Last night I had the cell team at our house and spent a while discussing where they found it easiest to worship God. The shower scored quite high. A place of self forgetfulness. Somebody else said that they liked to be on their own because they could sit with their feet up or play a CD. One wanted to wander and look at scenery. The kids being somewhere else was a factor, too. (more…)
Last Sunday we spent 15 minutes in a guided meditation which meant a lot of silence. It was based on an idea from The Art of Theological Reflection. I will write it up under ideas. The event illustrated how far we have moved in that there was evidence that people were being stirred by the Holy Spirit at least as much as if they had been involved in sung worship. I need to collect some more feedback but it looked as though, for the people I talked to at least, it had helped them gain useful insights.
The issue for us is learning that there can be just as authentic an interaction with the Holy Spirit mediated through this kind of spiritual exercise as could be achieved by singing. I think that we probably need to take seriously the role of testimony in doing practical theology. If people are willing to get up on their feet and say what happened it will be a real help.
Drafted this post back in February and forgot to post it then. Still seems interesting though I haven’t had chance to follow it up.
Just finished some sessions with Dr Brenda Mosedale all about spirituality and personality. She referred to a book by Bruce Duncan who has looked at styles of prayer and related them to Myers Briggs patterns.
Pity the book isn’t in print at the moment.
There are some notes at booklogging which should help on how to work the ideas out.
I’m done with the stuff on holistic spirituality for a while and wanted to post a bit about and area I am reviewing just now.
I have been re-reading Gary Thomas’s Sacred Pathways and thinking about how we are getting on in church in trying to honour the fact that there are a number of ways of relating to God, drawing near to him and even in a charismatic church we are not all the same.
He identifies ten groups which are boiled down to seven in the Willow Creek version in their workbook An Ordinary Day with Jesus
Naturalists: Loving God out of doors
Sensates: Loving God with the senses
Traditionalists: Loving God through ritual and symbol
Ascetics: Loving God in solitude and simplicity
Activists: Loving God through Confrontation
Caregivers: Loving God by loving others
Enthusiasts: Loving God with mystery and celebration
Contemplatives: Loving God through adoration
Intellectuals: Loving God with the mind
Inevitably Thomas’s sacred pathways intersect with differing personality types but he steers clear of making too much of that link. His pathways are, Naturalists Some of these sacred pathways are linked to the Traditions of the church, the expressive to the Pentecostals and Charismatics, the intellectual to Protestantism, contemplative to the monastic tradition.
He is well aware that focusing on one of these ways to the exclusion of others is not a prescription for a healthy life but equally recognising that one size does not fit all is a pretty impressive permission-giver.
There is some resources stuff on his site that other churches have developed and contact me if you want some thoughts about working it through in talks and small groups. It’s certainly worth looking at the Willow version but is only one session of a big package.
