Willing to live in the questions...

“To be a Christian does not mean knowing all the answers; 

to be a Christian means being willing to live 

in the part of the self where the question is born.”

Wendy M. Wright (words spoken to her by a Trappist retreat master – in her book: The Vigil: Keeping Watch in the Season of Christ’s Coming"

As you enter into this Advent season do you have unanswered questions and longings?

You're not alone.

I'm pretty sure unwed and pregnant Mary, as she traveled with Joseph from Nazareth toward Bethlehem by decree of the Roman census, didn't have a lot of answers. And when it came time for them to have the baby and they were far from home and family and all that was familiar to them, finding only a smelly stable for shelter, I'm sure they had a lot of stressful and urgent questions. And when the shepherds, led by a glorious pronouncement from a choir of Heavenly Hosts showed up after Jesus' birth to see this spectacle...I'm sure Mary and Joseph were not a little curious about all that was unfolding before their eyes.

We don't hear the questions - but Luke tells us of Mary's response:

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

Mary, it seems, had the ability to capture the moments, unanswerable questions and all, and make space in her heart to ponder all that was being given. She didn't rush past it. She didn't demand (or run to google) the answers. She didn't fast-forward to the future to figure out how to manage and find solutions to their current predicament.

The Greek word for "pondered" is sumballo - "or to give careful consideration to various implications of an issue—‘to reflect on, to think about seriously, to think deeply about.'" Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible societies, 1996), 349.

The Greek word for "treasured" is suntereo - it means to cause oneself to be continuously fully aware of, guard, keep in mind, preserve. 

To be a follower of Christ does not mean we necessarily have all (or many) of the answers...but it is an invitation to do what it takes to intentionally "cause oneself to be continuously aware," to capture life's moments and make space in our hearts and our days to live into the mysterious, inward crevices of our lives from where our deepest questions are birthed.

As you enter into this Holyday season, what are some of your deeper questions in life?

Now listen more deeply: Ask, "Lord, what do these unanswered questions say about my heart? My soul? My longings? My needs?"

Advent is a season which invites us to expectantly ponder, treasure, and live into the deeper places from whence our questions are formed. Whether or not you find answers, may you find a peace that passes all understanding as you cause yourself to be continuously aware this season...

Mary - truly a patron saint for the unhurryupians!

UnhurryUp!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Advent - a messy season

Below are some thoughts that my pastor, Jeremy Erb, delivered for the first Sunday of Advent. His sermon series during these next weeks is entitled: "Messy" - you can listen in here. I've also copied the notes that Jeremy included with his text.

Matthew begins by introducing his gospel as “the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.” I imagine most people skip over a very vital piece of information in those eight words. This is a result of a common misunderstanding about the word Christ. To our culture and to our ears this means that Jesus is his first name and that Christ is his last name. His name is Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, that is not how the Hebrews did things. Christ is not the last name of Jesus – rather, it is a very important title that tells us significant things about Jesus.

The word Christ is an English transliteration of a Greek noun – the word christos. It literally means “the anointed one.” It is also the word used to translate the Hebrew word meshica, from which we get Messiah, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. Thus, both of the English terms Christ and Messiah have the same source in Greek – christos. They both mean “the anointed one” and they both refer to a King.

So Matthew introduces his main character Jesus by announcing he is the Christ – the Messiah – the anointed one of God. He then proceeds to prove this claim by demonstrating Jesus’ right to Kingship genealogically. He simply states that Jesus is both the “Son of David” and the “Son of Abraham.” Well, so what? What is the significance of the fact that Jesus can claim both David and Abraham as His ancestors? In order to answer this question we have to go back, way back in the Old Testament and get an understanding of God’s plan to deal with sin. We just did this in our study of Galatians and I’m sure we’ll do it again in the future because this is the big picture of the bible that we have got to understand.

When Adam and Eve fell in the garden and sin entered into the human experience – God had some things to say. We call it the curse. Mankind was cursed because of their willful choice of disobedience. Yet in the middle of the curse God offers a glimpse of the future and with it a promise. In GENESIS 3:15 God declares that there will be a cosmic conflict lived out in the descendants of Adam and Eve. It reads, “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman (Eve) and between you offspring (seed) and her offspring (seed); He (the seed) shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Here in the vaguest of terms God promises a redeemer – a coming ‘seed’ that will end the conflict started in the garden between mankind and Satan, which is ultimately a struggle between man and God.

In one sense, the rest of scripture is the unfolding historical reality of God progressively fulfilling this promise in GENESIS 3:15. If you keep reading in Genesis, Cain and Abel are the first representatives of the seeds but not the fulfillment. (See I JOHN 3:10-12, HEBREWS 11:4, and JUDE 8-11.) Next the conflict arises between Noah and the Nephilim and so on…but that’s another sermon.

A. SON OF ABRAHAM

However, when we get to GENESIS 12 God does something decisively different. When choosing Abraham, God promises to him a seed that will bring blessing to every nation of the earth. Israel, God’s chosen people would become God’s breeding stock of THE SEED. The promises issued to Abraham are found in GENESIS 12-22. Here are the essentials:

¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)

¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸ and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Genesis 22:17-18 (ESV)

Notice specifically that last reference in GENESIS 22:18. Abraham is promised a seed, singular, by which all the nations will be blessed. Paul picks up on this and says in GALATIANS 3:16: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” So when Matthew records that Jesus is the Christ, son of Abraham, he’s not messing around – he’s saying something. He is saying that Jesus is anointed one of God.

B. SON OF DAVID

Matthew continues by tracing Christ’s lineage to King David. After Abraham, God continued his plan of bringing about the seed. God’s next major promise regarding the seed is made to the man described as ‘a man after God’s own heart.’ Let’s look at what God promised David.

¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:12-13 (ESV)

First the seed is promised to Abraham and then God promises that it will come from the line of David. One of David’s seed, being also the seed of Abraham, will be the eternal mediator and ruler of God’s Kingdom. So when Matthew declares Jesus to be the Son of David, Son of Abraham he is backing up his claim that Jesus is the Christ – the anointed King and promised seed of God.

This is just a brief overview of how the scriptures demonstrate that Jesus is God’s anointed King. Jesus is the long awaited hope of the entire world. He is the seed that was promised in the garden that would crush the head of Satan and reconcile mankind to the Creator. Jesus is the hinge-point of history – God’s exclamation point to both His mercy and His justice. Jesus is the Christ – the anointed King of God’s Kingdom and truly the heir of promise and I have one question for you: “So what?”

So what? I mean it – can we be honest for a minute with each other? So – freaking – what? To be honest, this is the kind of abstract truth that in one sense drove me from the church when I was younger. It’s interesting intellectually but does little for my heart and is almost completely irrelevant to the realities of my day-to-day life. I can appreciate the fact that Jesus is the anointed King of God – the promised seed – even the Redeemer and Reconciler of man to God – I can appreciate these truths as factual realities; but…

I can’t relate to a King. The fact that Jesus is the seed promised from the very beginning does nothing to help me in my daily struggles with sin. I want to do more than know truth – I need to experience it. The reality of what God did in the past through Christ is only important to me as much as it impacts me now in the here and now. And I can’t relate to Abraham or David. I’m NOT a great man of faith and I’m certainly not a king and I would never describe myself as ‘a man after God’s own heart.’ I’d love to be – I just don’t think that I am. And if you ask my wife – please don’t – I’m sure she’ll confirm it.

Thankfully, there is more to this passage than simply the Kingship of Christ. For the genealogy continues and Matthew does something very strange for a Jewish historian – he includes women within the genealogy. Israel was a patriarchal society and lineage was traced through the men so why would Matthew include the names of five women? 

The first name to be included that shouldn’t have been is in verse three – Tamar.

A. TAMAR (1:3)

Genesis 38 contains the tragic story of Tamar. A woman whose life didn’t turn out the way she expected. She married Judah’s son Er, a man so evil in the sight of the LORD that God took his life. Left widowed and alone, Judah married her to his next son Onan so that she might be provided for and Er’s name might live on. Onan, an evil man as well, refused to fulfill his obligation and deliberately ‘spilled his seed,’ leaving Tamar barren. The LORD took Onan’s life as well.

Left widowed and alone for a second time, Tamar is told to wait for Judah’s next son Shelah to grow up. After years of waiting, when it becomes apparent that Judah will not fulfill his obligation she resorts to prostituting herself and becoming pregnant by Judah himself. She was a lonely, desperate woman who resorted to deceit and prostitution to survive.

B. RAHAB (1:5)

When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, their first battle was with the people of Jericho. Joshua 2 contains the story of Rahab. She was a pagan, not a descendant of Abraham who did not know or worship the true God. Most likely she was an idol worshipper. But she had heard of the God of Israel and what she heard made her afraid.

Now Rahab did come to faith and I’ve thought long and hard about her character. I’ve heard many sermons trying to defend her actions but what I see is this. She betrayed her own people, lied to her King, and bargained for her own life at the price of others. She was a weak, cowardly, deceitful woman who was only moved to faith in God out of fear and desperate sense of self-preservation.

C. RUTH (1:5)

Ruth married an Israelite running away from God. He died leaving her a widow in a harsh world where women were hard pressed to survive on their own. Moreover, she was a Moabitess. A pagan for whom the Law demanded 10 generations of faithfulness before being included into the community.

³ “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, ⁴ because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Deuteronomy 23:3-4 (ESV)

D. BATHSHEBA ► THE WIFE OF URIAH (1:6)

2 Samuel 11 records the story of David’s disastrous love affair with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah. Much attention has been focused on David’s role in this affair but Bathsheba’s actions are often overlooked. Here is a woman who bathed herself publicly knowing that she was being watched. Here was a woman who willfully committed adultery against her godly husband. Here was a woman who participated in a plot to deceive her husband. Here was a woman who did not act to stop her husband’s murder.

E. MARY (1:16)

Finally comes the young teenage girl pregnant out of wedlock. To all appearances a woman unfaithful to her betrothed. A young, pregnant, fearful, poor, about to be abandoned girl was chosen to bear the baby Jesus – that is, the Christ.

In Christ we see a beautiful paradox and a holy irony. Jesus is the promised Christ – the fulfillment of the covenants made with Abraham and David – descended from Pagans and prostitutes. He is spiritual and earthly – divine and human – supernatural and natural – extraordinary and ordinary. He is the unknowable God incased in a humanity, which all can understand – and all can relate to.

No one can say to Him, “You don’t know where I’ve come from. You don’t know what I’ve done.” Jesus identified Himself with sinful humanity so that sinful humanity could identify themselves with him. Therefore, Jesus is the King that we both need and want.

First Sunday of Advent...hope

Here's a little visual prayer to start off Advent...He is coming!




Advent - a season to wait in hope for the Lord - UnhurryUp!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

While you're out shopping today...consider continuing to give thanks

This is a reposting of Darrne Hardy's article found in entirety here... consider taking his challenge at the end of the article

To Be Great, Be Grateful

Did you know your brain is NOT designed to make you happy? I know this might be alarming to you, but brain has only one primary responsibility—to keep you alive. Thus your brain is constantly on the lookout for danger and attack warnings. Your brain is programmed specifically to seek out the negative...

...This is where the power of gratitude comes in. If you want to direct your life in a positive direction, you have to redirect your mind towards abundance and what’s positive by forcing it to focus it on what you are grateful for.

If you want to become great, you have to focus on being grateful. You can change any situation in your life by simply redirecting your mind to focus on what’s right about it versus what is wrong.

I have a Thanksgiving Challenge for you.

Of the many insights shared in The Compound Effect, one repeatedly I am told has made a profound difference is the story of the Thanksgiving Journal (read the excerpt below). My challenge to you is to think of an area of your life you are having difficulty in and want to improve. For the next 21 days, take three minutes at the end of the day and write down what about that problematic situation you appreciate, what’s good and what you’re grateful for. This could be a confrontational co-worker at the office, your job as a whole or your troubled marriage… anything or anyone that frustrates or negatively affects you.

I promise you, when you change how you look at a situation, the situation changes.

Who is up for this simple challenge? Come on, reading this blog won’t help you. As Johann Von Goethe said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply.” Ideas without implementation are useless. Ideas executed have the power to change the world—particularly your world.

Take the challenge. Not for me, for you. Will you? 3 minutes a day for 21 days. 

Excerpt from:
The Compound Effect—Multiplying your Results. One Simple Step at a Time.
Thanksgiving Year-Round
We’re particularly gifted in the finger-pointing department when it comes to our romantic relationships—you know, where the other person is the one who needs to change. Let me explain how something extremely simple, taking less than 5-minutes a day, can literally change your life.
A few years back, a friend of mine was complaining about his wife. From my observation, she was a terrific lady, and he was lucky to have her. I told him as much, but he continued to point out all the ways she was responsible for his unhappiness. That’s when I shared an experience that had literally changed my marriage… and me.
One Thanksgiving, I decided to keep a Thanks Giving journal for my wife. Every day for an entire year I logged at least one thing I appreciated about her—the way she interacted with her friends, how she cared for our dogs, the fresh bed she prepared, a succulent meal she whipped up, or the beautiful way she styled her hair that day—whatever. I looked for the things my wife was doing that touched me, or revealed attributes, characteristics, or qualities I appreciated. I wrote them all down secretly for the entire year. By the end of that year, I’d filled an entire journal.
When I gave it to her the following Thanksgiving, she cried, calling it the best gift she’d ever received. (Even better than the BMW I’d given her for her birthday!) The funny thing was that the person most affected by this gift was me. All that journaling forced me to focus on my wife’s positive aspects. I was consciously looking for all the things she was doing “right.” That heartfelt focus overwhelmed anything I might have otherwise complained about. I fell deeply in love with her all over again (maybe even more than ever, as I was seeing subtleties in her nature and behavior instead of her more obvious qualities). My appreciation, gratitude, and intention to find the best in her was something I held in my heart and eyes each day. This caused me to show up differently in my marriage, which, of course, made her respond differently to me. Soon, I had even more things to write in my Thanks Giving journal! As a result of choosing to take a mere five minutes every day or so to document all the reasons why I was grateful for her, we experienced one of the best years of our marriage, and it’s only gotten better.
After I shared my experience, my friend decided to keep a Thanks Giving journal about his wife. Within the first few months, he completely turned around his marriage. Choosing to look for and focus on his wife’s positive qualities changed his view of her, which changed how he interacted with her. As a result, she made different choices about the way she responded to him. The cycle perpetuated. Or, shall we say, compounded.

Now thank we all our God!

"Martin Rinckart [Rinkart] was one of those provincial clergymen to whom Germany had so much reason to be grateful. The son of a poor coppersmith, he made his way at the University of Leipzig by dint of industry and his musical gifts, took orders, and was precentor of the church at Eisleben.

"At the age of thirty-one was offered the place of Archdeacon at his native town of Eilenburg in Saxony. He went there as the war broke out, and died just after the peace, and throughout these thirty-one years he stood by his flock, and helped them to the utmost under every kind of distress. Of course he had to endure the quartering of soldiers in his house, and frequent plunderings of his little stock of grain and household goods. But these were small things.

"The plague of 1637 visited Eilenburg with extraordinary severity; the town was overcrowded with fugitives from the country districts where the Swedes had been spreading devastation, and in this one year 8,000 persons died in it. The whole of the town council except three persons, a terrible number of school children, and the clergymen of the neighbouring parish, were all carried off; and Rinckart had to do the work of three men, and did it manfully at the beds of the sick and dying. He buried more than 4,000 persons, but through all his labours he himself remained perfectly well. The pestilence was followed by a famine so extreme that thirty or forty persons might be seen fighting in the streets for a dead cat or crow. Rinckart, with the burgomaster and one other citizen, did what could be done to organize assistance, and gave away everything but the barest rations for his own family, so that his door was surrounded by a crowd of poor starving wretches, who found it their only refuge.

"After all this suffering came the Swedes once more, and imposed upon the unhappy town a tribute of 30,000 dollars. Rinckart ventured to the camp to entreat the general for mercy, and when it was refused, turned to the citizens who followed him, saying, "Come, my children, we can find no hearing, no mercy with men, let us take refuge with God." He fell on his knees, and prayed with such touching earnestness that the Swedish general relented, and lowered his demand at last to 2,000 florins. So great were Rinckart's own losses and charities that he had the utmost difficulty in finding bread and clothes for his children, and was forced to mortgage his future income for several years."

In the midst of the war and suffering, Rinckart is best known for writing the great hymn that triumphantly proclaims this:

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God, Through all our life be near us

With ever joyful hearts, And blessed peace to cheer us

And keep us in His grace and guide us when perplexed

And free us from all ills, in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God The Father now be given.

The Son, and Him who reigns with them in Highest Heaven

The one eternal God, Whom earth and heav'n adore

For thus it was is now, and shall be evermore. 

How are you thanking God with your heart? Your hands? Your voice?

What countless gifts of love have you received?

How do you sense He's near you when perplexed?
How have you experienced being "kept" in His grace?

May you have a very unhurried and rich Thanksgiving with eyes to see the wondrous things God has and is doing in and around your life!

www.mysoulrefresh.com

What is time unfolding in you? Part II

Recently, one of my directees so astutely overheard herself: "[My inability to cultivate space for God] both causes something in me and is also a symptom of something in me."

In other words, she saw something unfolding within her that felt akin to a downward spiral. The symptom driving the shame, causing a gentle, but nontheless berating of herself for not doing enough for God, to trying again, to failing, to being exhausted in the trying, to ignoring what is too painful. This led to a seemingly nagging (but actually a "disguised" but beautiful longing) "Isn't there more?"

What unfolds in us over time comes forth from what is cultivated... in the same way a gardener attends to the specific needs of planting seeds in the correct depths and widths, into proper soil nutrients, with appropriate amounts of water and sunshine so that it can flourish and blossom,  we need to cultivate environments so that time (and God) may unfold the blossoms we are designed to reveal with beauty to the world.


A haphazard environment is more likely to produce a reactionary, "survival" or "vague, but shallow wishful thinking" about life and living. Merely hoping for change will lead to a life lived in regrettable responses to the stresses and strains that come along with their taunting, devouring and cynical ways.

As you think about approaching Advent - a season of waiting, listening, stillness, expectation, hope, joy and receiving of God's gift of life -  even amidst the crazy, busy, party, overindulgent distractions of the season - what is God inviting you to cultivate?

Consider:

• What is unfolding in your heart and life? Are you unfolding into a person that you'd like to be?
• If you were to describe your "spiral" of growth, what would it look like?
• Are you moving toward the things you long for (relationally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, vocationally)? 
• Are you cultivating ways to care of your body in ways that bring nurture, health and respect for God's temple? What would that look like?
• Are you cultivating moments to "ponder" and "treasure" life and God's good gifts?
• Are you helping to shape a life (physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, intellectually) that you'd like - or are you putting it off for "someday" or just excusing it with thinking you're just in a season you have to gut out?

 Do you like what time is unfolding in you? Can you be patient to intentionally cooperate with the One who is for you and knows how to unfold you in His time? What is God gently inviting you toward in cultivating the unfolding of your life?

UnhurryUp!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

What is time unfolding in you? Part I

“Time does not change us, it unfolds us.”   Max Frisch

Pause and be aware of your own connection to these words:

• How does this quote strike you? Is it inviting you to lean in closer? 
• Does it sound pithy and ridiculous?  Or unrealistic?
• How do you think change happens?
• Which word most draws you to pay attention to it? 
• What is unfolding in your heart/life now...how do you feel about what is unfolding?

UnhurryUp!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

She would have accomplished so much...

Last Tuesday I had the wonderful opportunity and blessing to go out to The DreamGiver's Inn to have some reFresh space for me...no one else signed up for the scheduled retreat, so I received the day to get some uninterrupted space to work on some sorely neglected projects. Within the first 10 minutes of settling into the window seat in the "courage" room, I felt sleepy. My inner task master was angry - I had so much to do - yet all I could do was fight to keep my eyelids open. In the midst of the battle between "doing" and "being" (yes, even I suffer this plight!), a deep malaise came over me. Was it a creative block that I just needed to push through? Or was it best to surrender to my body's need?

Deciding to take the advice I so generously grant others, I lowered down, puffed and strategically rearranged a few pillows and covered myself with the afghan. But I couldn't sleep. Taunted by the creative to-do list of music, writings and curriculum development, my brain was like the energizer bunny after drinking a redbull - way too scattered to contribute well to any one thing. I was so frustrated.

Shortly thereafter my friend Kate arrived - she was going to help me stay to task and get after the writing. She listened...a lot...to my complaints and questions and musings about why I feel blocked and frustrated. She listened well and gently invited me to lie down for 20 minutes. I didn't sleep, but it felt good to close my eyes (evidently giving permission to myself is not as helpful as hearing it from a loving friend). About ten minutes into stilling myself, I looked over to her and facetiously declared (about myself),

"She would have accomplished so much if she weren't so in love."

And there it was.

Love
in Love
so in Love...

My inability to focus - to "produce" and be creative was not so much from a block or a battle between "doing" and "being", but because I had spent much of the last month in love. In an instant I understood, "That's it...that's why I'm so tired."

Yes love rejuvenates and in the midst of encountering love either in giving or receiving, there is satiation and energizing that is beyond description. But, as in those early moments of falling in love where you you cannot get enough hours together with your beloved, there is an exhaustion that follows the encounters. Or when you're loving well by caring for a sick one, like I did for my dying Eddie cat a few weeks ago, you give up "normal" things and responsibilities to be present to the one you love. Between loving Eddie and responding to God's invitation to linger longer than "normal" in His presence, my everyday work and responsibilities have seemingly fallen by the wayside.  And as I pressure myself to catch up, I realize that perhaps catching up is not required. Being present to both the delights and depletion I feel from having encountered love is what is important.

I am in love and have lived well this past month ...and it has been astounding...and costly. There has been shed tears, neglected housework, canceled meetings, and the inability to create what is in my heart to share with the world. But I'd rather choose love - even when that means life looks less productive or organized or polished. Love changes the measuring...in love what is "normal" rarely has anything to do with how much I produce or get done in a day. Love measures how much of myself have I given to the present moment...whether that be in loving God, myself, or others.

Perhaps one day on my tombstone (if I have one - I'd rather have my ashes scattered in a lovely place) it will read,

"She would have accomplished so much if she wasn't so in love."

The world needs more lovers...how do you sense God inviting you to cultivate a life of love?

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Advent - one week away and counting...

Advent is coming...and in so many ways it is the unhurryup™ trademark holiday! Advent is about slowing, and stilling, waiting, and preparing room in your heart for the long expected One.

Every year I swear I'm going to do the holidays differently. I am not going to get swept up into the rush and swirl of the festivities and miss the point...and like most New Year's resolutions, I find that my good intentions do not have that much sway in my life. To swim against the tide, I must make some different choices...and carve out a little space to remember...

For any of you who are wishing to do the same - any wishing to truly engage body, soul, mind and heart by intentionally carving out unhurried space to cultivate a heart of worship during this year's Christmas season, please join me here for occasional reflections and moments of pondering...

May God bless you - and may you have a very unhurried holiday season!

Joy to the world...

www.mysoulrefresh.com

A nice breathing prayer for Saturday...

This is from Christine Sine's Godspace blog -

"Breathe out empty yourself: of hate, of fear, of anxiety
Breathe in fill yourself with love, with life, with mercy
Breathe out empty yourself of busyness, of selfishness of greed
Breathe in fill yourself with peace, with joy, with hope
Breathe out empty yourself of idolatry, of self worship, of false gods
Breathe in fill yourself with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit"

Unhurryup™

The greatest enemies of the inner journey

"[Those who followed God in the desert] believed that the greatest enemies of the inner journey were hurry, crowds, and noise" -Laura Swan OSB in The Forgotten Desert Mothers, 15

Ironically, it seems much of our event planning in the ongoing parade of Christian faith is rushed, crowded and noisy - often just as busy and noisy as the rest of life. It makes me ask the question - are we sabotaging, through hurry, crowded and noisy extravaganzas - especially all the hoopla of the upcoming Christmas season - that which we are deeply longing for in our inner journey?


Anticipating Advent (only 1 week from Sunday away!) - which is a time of stillness, anticipation and expectant waiting (not in-coincidental to the busiest, most boisterous time of the year) consider:

• In what ways are hurry, crowds and noise enemies to you deepening your inner journey? 
• In this upcoming season of Advent, in what ways do you desire to cultivate your inner journey?
• How might some intentional unhurriedness, solitude and/or stillness be welcomed into your daily life?

Listen in for the still, small whispers of God's invitation toward His love. Respect the sacred spaces in your day and in your own soul.

 Unhurryup!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Habits of Health - reorienting God's gift of life toward health

As I've journeyed over these past 4.5 months with a eye to be attentive to my physical health and to reorient my life toward healthy living, I have had the tremendous support of an amazing health coach (and she's free!) As I approach having only 11 pounds left to reach my goal, I was gladly reminded in an email from her this morning that reaching the goal is just the beginning of a new way of living healthfully. We've only just begun baby!


Here's what Kathryn sent:

 85% regain their weight within 2 years. . .

That is if they are on a diet.  Are you on a diet? 

If you are living with an internal dialogue in which you hear the plaintive "I can't". . .

If you are looking forward to your target weight like a runner looks for the finish line. . .

If with every pound lost you are both more relieved and also. . .  uh well honestly. . . less motivated. . .(don't worry, that's normal!)Then you are most likely still living in that short run system AKA the punitive diet mode.

(Beware - here comes a long sentence that might be worth reading twice): 

TSFL (Take Shape For Life) offers a whole new way of thinking and living that comes from the heart. . . from our own personal drives and desires that propel us ever forward with the same power of an arrow shot from a taut bow string -- force and direction.  Now that's not a diet, but velocity for life! 

How's the velocity of your life in the area of your physical body?

What I've enjoyed most is that I have been generous to both body and soul by intentionally seeking ways to care for myself physically. I admit, as I transition into a new stage, I'm nervous. But thankfully I have the community I need to continue to live with a velocity for life!

Here are a couple of resources that I have been/will continue to work through as I reorient my life toward health in every facet. Feel free to contact Kathryn if you have any questions or want to explore the desire to care for your soul by caring for your body.


Dr. A's Habits of Health along with the companion work book bring a comprehensive insight and strategy toward reorienting your life toward health - in losing weight, gaining strength and flexibility, increasing energy to live life in a fully attentive and present manner!

What is the goal of our spiritual lives?

My friend and former co-worker Tom Ashbrook has written an amazing book, Mansions of the Heart, where he offers a beautiful vision of the "so much more" that God offers on a journey toward His heart of Love.

Tom writes,

"The goal [of Christianity] we choose as the primary one becomes the lens through which we see and interpret the person of God and our spiritual experience" (p. 20).

What do you think is the "goal" of the Christian journey?

If it is to just "stop sinning" - how would that lens color how you see God and what activities you involve yourself in? If it is to merely gain "fire insurance" - how will God be relevant to you in your daily ordinary relationships and activities? If the goals is to be "missional" - who is God to you? What if the goal is to be united with Christ in Love?

• How does your perceived/stated goal of the Christian journey impact how you order your daily life? 
• According to your goal, what role does God play? In this goal is God more a judge? A power source for doing more effective ministry?

What if the goal of the Christian journey is a transforming love relationship with God...how would that effect/order your daily life? What would God's primary role be?

If in your journey things are not working quite like you expected - and/or if you are experiencing a bit of frustration and feel out of sorts, give Tom's book a read. You'll be delighted to read of the "so much more" that God has in store for His beloved ones.

You can also check out more about the ministry Tom is involved in at www.imagochristi.org - and if you're in the Portland area, check into joining us on a Discovery conference Jan 25-27th, 2011.

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Soul space - a fancy way of saying your invisible self needs some elbow room...

This is a repost of a beautiful blog by Emily of www.chattingatthesky.com - I think she is an unhurryup™ kindred:

six things about soul space

July 22, 2010

This week, I have had more time to myself than usual. In fact, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy more solitude than perhaps ever in my life. I’ve been breathing in the space while, at the same time, grasping for ways to fill it. Isn’t that what we do? My tagline here is ‘a place for your soul to breathe.’ I’ve been thinking about what that means and what it looks like. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Soul space is a fancy way of saying: your invisible self needs some elbow room. That could mean prayer, reflection, Scripture reading, or silence. Or it could also happen in the kitchen or at an easel, in the car or the grocery store. The Bible says we live and move and have our being in him. If he exists in me, then where I go, he goes. Worship isn’t confined to a specific posture or location.

Soul space doesn’t just happen. It is possible to be quiet on the outside but still have a cluttered soul. It is also possible to be outwardly active with a soul that exists in a spacious and enlarged place. We have to choose which path our mind, will, and emotions are going to follow.

Resist the urge to try to force soul space to look a certain way. Things may come up that will disturb, and it may be tempting to think this space is impossible. When interruptions and unexpected things show up , purpose to receive them as part of the process, as a reminder of your humanness, and as an opportunity to set your mind on truth.

In the midst of creating space for your soul to breathe, embrace the unveiling of anxiety. Allow those things that hum under the surface of your everyday activity to rise up from within and offer them to the Holy, Heavenly keeper of all your anxieties. In him is the only safe place.

It takes time to receive space for your soul to breathe. We are so used to moving, reacting, responding and producing. To expect that busy freight train to come to a quick halt is to experience frustration. At the same time, God is not limited by our current life stage. Ask him to miraculously multiply the time you do have in ways that only he can.

Our bodies have to breathe to stay alive, and so does our soul. When I move through my days on auto-pilot, I may be able to survive, but that isn’t the same as living. Surviving says just make it through; living says let’s make it count. Allowing space for your soul to breathe is an invitation to commune with God and one another."

Enjoy creating some intentional and unhurried soul space for yourself today. Thanks Emily - great thoughts!

Unhurryup!™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

The guidance of souls is the art of arts!

Gregory of Nyssa (330-95 A.D.), a Cappadocian bishop and theologian, speaks of the importance of those doing "soul work" (i.e. physicians of the heart) being as qualified, if not more so, than medical physicians.

“No one ever attempts to teach any art unless he has learned it himself after much thought. With what stupidity, then, would the pastoral office be undertaken by the unqualified, seeing that the guidance of souls is the art of arts! Who does not recognize that the wounds of the mind are more concealed than the internal lesions of the body? Those who have no knowledge of the curing powers of drugs shrink from pretending to be physicians of the body. Nevertheless, persons who are totally ignorant of spiritual matters are often not afraid to present themselves as physicians of the heart."

in Jerome M. Neufelder and Mary C. Coelho, editors. Writings on Spiritual Direction. New York: The Seabury Press, 1982, p. 28.)

As a Soul Artisan™, or one who facilitates and instructs others in the art of living from the soul, I do not take lightly imparting the things that I do not possess or have not experienced. I am ignorant of much - but I do know that without God's love being experienced in the deepest corners of my being, I will remain flat, vapid, and uninteresting to a world longing to know there is a deeper Love that will meet their deepest ache. Caring for souls is an awesome task. It is a humbling task. It is mysterious and more often than I care to admit, seemingly unproductive. Those looking for quick fixes don't look for soul care... quick fixes change the externals, but rarely the core of one's being. Those who are unwilling to unhurryup!™ - to slow their pace and pay attention, cannot experience the lasting transformation that comes from accepting God's invitation to come close.

For most of us who have been chosen (rarely does someone choose such a demanding, difficult, unmeasurable job description) to be involved in the guidance of souls, it is an underpaid, undervalued, unrecognized calling. That's okay - I haven't met anyone yet who cares deeply about soul cure who stops doing it because they are not valued or paid well. There is a deeper understanding of the privilege of companioning others in an inward soul journey to listen to the "still, small, voice" of God within. As the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "The Journey is too much for you..." (1 Kings 19:7) (and the journey, take note, was not to go out and do more ministry - but to journey to a place where Elijah could hear the gentle whispers of God.)

So often pastors and ministry leaders are trained in preaching, exegeting scripture and in systematic theology - all very wonderful, good and important things. But how often are spiritual leaders guided to listen to His gentle whispers - even in the midst of earthquakes, winds, and fires? Without also being led in the guidance of the soul, (Love encountering and healing those deep, hidden, bare-naked flabby portions of which we're deeply afraid or in denial) - the homilies, the acts of service, the serving on committees, the evangelism, is more an inauthentic exporting of our neuroses and biases, than of His heart.

Without daily experiencing and soaking in God's love (not just a one hour quiet time, but a being WITH Him throughout the day...being in step with His Spirit...being in sync with and joining the Father in what He is already doing vs. asking Him to bless the strategic and culturally relevant plans I'm making) I operate in the second command (of loving others) vs. letting the second command flow out of the First. (Matt 22:37-40). What does the First Command look like in your daily living - how are you letting God love you?

Do you have guidance for your soul? Are you interested in journeying with a soul companion or to discover, recover or deepen intimacy with God...with yourself...with others?

What questions does this arouse in you? What fears? What longings? Lean into His wooing you deeper, closer...He is for you, not against you (Romans 8:31-32).

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Entering rest...Unhurry Up™

“Rest is a death. We die to ourselves, our agendas, and learn that God loves us deeply just as we are. We dies to ourselves when we choose not to pummel God with more words but to simply sit as with a friend in silence, trusting the Spirit's work on our behalf. For even in our silence, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, praying for us and through us.

“This is the miracle: God's purposes may best be accomplished through our inactivity.

“Our Shepherd holds out his hand and invites us to cease striving, to rest along the banks of still waters. And we lay down our knapsack, put our weary hand in his nail-scarred palm and let him lead us.”

~ from Resting Place: A Personal Guide to Spiritual Retreats 

by Jane Rubietta (22-23).

 

• As you read about “entering rest” - what word or phrase felt like an invitation to your heart – something to pay attention to?

• What agenda might God be calling you to die to in this season of your life/circumstances?

• What parts of you life feel wearisome right now (relationships? Finances? Vocation? Health/Physical?) Imagine Him holding out His hand to you...describe how that feels.
  
  
   Write out a prayer of how you want God to lead you toward rest in your life....
  
  

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com