On our way to Rocky Gap lodge
Monday, June 19, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Balancing: Not Just For Check Books and Acrobats
Inspired by another blog…
I have been hemming and hawing for some time now about setting time aside specifically devoted to solitude, contemplation, quiet time, call it what you will. If you’ve known me for long enough you’ve probably heard my thoughts on the relationship between solitude and community. For that matter if you’ve read Bonhoeffer’s Life Together or Foster’s Celebration of Discipline you probably already know my thoughts on the subject. If none of the above apply to you, or you just need a quick refresher…
It seems that solitude and community work together as one machine (like a lock and key as Lewis would probably say). Spending all one’s time in solitude is unhealthy, just as the same applies to time spent in community. Time spent in community is made richer and more meaningful when it follows time spent in solitude. Time spent in solitude is dangerous when not balanced with time in community. Lastly, it should be clarified that by solitude I do not mean time in front of a tv or asleep, but time spent reading, praying, writing, and contemplating God and life. Similarly, by time in community I do not mean sitting shoulder to shoulder at a bar starring at the liquor bottles while steadily draining a bourbon on the rocks, but rather time talking to others, sharing with others, learning about others and loving others, serving them where possible.
Since most of my time recently has been spent in community, hopefully more the positive kind of community than the negative, I realize that I need to restore that equilibrium with more time in solitude. As I look at the scripture reading I have not been doing, the conversations I haven't had with Abba, or simply the utter lack of reflective writing I’ve done, I see someone who is seriously drying up. I thank God he has shown me this before the creek is dry, but I know that is the logical destination unless I act.
So for now I’m setting aside Tuesday evenings as a time to go home, get out some good books, a notebook or two, and make sure I meditate on all those things that mean most to me in life. It's a measley way to start, but it's something and hopefully it will lead to an increased appetite for more solitude.
Question for the moment:
What do you value most in life? What do you make sure you set aside time for? If these don’t match up, why and what are you going to do about it?
You Have Redeemed My Soul (100 Portraits & Water Deep, Enter the Worship Circle)
You have redeemed my soul
From the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul
From death
I was a hungry child
A dried up river
I was a burned out forest
And no one could do anything for me
But you put food in my body
Water in my dry bed
And to my blackened branches
you brought the springtime green of new life
And nothing is impossible for you
I have been hemming and hawing for some time now about setting time aside specifically devoted to solitude, contemplation, quiet time, call it what you will. If you’ve known me for long enough you’ve probably heard my thoughts on the relationship between solitude and community. For that matter if you’ve read Bonhoeffer’s Life Together or Foster’s Celebration of Discipline you probably already know my thoughts on the subject. If none of the above apply to you, or you just need a quick refresher…
It seems that solitude and community work together as one machine (like a lock and key as Lewis would probably say). Spending all one’s time in solitude is unhealthy, just as the same applies to time spent in community. Time spent in community is made richer and more meaningful when it follows time spent in solitude. Time spent in solitude is dangerous when not balanced with time in community. Lastly, it should be clarified that by solitude I do not mean time in front of a tv or asleep, but time spent reading, praying, writing, and contemplating God and life. Similarly, by time in community I do not mean sitting shoulder to shoulder at a bar starring at the liquor bottles while steadily draining a bourbon on the rocks, but rather time talking to others, sharing with others, learning about others and loving others, serving them where possible.
Since most of my time recently has been spent in community, hopefully more the positive kind of community than the negative, I realize that I need to restore that equilibrium with more time in solitude. As I look at the scripture reading I have not been doing, the conversations I haven't had with Abba, or simply the utter lack of reflective writing I’ve done, I see someone who is seriously drying up. I thank God he has shown me this before the creek is dry, but I know that is the logical destination unless I act.
So for now I’m setting aside Tuesday evenings as a time to go home, get out some good books, a notebook or two, and make sure I meditate on all those things that mean most to me in life. It's a measley way to start, but it's something and hopefully it will lead to an increased appetite for more solitude.
Question for the moment:
What do you value most in life? What do you make sure you set aside time for? If these don’t match up, why and what are you going to do about it?
You Have Redeemed My Soul (100 Portraits & Water Deep, Enter the Worship Circle)
You have redeemed my soul
From the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul
From death
I was a hungry child
A dried up river
I was a burned out forest
And no one could do anything for me
But you put food in my body
Water in my dry bed
And to my blackened branches
you brought the springtime green of new life
And nothing is impossible for you
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