Living Unhurried #37

Listen to this BBC debate on Sabbath.
What strikes you - what might you want to do/not do to capture the commodity of time in your relationships this week?



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Living Unhurried #36

I find it ironic that our culture has both a lust for safety/security as well as for busyness - because often when when we are in a hurry, we are less safe. For instance, consider your driving habits when you're late for an appointment. Do you dash in and out of traffic - take a few more risks than you would otherwise? Just yesterday a person, with young kids in the back seat, no less, cut across 2 lanes of traffic to turn right in front of me. Apparently my blinker was considered merely as nice car bling.

• When we live hurried we don't eat as well as we'd like - choosing fast and convenient over leisurely and nutritious.
• When we live hurried, we overtax our schedules and suffer from sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
• When we live hurried, we settle for shallow social connection vs. long, lingering fellowship - and complain about loneliness.

In what ways is your hurriedness threatening your life/health?
What might God be inviting you toward?

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Living Unhurried #35 - Celebrate!

We celebrate things like birthdays, anniversaries and sports team victories.

 Are you too hurried to enjoy the life God is giving? 

Consider thanking Him by partying well!

I do not celebrate life enough because, well, I'm too busy and often, I try to make the celebration way too elaborate. Consider these questions and respond with whatever wells up in your heart to do or say!

• When was the last time you celebrated something or someone?
• What was a favorite celebration in your life? Describe what made that celebration memorable. What does that say about your needs in regard to celebrating well?
• What keeps you from celebrating life, friends, self, God, and loved ones?
• What needs a little celebration in your heart and life?
• Even if it is only for a half hour, plan to celebrate something profound (or seemingly ridiculous) next week. Take a walk, go dancing, bake your favorite cake, uncork some bubbly, laugh, fingerpaint a card and give it to your kid (or a kid at heart) - and celebrate, at the minimum, that you are Loved! 

And let me know what you celebrated!

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Living Unhurried #34

At lunch today, think of a person (or persons) who inspire you - they could be historical figures or contemporaries - personal acquaintances, or people who you've admired from afar. For 5 minutes, list out what inspires you about their life/lives? What have they chosen to do (and not to do) that has earned your respect?

With open hands, sit silently and listen to God's responses to these questions:

• "How does this connect to my heart and life?"  
• "What are you inviting me toward?"

Note: If self-condemnation or jealousy from comparison arises, ask God to reveal to you how He sees you and loves you. And remember, a condemning voice is not from God (Rom 8:1)


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Living Unhurried #33

"The Christian with depth

is the person who has failed 

and learned to live with his failure." 

~Brennan Manning in Souvenirs of Solitude

Agree or disagree with this quote? Why or why not?

When you hear the word failure - what does it conjure up in your soul? Do you feel tension somewhere in your body? Do you remember an earlier event or circumstance where you failed and maybe, perhaps, even felt shame? Who would you most hate to be seen as?

Brennan says that we often are blocked toward moving toward some of the most important things in life (esp. love -whether of God, self or others) because of our fear of failure.

Sometime today, create some space to journal or think about this:

• What very important thing (loving God, self or others) might you be avoiding for fear of failure? 
• How does being hurried (busy) distract you from attending to the most important things?
• Would you characterize your faith as being shallow or deep? (shallow=not accepting weakness, failure, brokenness; deep = accepting weakness, failure, brokenness in the light of God's love)
• How would you love this week if you knew you could not fail?
• How might you create space to attend to loving God, self or other this week?

"What the world longs for from the Christian faith

is the witness of men and women daring enough to be different, 

humble enough to make mistakes, 

wild enough to be burnt in the fire of love, 

real enough to make others see how unreal they are. 

So Jesus, let Your word not shine in our hearts but let it burn. 

Let there be no division, compromise or holding back...

goad us to that daredevil leap into the abyss of Your Love..."

~Brennan

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Living Unhurried #32

"To truly know love, 

we must receive it in an undefended state - 

in the vulnerability of a 'just as I am' encounter."

~David Benner in The Gift of Being Yourself

Tonight before bed, replay the encounters of your day - asking God to reveal to you the encounters in your day where you displayed defensiveness - it may occur while driving, while interacting with another person, maybe even within yourself or with God. 

Once you have one scene in mind, ask God to reveal to you what is beneath your defensiveness - what are you afraid of? What are you trying to protect?What unresolved conflict might there be lingering in your soul?

Read Psalm 23 - Imagine God, your Shepherd, in that scene of defensiveness: this time, He is leading you, renewing you, guiding you with staff and rod, and pursuing you in love. What happens to your defensiveness as you encounter His Shepherding?

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Living Unhurried #31

Take 10 minutes today and listen to this song by Misty Edwards. Then pray a prayer of response - \

• what part of the song strikes you? 
• Does it echo your prayers in any way? 
• In what ways do you neglect your heart? His heart?
• Pray that God will open your heart to trust His love.

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Living Unhurried #30

"When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.
Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be."
~ Henri Nouwen

• Would you describe yourself as "interiorly free"? Why or why not?
• As you open doors today (car, house, bathroom etc) pray that God will open your heart toward this interior freedom.

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Living Unhurried #29

Over the weekend, take a stroll and think about, "As what kind of person do I want to be remembered?" Make a list -
How are you ordering your life to be that kind of a person? What might need to be different for you to see more of that now in the present tense?

Who might you share this with?

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Living Unhurried #28

"Here's the great danger: When the present tense disappears in your life, so does the manna. The mysterious, life-giving blessed grace of God only comes in the day you have. If you miss that daydreaming about the future of longing for the past, your soul will never find its only source of nurture and you'll never survive the journey. Without the ability to see what God is doing today you are always anxious, never at home, and thus never joyful."
Craig Barnes in Searching for Home, 118.

Describe the last time you were able to be fully present with yourself, God or another? 
What keeps you from being present?

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Living Unhurried #27 - the only "rushing" that's allowed

 St. Gertrude of Helfta (late 1200s) directed her followers:


"In the evenings, rush into the embrace of ... Jesus, your lover and cling to a kiss of his amorous heart."


What is your first reaction when you read this? (What emotions does it elicit? Does it draw your or repel you?)


Describe a time you've wanted to rush to greet someone you love.  Pay attention to how you feel as you think about that time.

What might it look like to "rush into the embrace" of Jesus - to cling to his love? 

Every evening - rush into His embrace - unhurriedly recounting how He has "kissed" you throughout the day.

This is the only "rushing" that is allowed :)

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Living Unhurried #26

A little Monday morning meditation - at noon today, look at your schedule/calendar/week...is there any time for "self-tending" this week? What do you need so that you can be filled up and flow out to others? A nap? Exercise? to say "no" to someone's invitation? To say "yes" to someone's invitation? To have a seemingly frivolous evening doing something you enjoy?

How might doing one thing to tend to your own soul help you make better choices in your life/schedule/relationships overall?

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Living Unhurried #25

Over the weekend write someone a hand-written letter of appreciation - yes, the old fashioned way - using a pen and some paper. As you put it in the envelope to mail or hand to the recipient, say a prayer of blessing for them...that God would continue to write His story upon your friend's heart.

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Living Unhurried #24 - fashionable sleeping bag for your iPhone!

Yup - that's right! The folks at www.sabbathmanifesto.org have created a sleeping bag for your iPhone - sort of a fun little reminder to help us live a little less hurried. I love the idea!

What other technology in your life might need a sleeping bag? TV? Computer? wi-fi modem? Kindle? Nook?

Surely I won't suggest one for any of you playing with a new iPad toy!

Maybe tonight, tuck in your technology, light a candle, and write a letter to God about what's going on in your life and heart. Pay attention to how you feel and what is going on in your soul - are you anxious? Hopeful? Have unanswered questions? Fears? Angry? Tell Him - He's big enough to take it on and be with you in the midst.

Blessings

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Living Unhurried #23

Cook something from scratch this week - no boxes, mixes, frozen or microwaves. Fresh ingredients, thoughtfully prepared. As you work, pay attention to your heart anxieties and/or calming. Try to incorporate at least one "scratch" cooking/baking day per week and share with others!

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Living Unhurried #22

We have become slaves to the fast, the quick, the convenient. Pay attention to ads today (tv, radio, billboards, internet, stores etc) - what values are being heralded?

Take 10 minutes at the end of your day to ask the Lord: "In what ways did I succumb to and/or justify rushing the present to get to the future? Lord, what am I missing?"

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Living Unhurried #21 - "Power down and live in the present tense"

Maybe a good way to Sabbath once a week - can you do it? What makes it difficult for you to unplug?

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Living Unhurried #20

There is a deep need for soul care - especially among the ones who are leading us spiritually! Being less hurried is NOT so much about not doing anything - as much as it is about living in the present (and being present with others), paying attention to the compulsions underlying our drivenness and asking God with what He might be inviting us to join Him.

Take 5 minutes and read this article in Christianity today online.

Then take another minute of silence and prayerfully lift up your spiritual leader(s) - How might you encourage your spiritual leadership to care for their soul?

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Living Unhurried #19

Living Unhurried #19 - Good Friday: Take a few moments to imagine yourself in the scene of watching Jesus, carrying his cross, on the way to die. What is it you'd like to say to Him?

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Living Unhurried #18

Living Unhurried #18 - If you end up lingering with people longer than you expected and cannot get to this tip (or other things on your to-do list), then celebrate - you've chosen well!

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