Perhaps it is a quest to discover patterns, habits and rhythms of times long ago. Or perhaps it is a search for a more simplistic Christian Life.
If your life is anything like mine, the minute I wake up I am bombarded by other people's schedules, appointments and needs. I run around all day like a maniac - never actually living in the moment at any one time. Instead I am tossed around like the waves. Time and time again, God anchors me back down and asks in His ever so gentle way, "Connie, what are you doing? I miss you. Come and be with me." I am very good at doing. "Being" is something of a struggle!
How does this relate to Christian traditions?
What I have been discovering for the past few months is that my spirit is in search of a quiet place to commune with God. In all my hectic schedules and crazy running around, my inner person is crying out for a place of quiet, peace and calm. Places where I'd expect to find some centeredness, are instead places of never-ending "to-do" lists and busyness.
I can grab my Bible and a cup of coffee in the morning and head outside to my patio, just to discover the plants look thirsty, the dog needs to be fed and the cushions are dusty. In my task of getting the environment set, I discover I lost my precious-little valuable time and my day must march forward. Perhaps tomorrow I'll venture outside where it is quiet (well...except for morning traffic!) again. Day after day my routine goes. I often feel like Johnathan Wesley's wife and I just need to throw a dish cloth over my head for a few minutes of peace. Not so much to warn others that I am trying to find some quiet, but to close my senses off to all my to-do's and be still.
I've been reading a great book on finding new meanings in spiritual practices. It is not a theologically hard book to read by any means. Instead the author takes a typical 21 Century, American Christian and connects us back to traditions we were told had very little (if any) value left in them.
I sometimes feel like practices and routines that my parents ran from, are drawing me in. Not that the practices themselves are bad, or that they are necessarily good, but that my heart is searching for something that I can only find in tradition.
Tradition is a link to the past, a connection to God's greater vision. What I am discovering is not the importance of the "spiritual practice" but the heart behind it.
I know I am not alone in a life that demands my time and energy and leaves me feeling sapped and exhausted. Then to add any kind of crisis to an already stressed out life- takes away my peace in all circumstances for sure!
As this book states: "the contemporary archenemy of our peace is the frenetic pursuit of excitement and pleasure."
In a book called, "Thrilled to Death" the author makes the point that our endless pursuit of pleasure is actually leaving us numb!
In my reading and living day in and day out in my fast-moving world, what I have come to realize is that our world offers us only a busy, crazy, chaotic, high-paced life that keeps us at a constant "high." We have to remain hocked up on some form of caffeine (be it coffee or Red Bull) just to make our energy last through the day. This caffeine fix leaves us with restless nights and anxious thoughts. Where is the peace of that?
What is the cure for this cultural disease?
Peace.
Quiet.
Centeredness.
I would even argue these three ingredients are necessary for a healthy spiritual life.
So here I sit looking into spiritual practices like solitude, silence, singing doxology, following liturgy, scriptural reading, quiet preludes, Common Prayers and memorization of scripture. Do the practices themselves bring life? Of course not, only God is the giver of life. However, all the above traditions are so counter-cultural, it forces the participant to stop. It is like a jolt from a shock wave, waking us up out of slumber. Singing a doxology? Really?
But there in lies the beauty. Those traditions are so "not in," that our brains spit out a "does not compute" message which forces our intellect, emotions and spirits to come to a halting stop. Because the external noises stop, we discover a God-given peace that can carry us through thick and thin.
I don't know where this blog is going and I've probably rambled on too much. I sense God stirring up something and I am convinced I am not the only one who feels a dissatisfaction with life in general and the outcomes the world has to offer. If I am to represent Christ in my life, His Peace should be an overwhelming characteristic that defines me. Since it obviously does not- I must stop and ask what has happened. How did I get so far removed from the peace He offers and how can I get back in-step with Him?
These are questions I must face.
The search for peace is universal, just as much as it is universally lacking! Let us find our centeredness in Jesus. Rest in Him. Abide in His presence. Perhaps even get off caffeine and get back in touch with the rhythms of our bodies, the cycle of nature and explore "old-fashioned" spiritual practices that have the potential to connect us to God~ the giver of peace.
