Pastoral Thought--July 21

 Besides the Bible, I don’t have a lot of books in my library that I have purchased on more than one occasion.

Interestingly there is only one author whose books I have I purchased multiple times: Richard Foster. I have purchased, read, and given away two of his books. The first book that I bought and re-bought is: Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home. His seminal work, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, is the other book that I have purchased on more than one occasion. It sits over my right shoulder on the shelf. I refer to this text a lot. I have some of the pages marked in multiple colors of pens and markers. There are tiny post-it notes sticking out of the pages of the book for quick reference. 

Anyone unfamiliar with Foster’s work, I highly recommend him to you. You will not read very far into his writing without being challenged and blessed. 

Foster encourages his readers to press deeper into their relationship with God through many different spiritual disciplines and practices that he has worked with. He argues that the disciplines that occupy the pages of his books, which have been accessible to the church for generations, will help us live faithfully and intimately with God in a way that we do not initially realize. 

In his 1998 book, Celebration of Disciplines, he wrote these words for the church:

"Superficiality is the curse of our age. 

The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. 

The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, 

or gifted people, but for deep people.”

These words were published 23 years ago but feel relevant and applicable today. As I read them I shake my head in a act of silent confession about their validity and applicability in my life.

How many of us know someone who struggles with superficiality? Maybe if when we are honest we might confess to the struggle in ourselves. In an age of constant contact, immediate email access, and apps on our devices that allow us to locate another person across the globe instantly, the challenge to be deliberate, deep, and practice patience is great. How can I focus on God when there are so many things drawing me away? 

 At some point in almost every day of the week I wonder about going out to the prayer chapel and sitting there so that I can practice being still with God. Yet, when the time comes to stand up and walk to the woods that are adjacent to the church, I find something else to do. . . Or, if I go, I take my cell phone or my iPad with me—just in case someone calls. That does not feel like a practice of going deep, but one of ‘checking the right box.’ 

I wonder what might happen in our lives as Christians if we took deliberate steps, as Foster suggests, and worked to deepen our faith? 

Blessings

Rev. Derek