Spirituality and Death

Jared Byas recently continued our conversations on spirituality by leading a discussion on Death & Spirituality

Some of the questions we considered were:

1. How often do you think about death? (Others and your own?)
   
2. Heidegger calls coming to terms with your own death a step towards true “Authenticity”. How is this the case?
   
3. “I affirm brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily…I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (St. Paul)
   
   What does Paul mean by this?
   
   Is this supposed to be the norm for Christians? How so?
   
   “I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after the wind…Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me…He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. This also is a grievous evil – exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?” (Qohelet)

Reflections: 15 March 2007

As I feel the hunger in my soul for relationship and know that only Almighty God can ultimately fulfill that longing, I understand in a renewed way that intimate relationship with the Holy Being of God is an exercise of faith and trust. At this point in infinite time, our Lord communicates with us in ways other than physical presence or verbal interaction. I communicate with Him through prayer and meditation. I live my life as an offering of gratitude for what He has done for me. But I still long to be wrapped in His infinitely strong arms, hear words of supreme encouragement, and look into His eyes and see love and approval there. Do any of you share this longing?

Recently, a pastor-friend was commenting that relationships are built on openness and trust. I was considering how this applies to my relationship with my Lord. It's almost laughable how many times I'm afraid for God to see my true feelings.. The ultimate joke is that He already knows everything I feel and think far deeper that I even feel or comprehend them myself! I can see God smiling a very knowing smile at my childish foolishness.

May I encourage all of you, all of us together, to be totally open and honest with our precious Savior? We don't need to hide in shame anymore. Because of Christ's total justification of our souls, we can come boldly and in total acceptance before God's throne. He is there; He longs for us to come to Him.

Please be encouraged this day in Him.

Lease ending in April

I just wanted to post to say that I am either looking to move in April or around then to a place that is cheap and will accept LARGE pets. Or I will be looking for a roomate to share my rent with me at the place I live currently. If anyone knows anyone, let me know. And a sidenote for those of you who don't know how OCD, and anul retentive I am. Lets just say it will be hard to find a good roomate!

Reflections: 14 March 2007

You have valued us so much that you call us friends;
You have shared your eternal inheritance with us!
What an undeserved privilege that is.
We fall at your feet in overwhelming gratitude.
You are our Hope, our Life, our Reason for Living.
May all that we do and say this week convey this message
of gratitude and love to those around us. May You be glorified...
may You be magnified. May the pressures, stresses,
and concerns of our lives flow from us like water
to be mingled with the Living Water that refreshes, nourishes, and strengthens...

Now and forever, Amen.

Reflections: 13 March 2007

Hear, O children of the Living God:
The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
We shall have no other gods before Him.
We shall love the LORD our God with all of our hearts,
with all of our souls,
with all of our strength,
and with all of our minds.
We shall love our neighbors as ourselves...

Holy, holy, holy, LORD of Heaven and Earth,
we offer Your Word back to You this day,
asking that we would fulfill your commands
for us to cherish You as our First Love.
May we shine your light to those around us today
and may Your Light penetrate to all of the hearts, souls, and minds
of those You touch through us.

Precious Savior,
we thank You for holding our hands,
for carrying us,
for dying for us that we might
journey toward You forever.

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Spirituality in Community

Tuesday, 12 March 2007

Our conversation on spirituality, led by Darryl Lang, continued with the theme:
Spirituality in Community

Imagine that you’re a seeker, a refugee, have suffered abuse and you’ve been invited to stay at a monastic community.

What would you experience?

1. You would meet a porter…
   (his chief role is to welcome guests and introduce them to the rest of the community).
2. The abbot and everyone else will welcome you with “all courtesy of love”.
3. The abbot would gently ask what prompted your visit (ministry of conversation); he would read Scripture with you, offer prayer and extend the kiss of peace.
4. The abbot would wash your feet, show you to a guesthouse, which would be managed by a caring brother who would give you bedding.
5. You would be included at the abbot’s table at meals (if the abbotwas fasting, he would break the fast because ministry to guests was most important).

Benedictine Rule #53
All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ,
for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Discussion Questions

1. How compelling is this portrait of spiritual community for you?
2. Are there parallels between how the monastic community welcomes strangers and how Living Room might do the same? If so, what are they?
3. How can we together determine how to function as a spiritual community?
4. How do we know that we are grasping the concept of a successful community?

“Welcome is one of the signs that a community is alive.
To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren’t afraid,
that we have a treasure of truth and a peace to share.”
“A community which refuses to welcome — whether through fear,
weariness, insecurity, a desire to cling to comfort, or just because it is
fed up with visitors — is dying spiritually.”
~ Jean Vanier

The discussion continued along the vein of : Spirituality in Suffering

Scripture references:
For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. ~Philippians 1:29

Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will
suffer persecution.
~II Timothy 3:12

For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment.... But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[a] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
~I Peter 2:19–21

Suffering affects people’s relationship with themselves.”…[In suffering] all the dross goes; the ambitions, love of money, vanity about appearance, everything that sets us above others in our own mind. Suffering purges everything that is not central to life.”
Suffering teaches us the absolute limit of our abilities and unites us with others going through similar circumstances, as well.


“The early Christians gladly accepted suffering because they longed, like all people of God, to see God face to face. They also longed for any foretaste of that full and personal intimacy. In suffering they came into fellowship with Jesus in a deeply personal way.”
[Acts 7: 54-56]


Suffering and Doubt

“Every morning you should wake up in your bed and ask yourself: ‘Can I believe it all again today?’…. At least five times out of ten the answer should be, ‘No,’ because the ‘No’ is as important as the ‘Yes,’ maybe more so.”
~Frederick Buechner

Life Journeys in Spirituality

Sunday, 11 March 2007

Our Living Room Community has been spending some Sunday evenings this winter conversing about spirituality. We've been reflecting on the thoughts of some sages from many different generations such as Søren Kierkegaard, Henri Nouwen, Frederick Buechner, Thomas Merton, N. T. Wright, Robert Webber, Mike Yaconelli and Tim Stafford.

Our first session was entitled: Spirituality: For “Ordinaries” Consider these thoughts...

“Everywhere I look on the cruise ship of Christianity, I see crews of instructors, teachers, experts and gurus eager to explain God’s plan for the placement of my deck chair, but I still can’t even unfold it…. When I compare my life with the experts, ‘I feel sloppy, unkempt and messy in the midst of immaculately dressed saints’…AND I’M A MINISTER.”
~ Mike Yaconelli

Why people might be interested in spirituality — and they’re not all Christians:

• Religion is making a huge comeback
• Materialism didn’t quite deliver what was promised
• We’re “hard wired” to things not material [see Romans 1]

“If anything like the Christian story is, in fact true, (in other words, if there is a God who we can know most clearly in Jesus), this [spiritual] interest is exactly what we should expect, because in Jesus we glimpse a God who loves people and wants them to know and respond to that love.” ~ N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham

A Definition of Spirituality
…A real and renewed sense of knowing and experiencing the intimate presence of God the Father through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

Themes to keep in mind:

1. Spirituality is not for the elite (we are already spiritual!)
[see Romans 5]

…Jesus is our spirituality. It is his life, death and resurrection that makes us acceptable to God. We cannot love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, but Jesus can and has. We cannot love our neighbor as ourselves, but Jesus can and has. It is Christ, therefore, who presents us to the Father, and it is because of him and through him and in him that we are spiritual…Spirituality begins with a profound trust in Christ.”
~ Robert Webber
2. Communal, not just individual
[see I Corinthians 12]

3. Comes through suffering

"Suffering may take the form of actual persecution…but suffering comes in many other forms, too: illness, depression, bereavement, moral dilemmas, poverty, tragedy, accidents and death.” ~ N. T. Wright

More material from other Living Room conversations on spirituality will be posted in the near future. You are welcome to join our dialogue either on-line or in person. Our goal is to share and live community for the glory of Jesus Christ.