A few things I’ve read lately have got me thinking more about Spiritual Formation. It’s just another phrase for discipleship, but since discipleship has lost quite a bit of meaning it is helpful. What I have been thinking about is the idea of “being formed” by what we do. I’ve been thinking that spiritual disciplines shouldn’t be about “having my time with God today” but about long term formation of Christlikeness into my character. I’ve noticed it a little as I’ve tried to pray Celtic Daily Prayer… there are many times when I don’t get a ton out of it, and plenty of times when I miss a few times. But it seems that the more I keep doing it the more it starts to mold me, to form me. Celtic, Benedictine and Franciscan monks are the best model I’ve found for Spiritual Formation. Adapting their practices for today is what I personally am going to be pursuing.
Logging my life
Starting April 1(no, this is not a joke) I am going to start logging my whole life. This is mostly going to be a work exercise, but it should be helpful in finances and just general discipline as well. So, here is what will be logged: mileage, work time, food eaten and money spent. I’ll share if I find out anything interesting while doing it.
Have not blogged in a while
Well, here I am, having not written anything in a while. What has been going on you ask? Well, let me tell you… I’ve been working, and hanging out with my wonderful wife and my awesome brother and then Alicia and I went and visited her family this past weekend. We had to celebrate some birthdays, which there seems to be a lot of right now. So, before I forget, happy birthday Meagan(26th), Mike(27th), Jarrett(28th), Leslie(30th) and Alicia(31st)! Hope you all have a wonderful next year!
In other news, I bought a cool book that I want to do a little advertisement for. It is Reimagining Spiritual Formation by Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minnesota. Has made for a good read so far.
Anything else going on in my exciting life? Well, I was in Towson for work this morning at 6:30AM… so I am a bit tired. Tonight we have our small group with Joy and Scott which is always enjoyable. We are skipping a week from Pilgrim’s Progress and are going out to eat to celebrate Alicia’s birthday. Plus the very cool Amanda Lima is in town visiting Joy and we want to hang out with her. I’m looking forward to that and then some good sleep tonight!
Caffeine-induced late night ramblings 1
So, Alicia and I enjoyed a wonderful day off today. It is her spring break, so I took off and she took off as much as she could and we enjoyed the day together. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Papermoon Diner. Then we went downtown and went to the Barnes and Nobles and then to the American Visionary Art Museum. From there we grabbed a coffee and cookie at the Vaccaro’s in the Harbor Place food court. Then we went and had dinner at the One World Cafe, Baltimore’s best vegetarian resturant. A very nice and relaxing day!
But I had a coffee and a mango black tea and now I’m not tired at all and Alicia is in bed because she has to work early tomorrow morning. So, here I am writing and watching Letterman and trying to figure out what I’m gonna do for the next couple of hours until I get tired. Hmmm…
People on Rick Warren on Brian McLaren on The Passion
So, Rick Warren has responded to Brian McLaren’s review of The Passion. And of course quite a few people have responded to Rick Warren. You definitely want to read Mike Bishop, Bill Bean and Alan Creech. I love the way these guys think and consider them spiritual mentors of mine.
