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Over at Revgals Jan says: There is a dramatic and surprising venue for Spiritual Formation/Sunday School classes at my church: Each week a different person teaches about a "word" that expresses his/her passion or interest. The first week someone spoke about "hospitality" with abundant treats on her mother and grandmother's china arrayed on tables. Other words have been "connectivity," "Trinity," "money," and "dreams." No one knows which person will be teaching until the class convenes. I am teaching this Sunday and plan to talk about "stirrings."
For this Friday Five, please list five words that identify your passions, spirituality, and/or life. Describe as much or as little as you like:
- Love: this is one of the most misunderstood and abused words in the world, too often it lacks depth and becomes sugar coated. Soap Operas so often confuse love with lust, trashy novels do the same; the three little words that we are taught to long to hear can be used to manipulate and control, and yet love , real love is awesome and awe inspiring...
For: Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)
And so: My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3: 14-19)
2. Prayer: what do we mean by prayer, too often I think we beat ourselves up about praying, we feel that we are no good at it, we tie ourselves in knots about it, and we don't allow ourselves the freedom to simply be prayerful. I believe being prayerful is being conscious of being in God's presence, that we don't have to use correct words or phrases, that to say to someone I will pray for you is in effect a prayer itself, a name or an event that crosses our mind and cause us to turn our thoughts heavenward is a prayer. An appreciation of creation and an inner acknowledgment of the Creator is a prayer, simple thankfulness is a prayer, so is a shared tear, laugh, or love...
Yes there are times for confession and intercession, for deeper prayer, but lets stop beating ourselves up about it, and live prayerfully in company with the one who calls us to live freely and lightly!
3. Body: see this post
4. Communion- I said it here, and it created quite a discussion...
5. Commitment- in some ways this is an echo of love, for real love calls for commitment which is so often treated as an ugly word today! I guess I am thinking about this on several levels, not least because Tim and I are celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary this weekend. When we got married people weren't hopeful that we would last- one estimate was 6 months, but love and prayer have pulled us through the downs, and we celebrate that along with the ups!
Discipleship too requires commitment, it is not popular to speak of verses such as Luke 9:62:
Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."
or more traditionally:
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Tough words- maybe- but perhaps it is when we truly have something to commit to that we are able to make a real commitment!
