current reading - Metamorpha by Kyle Strobel

I'm not sure I like his writing style and I have disliked the word "deconstruct" for years, since back in the the day when John Barth was called a "post-modern" writer. But I've been impressed with how the topics in this book speak to things that have come up in other areas of my life.

First some quoting that may be of interest to my son who is interested in "spiritual" things. I'm taking out some of the Christian references because he gets squirmy about such things.
"...' But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things.' ... we are called to be spiritual, not in an esoteric sense, but in how we see reality. [author's emphasis] Being spiritual in this sense is coming to see the way God would have us see. Being spiritual means finding one's view of reality in the Spirit of God rather than in one's own flesh."- p.101

And then I want to exclaim to my pastor, who has been preaching about RELATIONSHIPS, that I have been reading a lot about relationships in this book . Here's what I read today:
"When the Spirit is seen through a Western worldview, he often becomes an empowering force rather than an intimate friend. Failing to see our relationship with the Spirit in relational terms (marriage. union, intimacy) will typically lead to an impersonal focus on ourselves rather than then God." - p.96

I really like the website too (although us old ladies could be grateful for less pastel font colors)

Thoughtlessness

I haven't had a lot in my brain lately. I'm only writing to prove I haven't abandoned my blog. I've read a lot of other blogs and have been appreciative of the thoughts which are torrents compared to my driblets. Since the chapter this week has been about Solitude (and silence), and because I usually have too much chatter in my head, I rather welcome this emptiness of head.

Simplicity

As I crawl through Foster's Celebration of Discipline I'm thinking about simplicity. Yesterday I was substitute teaching sixth grade students and had the chance to think about driving at or under the speed limit.
I didn't tell them my first reason - it's a spiritual excercise to combat two of my character defects. When I obey the law I am letting go of being defiant and arrogant. I do NOT know better than the law makers and I comply with what they would have me do. I didn't tell the kids this because it's personal and more than that, complicated.
My second reason is that it saves petroleum. My mileage is quite good. It was 40 mpg last time I took a long trip. I'd like to do my bit to conserve non-renewable resources and to give my country a little less reason to rationalize war. This I discussed with the kids. I showed them the math.
Another thing that came up with the kids was to respond to "it gets us there faster" with "WHY?" I'd like to bring up the question because it seems we all hurry without any reason.
I found myself doing an Eddie Izzard mime of driving along with the wind in my hair. The kids were in stitches (and I'm pretty sure they've never seen Eddie Izzard.) They probably think I'm just loony. I like to think they think I'm cool. It's possible they just think I'm foolish, but as long as I act like I think they think I'm cool, they suspect I may really be cool.

Fasting with a friend

A woman I work with is also doing a Daniel fast, so I asked where she ate her lunch. Today I joined her. She is a great encourager. Some weeks ago I had mentioned that I lost my stagefright when I first became a Christian and she responded with one word "Boldness!" That one word showed me that it wasn't as trivial a gift as I'd often thought.
So today at lunch I was telling her about my continuing efforts to memorize Ephesians 6:13+ and I was telling her that I would have to think a lot to understand the part about my feet being fitted with the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace. And she said "You're doing it now, by memorizing scripture and being ready to use it." She's quick. It's a blessing to know her.

Fasting

The thorn in my side goes by the name of gluttony. If it can be overdone, I can do it. Food, books, ... I even think of my thirst for skills as a form of gluttony. As a brand new Christian, I was intrigued when I heard about fasting. And after hearing Chuck Swindoll do a series on Esther, I started to notice how often fasting went hand in hand with prayer in the Bible.

At Shelfari, in the Spiritual Formation Group, we are discussing fasting in Chapter 4 of Spirit of the Disciplines. I may have come across Foster's Spirit of the Disciplines when I was searching for fasting in the public library. (My fellow Southern Baptists wouldn't have recommended anything unless it was published by Lifeway!)Now 12 years later, I'm diabetic and don't fast from food completely. But yesterday I started a 10 day Daniel fast and that seems like it may be a good way for me to go.

Yesterday morning I had a strange experience in church. A lady I like to sit with had just recently come out of the hospital. She had been prescribed steroids and was commenting about how much she had been eating and how even her grandchildren were making comments. She has never been one to do good things about her health - she makes me look like a health nut, which is hard to do. (I fear and pray for her health.) During the entire service on this morning she ate an entire bag of pork rinds and a large box of good'n'plenties. I was aghast and speechless (which is unusual for me) Last week I'd read PistolPete's blog entry about public gluttony compared with private sexual behavior and that's all I could think about. She offered me some of her stash and I turned it down ... if I hadn't been fasting from meat products and sweets, I might have had some.

Foster on Prayer

"To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives." - Foster Celebration of Discipline p. 33

I see this too much in my own life. Right now my life is approaching a state of emergency, but I still am resisting change.

scripture to memorize

Ephesians 6:(NIV)
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Life and Death

Romans 6:5-14 (The Message)

3-5That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.

6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call!

What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word.
When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.
From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.

12-14That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.