Today I finally received a copy of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius from Paperback Swap. I have been intrigued by the Jesuit Order probably since I first saw a Jesuit missionary portrayed in a movie, and could not be sure if he was a good guy or bad guy. I chose to do a brief study (which I have included below) of the Jesuits and Ignatius for research in the Global Christian History course at Wesley Seminary.
Three weeks ago I signed up to be a part of Lectio: Guided Bible Reading. I considered blogging about it immediately, just in case others wanted to sign up, but since I had not used it before, I thought I should check it out first. I have enjoyed it, so here is the rundown.
My cat coughed up a massive nasty hairball the other night.He was not trying to gross me out; he was just being a cat. In fact, he would have probably gotten sick if he had not been able to expel that hairball, so he got it out, and I cleaned it up. I did not scold him for not going outside to get sick. Afterwards, he felt a lot better, and fell asleep on my lap. The next day, he was out again keeping our neighborhood free of mice.
I use this blog as part of my journaling. Last year my goal was to make 24 posts (averaging two per month). This year my goal was 36 posts, and next year, my final goal is to write 48 posts in a year. I have achieved my goal for the year, and I still have four months remaining! I hope these have been edifying and enjoyable for those few of you that read my notes. Continue reading Goal Achievement
Usually I am several months ahead in coming up with potential research paper topics, but for the final two Wesley Seminary praxis courses (Congregational Spiritual Formation and Congregational Relationships) I have not come up with anything solid. This is especially frustrating because spiritual formation is supposed to be one of my strengths. Here are the two ideas I have been tossing around for spiritual formation.
Even though there are two chapters and an epilogue remaining, this will be my final post on SoulShift. The final chapters contain good practical aids for making a personal plan to achieve a soul shift and encouraging words to spur us on.
Chapter 7 begins with the most powerful illustration in the book, and I will not spoil it by re-posting it here; read the book. Continue reading SoulShift #7: Me to We
As I read this chapter, I recalled a cartoon I watched as a child. A wolf sits in a cave reading the newspaper. He reads the front page headline with delight. The U.S. Army has drafted the sheep dog for the war (WWII) effort. The wolf races from his den, down the hill to have a sheep lunch, but he is quickly and brutally rebuffed. The battered wolf returns to the cave to read the continuation of the news article below the fold line. The second headline reads: Continue reading SoulShift #6: Sheep to Shepherd
This soul shift focus on two areas, discernment and prayer, and personally, I think this is the best written chapter thus far.
Regarding discernment , I think the authors did an excellent job describing and putting into proper balance those things we use to discern God’s will: wise counsel, the Bible, and the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is all to easy to rely too heavily upon one of these tools. Asking people but not God, “using the Bible like “a magic 8 ball” (DeNeff & Drury), or always requiring a sign, all take one method of God leading us to an extreme. As we mature, taking on more of the mind of Christ, these things come into balance. Continue reading SoulShift #5: Ask to Listen
DeNeff and Drury point out that we in the USA live in a consumer orientated culture, and suggest that this mentality is part of church culture. I think while as Christians we should not be so removed from our culture that we have no bridges and common interests with the lost, the authors, and Jesus, are correct in saying how we view and use money and possessions is one area in which we must be counter-cultural. All things are a gifts to be used for God’s glory.
DeNeff and Drury encourage us to make this soul shift in three stages: spender to saver, saver to giver, sharing to blessing (generosity). They rightly show us that saving is not an end unto itself; it is only the first step. Also, since this is a continuum, I could see where I am, and where I need to move. How we deal with money will also affect our soul shift of seen to unseen.
One point the book does not deal with is the truth that for a married person this soul shift cannot be done alone. There is another continuum that we must deal with. Ask yourself the question, “Which do I desire more, freedom or security?” In general, men tend toward freedom and women toward security. When I was first asked this question, I thought I tended toward security, but as my response was analyzed I was actually a freedom guy. My answer went something like, “I would feel secure even if I didn’t have any money in the bank, as long as I didn’t owe money to anyone.” That is a freedom statement in the guise of security. My wife, on the other hand, does not mind owing money to people, provided that money we are paying is giving us a pay-off of security. Thus we have different philosophies on things like insurance.
In marriage, the two become one. It would be wrong of me to unilaterally cut our car insurance to the state mandated minimum and direct the savings to Josh and Becca Bowlin. (By the way, we are supporting the Bowlins, and they just need a few more supporters to get to 100%.) While cutting our insurance may be a good step to move from giving to blessing, it is a step that we would have to take together.
My reflections as I read through SoulShift by Steve DeNeff and David Drury.
©2011 Paul Tillman
This third soul shift is to move from merely trusting in what we see to trusting in what we cannot see. Often this is called having eyes of faith, and has a great example in Elisha and his servant who were surrounded by both the seen army of Aram and the unseen protection of the host of the Lord (2 Kings 6). Continue reading SoulShift #3: Seen to Unseen
