Well, today Ruth will be working with the LWCC staff from 9 - 3, walking us thorugh "some" of her material on cultivating spiritual community.
I hope to have time to blog a little tonight about that.
But . .. last night was great.
The ambience of the Commn Grounds Coffee Bar was just right for this kind of event.
I had the opportunity to meet a number of people from a variety of churches.
It was fun to be with friends from LWCC who are interested in spiritual formation.
And of course, it was really good to meet and hear Ruth Barton
Ruth used a very interesting format for the evening. I had assumed she does this often, but when I talked with her afterwards, she told me it was the first time she had ever used this format.
She gave a "spiritual autobiography" talk, walking us through her journey by walking us through her books and what was going on in her life that was the occasion and the impetus for her to write those books. For anyone who has ever been trained in Bible College or Seminary on how to study the Bible, you know the words - context, context, context. Understand the context in which the text is being written. Ruth gave us the personal, spiritual, autobiographical context and it was really neat. It kind of makes me want to go back and re-read all her books.
Of all the many (and I do mean many!) good nuggets she dropped into our hearts and minds last night, here are a few that hit me. I'll just mention them without any commentary (or this would be really long).
ONE: A good journey begins with knowing who you are and a willingness to go somewhere else.
TWO: Sabbath is one of the hardest spiritual discipliines. (yes...)
THREE: Spiritual formation can be harrowing and dangerous.
FOUR: The bedrock of our being must be the Presence of God (not our work for God).
FIVE: Silence and solitude cannot be optional, they are vital for the soul to meet with God.
SIX: Spiritual transformation is beyond our ability to manage . . . but we can engage in the spiritual disciplines that become the means through which God works our transformation.
SEVEN: Desperation is a good thing; it is what makes us willing to try things that we would otherwise resist.
EIGHT: For those of us who are performance and achievement driven, we will come to really bad places that will then make us desperate for spiritual transformation.
NINE: For her, an author, speaker, thinker - there came a point when "words weren't working . . ."
TEN: She asked - do you miss God?
Each of the above spoke to me. I am looking forward to our time today.
Thanks to Hearts and Minds for this wonderful event.
Blessings to all of you and may you find today, The One You Miss.
Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
