Category: Spiritual Disciplines
A Quiet Transformation
“Mom! He’s in our lane!” Even before my daughter screamed the words, I saw him coming, crossing over into my lane of traffic. We were traveling the 60 miles an hour speed limit on a two-lane country road. “I know, I see him,” were all the words I could get out. The mind is an ...
A Portable Sanctuary
As we continue in our practice of silence and solitude, over time we begin to discover even our solitude begins to be transformed. In solitude where we create space to attune our hearts to the voice of God, where we confront our driven souls, and stay present to the work of the Holy Spirit in ...
Thoughts on Solitude
Today I thought I'd post what others have to say about the practice of solitude: “The invitation to solitude and silence is just that. It is an invitation to enter more deeply into the intimacy of relationship with the One who waits just outside the noise and busyness of our lives. It is an invitation ...
A Quiet Gift of Grace
“Solitude eventually offers a quiet gift of grace, a gift that comes whenever we are able to face ourselves honestly; the gift of acceptance, of compassion, for who we are, as we are. As we allow ourselves to be known in solitude, we discover that we are known by love. Beyond the pain of self-discovery ...
The Surprising Rewards of Silence
I continue my thoughts on the spiritual practices of silence and solitude. Today's post comes from an article written for NavPress by Tim Stafford. I thought he said it better than I could. The Surprising Rewards of Silence Why are we afraid to be quiet before God? By Tim Stafford Ever stop to think why ...
My Journey into Solitude
Over the next several days I want to share some thoughts on the spiritual practice of silence and solitude. When you mention either of these disciplines out loud, you get a variety of, often strong, responses. The type A personality sees it as a waste of time. “You mean you don’t DO anything?” The Relational ...
Clearings
One of the not-often recognized benefits of the spiritual disciplines is that they create space in our lives for God to do what only he can do. We cannot force ourselves to grow spiritually but the disciplines create a “clearing” (more needed than we realize) whereby we am able to pay attention and respond to the activity of God in ...
I am Most Alive When…
What I’ve discovered about practicing the spiritual disciplines is that they are a lot like riding on the back of my husband’s motorcycle. (Stay with me here.) The reason I love riding is because all of my senses are engaged. I not only see everything around me clear and up close (even the road kill…yuk!) ...
For Want of Rest
How many times a day do you hear (or say yourself), “I am so busy…” It is the sigh of our day. We say this to one another with no small degree of pride, as if our exhaustion were a trophy, as if our ability to buck up under stress is a mark of real ...
Leading With Our Ears
"Incline your ear, and come to me," says God in Isaiah 55:3. "Listen, so that you may live." At one time part of my job required me to sit through a four hour presentation on verbal S.W.A.T. The focus centered on active listening techniques. Active listening was presented as the solution to diffuse potentially dangerous ...
Gail Johnsen 