SESSION 3 (2023)
LEG 1 (3/27-4/9)
READING
Introduction to a Journey by Robert Mulholland
Part 3: The Journey - Spiritual Disciplines
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Chapter 2: Making the Bed - Liturgy, Ritual, and What Forms a Life
PREPARING
Watch or listen to “When You Pray” from Matthew 6:5-15 from The Sermon on the Mount on June 6, 2021.
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
Describe your rhythm for the daily office (including time of day, location, etc) so far during this session. What is one challenge you have already observed and one change you would like to make in order for this to be a more regular rhythm?
Mulholland describes four stages on our journey of spiritual formation in Chapter 8 - awakening, purgation, illumination, and union. Which stage of the journey best describes where you find yourself currently in general? Spend time reflecting on his description of this stage and how it applies to you. Describe ways you are both encouraged by where you are and at the same time challenged to continue growing.
As you reflect on the current stage in your spiritual journey, what do you hear God inviting you to?
Is there a specific area in your life where you are aware of brokenness or “a life of anxious care” where God is calling you to greater wholeness and surrender to him?
Are you the kind of person who either avoids spiritual disciplines in general or becomes imprisoned by discipline? How might your response be related to your preference toward perception (P) or judgement (J)? How might this be hindering your relationship and intimacy with God, specifically when it comes to prayer and time with God in His Word?
Mulholland describes two classical (or personal) spiritual disciplines in Chapter 9 - prayer and reading of God’s Word. How are ways you have made these “doing for God” rather than “being with God”? What may have been your underlying intent or motive in “doing for God”, such as using them to win God’s favor or impress others?
Describe a time or season in your life where you found yourself more regularly communing with God in prayer and the Word. What may have been unique about this time in your life that promoted this as a more regular rhythm? How were you growing in your relationship with God as a result?
Mulholland writes in Chapter 10, “We tend to think of spiritual disciplines as something that we are doing to transform ourselves”. How might you be attempting to do the Spirit’s work through your practice of the spiritual disciplines? How can you being to invite the Spirit in and submit to His leading?
The practice of silence and solitude is foreign to many of us. How have you misunderstood these practices? What is your biggest barrier, challenge, or struggle with incorporating these as regular rhythms? What have you learned from the reading that you can being incorporating into the daily office?
LEG 2 (4/10-4/23)
READING
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Letters 6-10
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas
Chapter 1: Contemplative Rhythms for an Exhausted Life
Chapter 2: Deeply Formed Practices of Contemplative Rhythms
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
As you incorporate silence into your life through the daily office, what are you becoming increasingly aware of (hearing, sensing, feeling, thinking) during your opening and closing times of silence? What distractions come to mind? How are you responding to and quieting those distractions?
How would you describe the current pace of your life? Are you running on empty at a destructive pace, on the brink of burnout? What is it you are chasing? What is keeping you from living at a slower pace, in order to catch up to God as NT Wright suggested?
How much margin do you have built into your life - financially, emotionally, relationally, time, etc? What is keeping you from adding additional margin into your life? What demands come to mind? What pressures are weighing you down?
While not everyone is called to or able to live a monastic life, it remains somewhat intriguing (well, maybe not the middle of the night office). What aspects of this tradition resonate with you and why? How might you begin to incorporate them into your life? What aspects of this tradition might be difficult for you to embrace and/or practice?
In your journey of following Jesus, describe one or two spiritual practices or disciplines that have helped you remain connected to God.
Which of the practices described in the reading are you most interested in incorporating into your life and why? What might that first, next step look like? Where do you need help in taking this step?
This is less of a question and more of an exercise. Find a quiet place where you can set aside 60 minutes to commune with God in silence. No music. No reading. No phone. No distractions. No journal. Nothing but you and God. Feel free to walk. Then reflect on the experience afterwards in your journal - your senses, your emotions, your distractions, your awareness, your environment.
What does Sabbath currently look like for you? What would you like it to look like? What is one small sustainable step you can take towards this?
LEG 3 (4/24-5/7)
READING
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
Chapter 6: Discover the Rhythms of the Daily Office and Sabbath
Chapter 8: Go the Next Step to Develop a “Rule of Life”
Daniel 6
Acts 1-2
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
Fill in the blanks: What I am beginning to realize about God this week is _______. What I am beginning to realize about myself this week is _______. (EHS-WB, p34)
As you incorporate silence into your life through the daily office, what are you becoming increasingly aware of (hearing, sensing, feeling, thinking) during your opening and closing times of silence? What distractions come to mind? How are you responding to and quieting those distractions?
As you think about possibly incorporating a more formal sabbath into your life, think through the following questions: What do I need to stop that relates to my work or vocation? What activities create delight and rest for me? How can I structure my day to cultivate a greater awareness of God in my life and in the world?
How does a “day off” (the way you typically experience it) differ from sabbath? How are they similar?
How might you approach worshiping with your church family and serving on a Sunday morning differently when viewing this as a part of sabbath?
A Rule of Life is something I hope we gradually build and incorporate over time. In order to help us begin building this trellis, think through the four categories that Peter Scazzero used to incorporate twelve basic elements (you could also add additional elements such as gratitude, generosity, fasting, and hospitality) in Chapter 8 (EHS, p194): prayer, rest, work/activity, and relationships. For each category, think through what you are currently doing, or have done in the past, to nurture your relationship with Jesus - both those that have worked well and those that have not (indicate with a + or -). This is simply meant as a brain storming exercise. Feel free to come back and add to your list throughout this leg of the journey (or even after).
What new aspects might you want to consider adding, either that you have seen or heard others incorporate, that we have read about in The Way, or that you are simply curious about?
As you think through some of the aspects you have written down and thought of incorporating, go back and think about what their rhythm might be, either: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly (4x per year), bi-annually (2x per year), or annually (or any other such as 2x per month or every other week for something that might for example be connected to when you are paid).
Reflect on the following questions regarding Daniel 6 and Acts 1-2, writing in your journal (EHS-WB, p83-84, 114-115):
Read Daniel 6:10 aloud. How do the words in this verse speak to you? How do you think this practice anchored Daniel in God and enabled him to remain faithful while under great pressures?
What spiritual practices stood out to you from the early church in Acts 1-2? How were they practiced? Where were they practiced? Who were they practiced with?
PUBLISHED: Sunday, March 19th, at 6:17PM
UPDATED: TBD