Guest Writer, Beanscot's husband
I was recently struck by a statement by Richard Foster in his book Streams of Living Water. In the section titled The Contemplative Tradition, he writes that we are responsible for developing a personal history with God, our own personal history. This is an individual history. He means, for example, while Christian groupings have a key role in our lives, yet the church can't write this personal history for me, nor can the choir, nor can the Bible study, nor can my best friend. I have to compose it, because it is more about God and me than anything else. Growth in grace requires solitude as well as community, Foster says.
Foster's emphasis is that we sometimes have to walk with God alone, no matter how tempting it may be to cling to our forms of fellowship to stay afloat, especially in times of trouble. God likely offers us doors of opportunity to enter this isolation with Him. You may have gone through one of these doors, perhaps due to personal loss. Walking through the valley of the shadow of death is not a group excursion, but God can do in a person what He would not otherwise get done, in that valley. Fruit is grown in the valley.
I found this stimulating, and made me wonder how I would write my own, or at least rehearse it to myself. I would think it would involve chunks of time and passages of life, sections of the forest I call my pilgrimage, without getting stuck on the individual trees we call Today. There would be major movements as well as interminable stretches where nothing seemed to move, or should I say, I didn't move the needle of spirituality. Would it include embarrassing, shameful things, or just the "high times" with God. I suppose it would include both.
What about those times when God shows us boatloads of blessings, and the times when the well seems dry? What did I learn from these times? Most importantly, what did I learn or what did God want me to learn about who He is and how He operates? What did I learn about myself that I wasn't already aware of? If I don't or if you don't have more spiritual insight after these kinds of experiences, well, I think we should know more. I would think a personal history would include these, but it would be open-ended, that is, more is to come on this side of glory.
I think we all have a lot of the material for this history. The challenge is putting it together in a single story. An encouragement to me is that we can still write this story. What chapters would you like to add to yours?
I was recently struck by a statement by Richard Foster in his book Streams of Living Water. In the section titled The Contemplative Tradition, he writes that we are responsible for developing a personal history with God, our own personal history. This is an individual history. He means, for example, while Christian groupings have a key role in our lives, yet the church can't write this personal history for me, nor can the choir, nor can the Bible study, nor can my best friend. I have to compose it, because it is more about God and me than anything else. Growth in grace requires solitude as well as community, Foster says.
Foster's emphasis is that we sometimes have to walk with God alone, no matter how tempting it may be to cling to our forms of fellowship to stay afloat, especially in times of trouble. God likely offers us doors of opportunity to enter this isolation with Him. You may have gone through one of these doors, perhaps due to personal loss. Walking through the valley of the shadow of death is not a group excursion, but God can do in a person what He would not otherwise get done, in that valley. Fruit is grown in the valley.
I found this stimulating, and made me wonder how I would write my own, or at least rehearse it to myself. I would think it would involve chunks of time and passages of life, sections of the forest I call my pilgrimage, without getting stuck on the individual trees we call Today. There would be major movements as well as interminable stretches where nothing seemed to move, or should I say, I didn't move the needle of spirituality. Would it include embarrassing, shameful things, or just the "high times" with God. I suppose it would include both.
What about those times when God shows us boatloads of blessings, and the times when the well seems dry? What did I learn from these times? Most importantly, what did I learn or what did God want me to learn about who He is and how He operates? What did I learn about myself that I wasn't already aware of? If I don't or if you don't have more spiritual insight after these kinds of experiences, well, I think we should know more. I would think a personal history would include these, but it would be open-ended, that is, more is to come on this side of glory.
I think we all have a lot of the material for this history. The challenge is putting it together in a single story. An encouragement to me is that we can still write this story. What chapters would you like to add to yours?
Thanks...I love how you put that "walking through the shadow of death is not a group excursion." How true.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I appreciate knowing that sometimes I write things of value to others.
DeleteBeanscot's husband