Thursday 7 July 2011
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Freedom of Simplicity - Richard Foster
Simplicity is complex and must not be considered in isolation of the rest of the spiritual life (i.e in relation to prayer and solitude).
Simplicity...
Simplicity is an inner reality that can be seen in an outward lifestyle. We must have both; to neglect either end of this tension is disastrous.
The material world is good, but it is a limited good- limited in the sense that we cannot make a life out of it. To deny the goodness of the created order is to be an ascetic. To deny the limitation of the created order is to be a materialist.
Enslavement to the opinions of others is the source of a great deal of duplicity in modern society. How often we discover our action to be prompted, not by the divine Centre, but by what others may say or think. Sadly, we must confess that our experience is all to frequently characterized by endless attempts to justify what we do or fail to do. And how violently this problem rears its ugly head the moment we seek a simpler lifestyle. Whereas before we were tyrannized by the desire to look affluent, now we are tyrannized by the desire to look scant. If what we own can look slightly austere and unvarnished, then perhaps others will think we live in simplicity. Painfully, we know we are too dependent on the approval of others. We sincerely want to do what is right, but our own self-consciousness betrays our lack of true simplicity.
Authentic living. Our century thirsts for the authenticity of simplicity, the spirit of prayer and the life of obedience.
A "single eye" (Matthew 6:22) describes a generous unselfish spirit and a single aim in life... with our eye focused on Christ the centre, we are to live with glad and generous hearts. This is simplicity.
We live centred in trust and faith and all our action and work arises out of that centre. It is not fear and anxiety over tomorrow that prompt us to work, but obedience to the divine command.
Jesus came from the 'middle class' of Galilee, the skilled workers.
What we discover from the New Testament witness is the combination of a penetrating criticism of wealth with a carefree, almost light-hearted attitude towards possessions. It is a combination seldom found today.
The tithe simply is not a sufficiently radical concept to embody the carefree unconcern for possessions that marks life in the Kingdom of God.
We need an inward simplification of life, a freedom to live from the 'Divine Centre': "We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them all. And we are unhappy, uneasy, strained, oppressed and fearful we shall be shallow. We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over to that Centre! We have seen and known some people who seem to have found this deep Centre of living, where the fretful calls of life are integrated, where No as well as Yes can be said with confidence." (Thomas Kelley)
When we live out of the Divine Centre, thoughts and decisions flow from the Fountainhead. All relevant data are considered, to be sure, but decisions stem from a source deeper than facts and figures. Once we have understood the mind of the Father, we can speak our Yes or No with confidence. We will have no need to reverse our decision if the winds of opinion change, for we have spoken out of a deeper reality than the latest Gallup poll.
We are engaged in a joyous adventure, not a sour faced penance. God is no killer of happiness (re. the practice of the presence).
One of the most profound effects of inward simplicity is the rise of an amazing spirit of contentment.
Of the sincere, Fenelon says, "They are always studying themselves, going over all their words and all their thoughts, and going back over all that they have done, afraid of having said or done too much." The sincere are not yet simple. They have a kind of artificial vigour that makes us feel uncomfortable, though we cannot fault the virtue. They put us on edge and make us feel ill at ease. This often concerns us because they seem so spiritual, so determined to know God. We wonder if our discomfort stems from a resistance to God and His way. In reality, however, it is due to the fact that these deeply committed folk are trying too hard. They lack the ease, freedom and naturalness that mark true interior simplicity. We would prefer less perfect people who are more at ease with themselves...I have students who are keenly conscientious and determined to come into God. Sometimes I need to tell them to relax and quite trying to be so religious.
It begins to consider God more often than it considers self, and insensibly it tends to forget self in order to become more concerned with God with a love devoid of self-interest.
To be silent is probably the best way to deal with self-love (not verbal debasement).
Joy. not grit, is the hallmark of holy obedience. We need to be lighthearted in what we do to avoid taking ourselves too seriously. It is a cheerful revolt against self and pride. Our work is jubilant, carefree, merry. Utter abandonment to God is done freely and with celebration. And so I urge you to enjoy this ministry of self-surrender. Don't push too hard. Hold this work lightly, joyfully.
1. You cannot TRY to be less egocentric!
2. You CAN seek first the Kingdom of God.
3. Begin NOW to obey God in every way you can. In every task of your day seek to live in utter surrender, listening and obedient.
4. In holy obedience: get up quickly and keep going if you stumble and fall (which surely you will!)
5. Still all vain talk about ourselves and others. Let your Yes be yes and your No be no.
A compliment affirms what is already there or coming into being. Flattery degrades us by saying something that isn't.
"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." - Chesterton
It is SIMPLER and EASIER to go all out and embrace 'voluntary poverty'; there are far less decisions to be made. But poverty is NOT simplicity. Poverty is a means of grace; simplicity is the grace itself.
"I am learning that a man can live profoundly without masses of things..." Develop close friendships and enjoy long evenings of serious and hilarious conversation. Such times are far more rewarding than all the plastic entertainment that the world tries to foist upon us. Value music, books, art, significant travel. If you are too busy to read, you are too busy. Discover prayer as evening entertainment.
Never put happiness at centre stage. It is the by-product of the life of service, never the chief end of life. Happiness is not a right to be grasped, but a serendipity to be enjoyed.
Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." - Mark Twain
"To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power." - George MacDonald
We are seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit to the truly abandoned and defenseless. We will defend the cause of people who are not politically "interesting". We will be bringing before mayors and city councilmen issues that all others would like to sweep under the rug. We will be making people uncomfortable over matters they deem "trivial". But that is what is asked of us if we are to identify with the genuinely poor and forgotten.
Make honesty and integrity the distinguishing characteristics of your speech.
"Frugality is good if liberality be joined with it. The first is leaving off superfluous expenses; the last bestowing them to the benefit of others that need." - William Penn
History is full of ordinary people who, like Amos, were called to positions of influence far beyond their intentions.
Be attentive to the voice of the Shepherd; seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness; obey him in all things.
Simplicity...
- is a grace and a discipline.
- is easy and difficult.
- has inward and outward dimensions.
- recognizes the goodness and limitations of material things.
Simplicity is an inner reality that can be seen in an outward lifestyle. We must have both; to neglect either end of this tension is disastrous.
The material world is good, but it is a limited good- limited in the sense that we cannot make a life out of it. To deny the goodness of the created order is to be an ascetic. To deny the limitation of the created order is to be a materialist.
Enslavement to the opinions of others is the source of a great deal of duplicity in modern society. How often we discover our action to be prompted, not by the divine Centre, but by what others may say or think. Sadly, we must confess that our experience is all to frequently characterized by endless attempts to justify what we do or fail to do. And how violently this problem rears its ugly head the moment we seek a simpler lifestyle. Whereas before we were tyrannized by the desire to look affluent, now we are tyrannized by the desire to look scant. If what we own can look slightly austere and unvarnished, then perhaps others will think we live in simplicity. Painfully, we know we are too dependent on the approval of others. We sincerely want to do what is right, but our own self-consciousness betrays our lack of true simplicity.
Authentic living. Our century thirsts for the authenticity of simplicity, the spirit of prayer and the life of obedience.
A "single eye" (Matthew 6:22) describes a generous unselfish spirit and a single aim in life... with our eye focused on Christ the centre, we are to live with glad and generous hearts. This is simplicity.
We live centred in trust and faith and all our action and work arises out of that centre. It is not fear and anxiety over tomorrow that prompt us to work, but obedience to the divine command.
Jesus came from the 'middle class' of Galilee, the skilled workers.
What we discover from the New Testament witness is the combination of a penetrating criticism of wealth with a carefree, almost light-hearted attitude towards possessions. It is a combination seldom found today.
The tithe simply is not a sufficiently radical concept to embody the carefree unconcern for possessions that marks life in the Kingdom of God.
We need an inward simplification of life, a freedom to live from the 'Divine Centre': "We feel honestly the pull of many obligations and try to fulfill them all. And we are unhappy, uneasy, strained, oppressed and fearful we shall be shallow. We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over to that Centre! We have seen and known some people who seem to have found this deep Centre of living, where the fretful calls of life are integrated, where No as well as Yes can be said with confidence." (Thomas Kelley)
When we live out of the Divine Centre, thoughts and decisions flow from the Fountainhead. All relevant data are considered, to be sure, but decisions stem from a source deeper than facts and figures. Once we have understood the mind of the Father, we can speak our Yes or No with confidence. We will have no need to reverse our decision if the winds of opinion change, for we have spoken out of a deeper reality than the latest Gallup poll.
We are engaged in a joyous adventure, not a sour faced penance. God is no killer of happiness (re. the practice of the presence).
One of the most profound effects of inward simplicity is the rise of an amazing spirit of contentment.
Of the sincere, Fenelon says, "They are always studying themselves, going over all their words and all their thoughts, and going back over all that they have done, afraid of having said or done too much." The sincere are not yet simple. They have a kind of artificial vigour that makes us feel uncomfortable, though we cannot fault the virtue. They put us on edge and make us feel ill at ease. This often concerns us because they seem so spiritual, so determined to know God. We wonder if our discomfort stems from a resistance to God and His way. In reality, however, it is due to the fact that these deeply committed folk are trying too hard. They lack the ease, freedom and naturalness that mark true interior simplicity. We would prefer less perfect people who are more at ease with themselves...I have students who are keenly conscientious and determined to come into God. Sometimes I need to tell them to relax and quite trying to be so religious.
It begins to consider God more often than it considers self, and insensibly it tends to forget self in order to become more concerned with God with a love devoid of self-interest.
To be silent is probably the best way to deal with self-love (not verbal debasement).
Joy. not grit, is the hallmark of holy obedience. We need to be lighthearted in what we do to avoid taking ourselves too seriously. It is a cheerful revolt against self and pride. Our work is jubilant, carefree, merry. Utter abandonment to God is done freely and with celebration. And so I urge you to enjoy this ministry of self-surrender. Don't push too hard. Hold this work lightly, joyfully.
1. You cannot TRY to be less egocentric!
2. You CAN seek first the Kingdom of God.
3. Begin NOW to obey God in every way you can. In every task of your day seek to live in utter surrender, listening and obedient.
4. In holy obedience: get up quickly and keep going if you stumble and fall (which surely you will!)
5. Still all vain talk about ourselves and others. Let your Yes be yes and your No be no.
A compliment affirms what is already there or coming into being. Flattery degrades us by saying something that isn't.
"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." - Chesterton
It is SIMPLER and EASIER to go all out and embrace 'voluntary poverty'; there are far less decisions to be made. But poverty is NOT simplicity. Poverty is a means of grace; simplicity is the grace itself.
"I am learning that a man can live profoundly without masses of things..." Develop close friendships and enjoy long evenings of serious and hilarious conversation. Such times are far more rewarding than all the plastic entertainment that the world tries to foist upon us. Value music, books, art, significant travel. If you are too busy to read, you are too busy. Discover prayer as evening entertainment.
Never put happiness at centre stage. It is the by-product of the life of service, never the chief end of life. Happiness is not a right to be grasped, but a serendipity to be enjoyed.
Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.
"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." - Mark Twain
"To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power." - George MacDonald
We are seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit to the truly abandoned and defenseless. We will defend the cause of people who are not politically "interesting". We will be bringing before mayors and city councilmen issues that all others would like to sweep under the rug. We will be making people uncomfortable over matters they deem "trivial". But that is what is asked of us if we are to identify with the genuinely poor and forgotten.
Make honesty and integrity the distinguishing characteristics of your speech.
"Frugality is good if liberality be joined with it. The first is leaving off superfluous expenses; the last bestowing them to the benefit of others that need." - William Penn
History is full of ordinary people who, like Amos, were called to positions of influence far beyond their intentions.
Be attentive to the voice of the Shepherd; seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness; obey him in all things.
Saturday 2 July 2011
The Path of Loneliness - Elisabeth Elliot
Ancient man was preoccupied with how to be good while modern man is preoccupied with how to be happy.
With what misgivings we turn our lives over to God, imagining somehow that we are about to lose everything that matters. Our hesitancy is like that of a tiny shell on the seashore, afraid to give up the teaspoonful of water it holds lest there be not enough in the ocean to fill it again. Lose your life, said Jesus, and you will find it. Give up, and I will give you all. Can the shell imagine the depth and the plenitude of the ocean? Can you and I fathom the riches, the fullness, of God's love?
I have a sense of expectancy every day. What does the Lord want me to do with today? I have no agenda of my own.
Many times in my life God has asked me to wait when I wanted to move forward. He has kept me in the dark when I asked for light. To my pleas for guidance His answer has often been Sit still, My daughter. I like to see progress. I look for evidence that God is at least doing something. If the Shepherd leads us beside still waters when we were hoping for "white water" excitement, it is hard to believe anything really vital is taking place.
With what misgivings we turn our lives over to God, imagining somehow that we are about to lose everything that matters. Our hesitancy is like that of a tiny shell on the seashore, afraid to give up the teaspoonful of water it holds lest there be not enough in the ocean to fill it again. Lose your life, said Jesus, and you will find it. Give up, and I will give you all. Can the shell imagine the depth and the plenitude of the ocean? Can you and I fathom the riches, the fullness, of God's love?
Where Lieth Peace? - Amy Carmichael
He said, "I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places—
They shall be filled again;
O voices mourning deep within me, cease."
Vain, vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in forgetting lieth peace.
He said, "I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir my spirit to flame;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood, cease."
Vain, vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in endeavour lieth peace.
He said, "I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life's riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease."
Vain, vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.
He said, "I will submit; I am defeated;
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
O futile murmurings; why will ye not cease?"
Vain, vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.
He said, "I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God to-morrow
Will to His son explain."
Then did the turmoil deep within him cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in acceptance lieth peace.
The Law of the Yukon - Robert Service
This is the law of the Yukon, and ever she makes it plain:
"Send not your foolish and feeble; send me your strong and your sane --
Strong for the red rage of battle; sane for I harry them sore;
Send me men girt for the combat, men who are grit to the core;
Swift as the panther in triumph, fierce as the bear in defeat,
Sired of a bulldog parent, steeled in the furnace heat.
Send me the best of your breeding, lend me your chosen ones;
Them will I take to my bosom, them will I call my sons;
Them will I gild with my treasure, them will I glut with my meat;
But the others -- the misfits, the failures -- I trample under my feet.
Dissolute, damned and despairful, crippled and palsied and slain,
Ye would send me the spawn of your gutters -- Go! take back your spawn again.
When all we have to offer seems pitifully small and woefully poor, we must offer it nevertheless, in obedience like the widow's, and in the simplicity of a little child who brings a crushed dandelion to his mother. The child is not bitter and resentful at the poverty of his offering. He is happy to have something. Quantity and quality are not always under our control, and what the Lord can possibly make of it is no concern of ours. That part is under His control. He Himself knows what He will do. Let our offering be free, humble, unconditional, given in the full confidence that His transforming energy can fit it into the working of His purposes.
I have a sense of expectancy every day. What does the Lord want me to do with today? I have no agenda of my own.
Many times in my life God has asked me to wait when I wanted to move forward. He has kept me in the dark when I asked for light. To my pleas for guidance His answer has often been Sit still, My daughter. I like to see progress. I look for evidence that God is at least doing something. If the Shepherd leads us beside still waters when we were hoping for "white water" excitement, it is hard to believe anything really vital is taking place.
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