Author: brhythm

Silence and Solitude is an interesting idea to me, and not a spiritual discipline I’ve participated in before. This morning, I’ve tried to do things a little more quietly, and a little more slowly than normal. And yet, I have a day ahead of me that needs my attention. Here are some quick thoughts I need to come back to.

• Let your yes be yes and your no be no. It’s better to not vow than take a vow and break it.
• When you fast, don’t let anyone else know about it. When you pray, don’t make a big show of it.
• How can one participate in silence when one’s livelihood depends on communication? If I were to all of a sudden go silent, surely people would notice.

Perhaps a modified silence? There are modified fasts. I’m thinking a “only speak if spoken to” day of silence.

I wake up at 4:30am. By 4:45 I’m out the door, walking the dog, listening to the previous week’s prayer meeting’s prayers on my phone. When I’m in the shower I’m listening to podcasts, probably RC Sproul or more recently NT Wright. On the way to work I listen to the gospels on the car radio from my phone. Before 8am, I’ve already listened to three different kinds of media, had a walk, a shower, prayer time, Bible reading, and school text book reading. I can pack a morning pretty good.

And so this morning, as I read about the spiritual discipline of slowing down, and of silence, I wonder. This idea isn’t practiced by me. I’m busy. I realize I’m too busy. I’ve tried to say “no” to things over the past few years, but it seems even though I’m saying “no,” the calendar just fills up.

I have to write a paper for my spiritual transformation class. It’s a pretty open ended paper. The professor is very flexible. He’s so open it’s almost scary; how do I write a 15 page paper on “spiritual transformation” in general? I’ve got to whittle it down somehow. And right now I think I’ll try some spiritual disciplines I don’t normally practice, and write about my results. I already have an idea for my first shot at silence/solitude.

Just a quick thought this morning. Is “love” a spiritual discipline? I think it may be. It’s a spiritual gift, for sure, a fruit of the Spirit. If I don’t have enough of it, do I need to “practice” it? Should I set time aside in my day to love people, just as I set time aside to pray and read my Bible? Is God less pleased with me if I skip my Bible reading time and instead send a card to someone who is dying, or offer some answers to a questioning brother? I know I don’t love like I should (1 Cor. 13:2). Wouldn’t it make sense for me to strengthen myself in areas where I am weak, rather than continuing to work in areas where I’m already fairly gifted? I’m leaving this here for further reflection. I’m now going to send a text to someone who blesses me and give God glory on their behalf, and to answer the message of a friend who is hurting. My school studies will wait.

When God called Moses from the bush, Moses stopped what he was doing, and paid attention to where God was calling him. He “turned aside” from one thing in order to be present at a better thing.

Yesterday, I was talking with a new believing Christian friend. She admitted she was having a dry spell in her Bible reading, and that she didn’t feel as connected to God as she once did. I asked her where she was reading, and she admitted she was just poking around in the Bible, not really reading anything in particular. I told her maybe she should consider reading John’s gospel, and just meditating on that for a while.

This morning, I had an idea. How about I “turn aside” from my normal Bible reading (which right now is 1st Chronicles), and I read John along with her. I’ve pitched her this idea: I’ll read John, a chapter a day, Monday through Friday. That will get us through John in a little over a month. Each morning, after I’m done reading, I’ll send her an email with some basic thoughts and comments, and she can email me if she has any bigger questions. Let’s see how this goes.

And now, thinking about this, the time I’ll be using to write this email will be time I normally use to study for my Doctrine class. How am I going to make this all fit? Let’s see how God works through this, in her and in me. I’ll report back later.

Just yesterday I was bemoaning having to read the genealogies found at the beginning of 1st Chronicles. Today’s reading in chapter 4 brought me the Prayer of Jabez.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from the evil one.” And God granted his request.

Remember a few years back when studying this prayer was a fad? I never read the book; I assumed if it was getting that much attention it was probably fluff. I don’t think it was a particularly long book. Perhaps I should read it.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my Spiritual Formation and Transformation class required the keeping of a journal. Today, in my study time, the chapter for the class was all about the spiritual benefits of keeping a journal. Having kept a blog for years, the idea of journaling isn’t new to me, nor some of its benefits. Much of my Facebook posting (www.facebook.com/billyrhythm) is journaling, in a sense. In fact, I hope someday someone will make a tool that will allow me to export all that data from Facebook, and import it all here. I haven’t found such a plugin or software yet, though.

Anyway, during my morning study time, in addition to reading for my classes, I do my daily Bible reading. My Bible reading plan has been the same for years. First, get a Bible. Second, start at the front. Third, read through it until you get to the end. Fourth, start over.

It wasn’t too long though before I refined my plan some. After reading the King James version, I moved to the NIV. I’m not sure from whom I stole the idea, or if it came to me organically, but I decided to switch between “word for word” and “thought for thought” translations; first one, then the other. I also decided I’d read study Bibles, and in addition to reading the Biblical texts I would also read all the notes.

Currently, I’m reading the Reformation Study Bible in the ESV version. My previous pastor considers himself a reformed Baptist, and is a huge fan of John Calvin. I consider myself a traditional Baptist, and don’t hold to the TULIP theory. I decided to read the Reformation Study Bible though because of it’s copious notes, and because I wanted a better idea of the beliefs of Calvinists.

Five paragraphs in now, and here’s the whole reason I started this particular entry. In my Bible reading I just started I Chronicles. I never have issues slowing down in Leviticus; heck, I like reading Leviticus. But having read the Bible multiple times, I know I always feel like I have to slog through certain sections. The description of the new temple at the end of Ezekiel is a tough passage for me to get through, and the first nine chapters of First Chronicles. It’s the genealogy. Ugh. I admit, I find it hard to find the practical value of this portion of scripture. I’m reminded of something I learned in my homeletics class: “Preach Christ in every sermon.” When was the last time you heard a sermon from Chronicles? Have you ever heard a sermon from the the first part of Chronicles? I’m not sure I have. Why not? Probably for the very reason I have a hard time reading it: What’s the practical application for us today?

First Chronicles chapter two, here I come.

Yesterday in Spiritual Transformation class we talked briefly about being a good disciple of Christ in the workplace. I know it’s something I struggle with; I lose patience easily with co-workers, and I want to change that. I decided that, when I open the door to the shop, I’ll take a minute to pray for my coworkers, and most importantly for my own attitude. This morning, I opened the door. I didn’t pray. I punched in, walked over to my desk, and found that someone had left a random laptop charger there. I share my desk with the desk where we check in customer computers. It’s not very big, and it becomes a catch all for all kinds of random stuff. Not only do I hate working in clutter, but I don’t think it’s a good first impression to our customers. I try to keep it fairly tidy. So what did I do when I saw this charger just left there, not put in it’s proper home? That’s right, I threw it. Literally I had not been in shop a minute when I lost my patience, got angry, and threw something. I need a heart change.