Skip to main content

Soul care

I recently discovered a website to help people develop sustainable practices in their spiritual life. One recent post by James Foster (on the website Renovare )talked about the reason this particular study appealed to me: 
"Spiritual practices are not something to be conquered. For those of us caught up in a long list of to-dos, soul care can be difficult and counterintuitive. The key is doing acts before God, as a movement of submission, as a little death to self and having our own way. The practicing of intentional spiritual disciplines trains our heart and mind into new habits, allowing God to enter into the ordinary and mundane. And while practical habits with how we spend our time will emerge, the real habits we are looking for is the fruit of the spirit. Where we become people who naturally live lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We become a people conformed and transformed into the image of Jesus Christ." Click here to read James Foster's full post on soul care on Renovare site
My prayer is that practicing spiritual disciplines we each become people of love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control towards all those placed in our lives, even ourselves.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holy Saturday

From Rachel Matthews - Today I have been chopping, measuring, mixing, cooking, mixing some more, kneading, baking, waiting, waiting, tasting, arranging, cleaning, preparing.....and preparing....for guests. It is what you do at a funeral. Either you are preparing to serve and comfort the bereaved or, as the bereaved, you are preparing to receive the community, the family, the loved ones to walk with you to the grave and back again. Holy Saturday feels like the days before a funeral. Suspended between death and life, you just carry on. You work, as usual, but not. That's what the women who loved the Rabbi were doing: preparing the spices, arranging the body (Christ's body), wrapping, loving and weeping, and waiting, and waiting and preparing....for guests. I am giddy thinking about the surprise that awaited them - the Guest!! And, I am giddy waiting for our guests to come to our home. My boys won't be here, so there is grief. I miss them so much. But, the new Amer...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on Lent and Deuteronomy

From David Bauer: Holy Solitude We learn a variety of ways that help us find solitude: fasting for a set time, changing a daily schedule, time out to be alone. In college I discovered there were times I did my best study by going to the busy student union. In the midst of the hubbub, I found meaningful inner space that helped me focus. In retirement I often get up at 5:00 a.m. to engage in biblical and theological study. I may ask myself: how does this idea or view help me better understand my faith? Why? Ok. Recently. I asked myself, who was King Josiah? (My dad used to talk about his Uncle Josiah who lived in Taylorville). King Josiah was said to be a good king among many who were not good in the time after King David and King Solomon. Yes, people went through the rituals of religion but had little heart or understanding. Selfish and idolatrous behavior was all over the place. Anyway, King Josiah decided to have a fund drive to raise money to repair the temple in Jerusalem. Work...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sound of Sheer Silence

If you google "Sound of sheer silence" you will find our passage for today. Today’s scripture is 1 Kings 19:11-13. The passage is set after Elijah had killed the prophets of Baal then fled for 40 days in the desert. I cannot fathom what it was like for Elijah. He had defended God, shown God’s power by killing all the prophets of Baal, shed so much blood, and the dramatic calling down of fire from heaven to burn the soaking wet offering to Baal. Terrified that Queen Jezebel would have him murdered, Elijah left to seek God’s presence, but first he had to get to God’s holy mountain, on the other side of the desert. That desert comes up again.   The desert is a place of great beauty (as one of you shared with me this week) and terrible danger; people die of exposure and dehydration in deserts. Elijah must have been completely spent by the time he reached the holy mountain. Once there, Elijah felt confident that on this holy mountain, he would hear what God had to say to h...
1 comment
Read more