LeadershipConneXtions

Diagnostics and The Cure of the Soul

About a week ago, I had a conversation with a friend who gave me a truly profound insight. He is working through the LCI Exercises on What's Gone Wrong. These Exercises are designed to help leaders take an in-depth look at what has gone wrong in their lives.

What is their brokeness, their pain, their sinfulness, their darkside, their dysfunction, their emptiness . . .?

My friend has some serious health issues that has required quite a number of diagnostic tests... probing, prodding, searching out and after what is wrong, MRI's, scans, bloodwork... you name it, he has been going through it.

So, while he is going through the exercises on what's gone wrong with his soul, his heart, his inner world, he is being tested to find out exactly what is wrong with his physical body.

He made this analogy. The exercises on What's Gone Wrong are like God is taking him through a series of diagnostic test helping him see what has gone wrong in his spiritual world.

Now, Jesus the Great Physician does not need to run any tests. He knows exactly what has gone wrong with each of us. But he takes us through these "diagnostics" for our sake... so we may see what has gone wrong with us? 

And when we find out what has gone wrong, then we are positioned to long for the "cure of our souls." Which has always been one of the ways that spiritual direction has been conceptualized - the cure of the soul.

I was deeply moved by this metaphor and by my friend's spiritual sensitivity to the work of God that is going on in him. Even though I haven't named him or his illness - offer up a prayer for the Great Physican to heal all that is broken and restore all that has been lost in his life.

And then, pray the same for your self.

Healing and Cure to each of you.

Your friend

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com 

The Prayer of Saint Patrick

I have an interest in Celtic Christianity and Spirituality for a number of reasons, none of which I'll go into in this post.  Well, except for one . . .

Here is a well-known prayer from Saint Patrick, the 5th century missionary to Ireland. It is a prayer of trust, of need for God's strength and protection, of awareness that spiritual warfare is constant, and that Christ is present.

I encourage you to slowly pray this prayer every day for a week or so. Reflect on it, receive grace while you pray, let it shape your mind and heart.

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I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith,
Christ's Incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on the cross for my salvation.
His bursting from the spiced tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch,
His might to stay,
His ear hearken to my need;
The wisdom of God to teach,
His hand to guide,
His shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
against false words of heresy,
against the knowledge that defiles,
against the heart's idolatry,
against the wizard's evil craft,
against the death-wound and the burning,
the choking wave,
the poisoned shaft,
protect me Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word,
Praise to the Lord of my salvation; 
Salvation is of Christ my Lord.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Ancient Future Faith

Ancient Future Faith is a mid-size community I do at Living Word Community Church.

This year my spiritual friend, fellow theologian and LWCC colleague, Gordon Carpenter will be co-teaching and co-facilitating this community with me.

Here is what we seek to do at AFF.

We study the Bible in a meaningful way. This year we focus on Ephesians as our main text.

We then do some theological thinking about the meaning of these biblical passages, what we learn about Christ and what we learn about our life with Christ.  (See important images at the end of this post.)

We do spiritual formation, seeking to align our lives with what we learn from our study of the Bible and our theological thinking.

And we seek to understand our cultural dynamics so we may be missional people of God.

Add in some good learning processes to this and we create a transformative environment.

J.I. Packer once said, "North American Christianity is 3000 miles wide and 1/2 inch deep." This is how we seek to form deeper followers of Christ.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

So Old it Looks New (a phrase from Peter Maurin)

 

Ancient-Future Faith

The Forgotten Ways

These are two of my favorite phrases for Christian spirituality.

Now, thanks to Peter Maurin of the Catholic Worker who wrote back in the 1930's, I have a third phrase to add.

So Old It Looks New

Tonight, along with a team of facilitators, we are launching a new missional, learning community. We are calling it:  Ancient-Future Faith. You can read more about it under Important Information in the right hand column.

The big purpose of the Monday night community is to rediscover the Ancient and Forgotten Faith and out of it, develop a spirituality that will serve as the way into our Future.

According to Peter Maurin, some of these ways are so old, and so forgotten, that they seem to be brand new, never seen before, never tried before. They aren't. They are just so old that they look new.

I'll be putting copies of the participant's guide every week on the Ancient-Future Faith page. Anyone may download a copy.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International