Spiritual

Humans are spiritual beings. Even if people don't participate in "spiritual formation" exercises or "spiritual disciplines" or even have faith, all people have souls that are fulfilled only in God. We are all spiritual beings.

Acknowledging this is helpful because it helps us when we wonder what we should do or how to help others. What we should do is know that being accepted into God's family through Christ's work is the best privilege, and that loving and serving God is incredibly important. When we do that, we often feel happy or joy.

And our neighbor, who we may not agree with or may not see much hope in, is a person with a nature that longs for God. They may not acknowledge it or fully feel convicted of that fact, but the truth is that a relationship with Christ is what will fill a part of them that felt empty.

The amazing thing is that paying attention to the spiritualness of humans and life helps the physical. We shouldn't separate the two. When we love God, and feel that peace, we feel compelled to love others. Physically we may feel better because love helps us take better care of ourselves and others.

Some thoughts on 'The Quiet Life'

It is interesting today that the moral life is often equated with filling your day with doing good.  To be moral, as many think, is to be in a constant state of activity of 'doing good'.  It is interesting since the two greatest commandments in the bible are commands to be, not to do.  Loving the Lord your God is first a call to a life of personal devotion and prayer and then a call to act.  Loving your neighbor is first a call to an attitude toward your neighbor and then a call act.  Good works (doing good) by will power and not out of pleasure is not part of the Christian tradition, but the Pharisaic tradition.  The Pharisaic tradition was quite impressive at keeping/doing commandments, but missed the whole thrust of the law which is first being a certain way and then doing out of that sort of heart.  The difficulty is that God demands all of our heart-mind-soul-strenght as his own, while we loves so little thus violating the whole of the law.  But, that is the meaning of the cross - that we receive what Christ deserves and he on the cross what we deserve.

The trust of what I'm getting at is that the quiet life is essential to the holy life.  Jesus himself spent much of his time in the quiet life - he went to remote regions - he went upon the sea - he withdrew from crowds seeking teaching.  If Jesus could not minister without the quite life, then how can we?  It is in a sense, knowingly or unknowingly, very prideful to think we could lead a holy life without the quiet life as even Jesus could not do this.

Billy Graham was asked if he was to redo his ministry what the most significant thing would change would be. He said that he would pray more and read more scripture and preach less. Often we can accomplish more in ministry by focusing more on being and less on doing. Sometimes we accomplish little because we try to do too much.

John Bunyan Quote

"One day as I was passing into the field ... this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven. And me thought, withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, he wants [lacks] my righteousness, for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, 'The same yesterday, today, and forever.' Hebrews 13:8. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed...."
—John Bunyan