Establishing a Life Rhythm

Resources for further study

Here are some great books you'll want to check out as you continue to study the spiritual life and live out your rhythm:

The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard

Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster

Prayer, Richard Foster

Simply Christian, N.T. Wright

Life Rhythm Week Nine: A Rule of Life

Our final week in class! There was a short talk on integrating the disciplines into a cohesive "rule of life" (of life rhythm) that is personal, balanced, realistic, and flexible. Then we spent some time going through the process of writing a life rhythm. The audio file and worksheet are both linked below:

Download Life_Rhythm_9_Rule_of_Life.mp3

Download life_rhythm_9_worksheet_2.doc

One comment Merv made at the end of class was that it would be helpful for us to determine what our current life rhythm is before we dive into determining what we want it to be. That way we'll have some idea of how realistic it is. Happy rhythming!

There have to be times in your life...

A few of you mentioned having some strong emotional reactions to the few paragraphs I read at the beginning of the class session last time, and said you wanted to explore those things further. Here are the paragraphs I read. As you read them, pay attention to your thoughts and feelings - do you feel anxious and worried? Perhaps you feel desire and longing beneath that? Explore the stirrings in God's presence.

There have to be times in your life when you move slow . . . times when you walk rather than run, allowing your body to settle into each step . . . times when you sit and gaze admiringly at loved ones, rather than forcing through an agenda . . . times when you receive food and drink with gratitude and humility rather than gulping it down on your way to something “more important.” Times when hugs linger and kisses are real.

There have to be times when you read for the sheer pleasure of it, marveling at the beauty of words and writers’ endless creativity in putting them together. There have to be times when you sink into the comforts of home and become human again rather than using home as a hotel or fast-food restaurant; times when you light a candle and find the place inside you that loves, and then pray out of that place. There have to be times when you let yourself feel what you feel, when you let tears come rather than blinking them back because you don’t have time to cry. There have to times to be the creature—softer, more vulnerable and more human—rather than always being tough, defended and in control.

There have to be times to sit with your gratitude for the good gifts in your life that get forgotten in the rush. To celebrate, and play, and roll down hills, and splash in water, and spread paint on paper or walls or each other.

There have to be times to sit and wait for the fullness of God that replenishes body, mind and soul—if you can even stand to be so full. There has to be time for the fullness of time, or time is meaningless.

Rhythm Method

In the session on Sabbath, we talked about how we human beings are accustomed to regular rhythms, and how we thrive on them. The picture above illustrates one rhythm that's absolutely vital to our survival.

Here's an interesting article about some of the more subtle human rhythms we have that we don't think about most of the time:

Rhythm Method, from the Creating Passionate Users blog.

Here's a follow-up post, too.

Rule of Life worksheet

Here's the Rule of Life worksheet I handed out Wednesday night:

Download life_rhythm_9_worksheet.doc

We'll be working on these next week, and I'll bring some example rhythms to help get your creative juices flowing. Start sketching your life rhythm this week, though!

Life Rhythm Week Eight: Sabbath

This is the second-to-last class in the session! It was on practicing Sabbath, with lots of practical suggestions on what a Sabbath looks like in our culture. Download the audio using the link below, and the get the assignments by clicking the "continue reading" link at the bottom of this post.

Download Life_Rhythm_8_Sabbath.mp3

Some of you had some great questions afterward. Let's use the blog this week to post questions or struggles we have with practicing Sabbath; it can be a doozy in our culture. Click the "comments" button to interact.

Class tonight: Sabbath

Tonight's class will be on the discipline of Sabbath keeping: why it's important, what it does for us, what it might look like in the modern world, what it might look like in your life, what's included, what's excluded, and a few other good things.

You'll also get a worksheet to help you start thinking about your life rhythm. Next week (Dec 20) is our last class, where we'll talk about what a "Rule of Life" is, and how to live in the rhythm we've decided on.

Quote from Wednesday

Here's the quote from the last portion of the class last Wednesday:

"What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything else. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekend, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

-Joseph Campbell

Knowing God's will

Here's Part 2 of Andrew Booth's two-part message series on Divine Guidance:

Download knowing_gods_will__divine_guidance_pt. 2.mp3

Download and listen to it when you get a chance.

Hearing God

Back in July, my good friend Andrew Booth did two Sunday morning messages on hearing God's voice and knowing God's will. I've posted the audio here as a supplemental resource if you'd like to dive further into this subject. The series was really well-done and practical.

Download hearing_god__divine_guidance_pt. 1.mp3

I'll upload part 2 tomorrow.