the Practice Team here.
Our descriptions will be important this coming weekend as we launch Practice Tables. We will not be gathering in the chapel but will be meeting in homes throughout the area to share a meal and our personal descriptions of the lives we desire. If you are planning to gather some people together for a table, please let me know. I would love to support you in any way I can and learn from your experience. Also let me know if you would like some help getting connected to a table. We don’t want anyone to be left out, so we would love to help you get connected. If you are hosting or want help getting connected, please send me an email.
Have a blessed week!
Additional Resources:
[amazon text=Sacred Fire&asin=0804139148] by Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual formation book that includes a chapter on blessing (seeing, speaking well of, and sacrificing).
[amazon text=Sacred Rhythms&asin=0830833331] by Ruth Barton casts a beautiful vision for a rhythm of life.
[amazon text=Crafting a Rule of Life&asin=0830835644] by Stephen Macchia is a practical resource for building a rhythm of life.
[amazon text=God in My Everything&asin=0310499259] by Ken Shigematsu is another wonderful book about rhythms of life.
Being Disciples is a short read (and FREE!) about the role of the spiritual disciplines on this journey.
[amazon text=Spiritual Disciplines Handbook&asin=0830846050] by Adele Calhoun is the best and most comprehensive resource for individual disciplines around.
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