Life With God: Final Post

“If gossip or empty talk is a struggle, we train through silence.  If greed, we retrain our view of possessing things by engaging in simplicity, frugality, giving.  If cursing, we train by blessing those who provoke our anger, taking up the habit of blessing for a month or so until we are more apt to bless than to curse.

(What practical words!)

“We address our vices by attending to the opposite virtues, and then seeking which Disciplines will train us in those virtues.

“Fasting is feasting on God.”

“Pause for a moment and consider how much time, money, energy, and thought you spend on meeting these basic needs for yourself, for family members (and pets), for friends and visitors in you home.  All of it is fertile ground for learning the ways of life with God.

“Grace is not a ticket to heaven, but the earth under our feet on the road with Christ.

“Bonhoeffer conceived of relationship with God in terms of ‘existence for others, through participation in the being of Jesus.’

“In Bonhoeffer’s life and teachings we witness the difference between the soft complacency of ‘cheap grace’ and the tough-minded discipleship of ‘costly grace.’

(Although I have often heard of Bonhoeffer, I have not read his works and I need to.  He was an amazing martyr for the faith during the Nazi occupation of Germany.)

“Grace is the action of God in our lives.

“God comes to us not to overwhelm us and overpower us, but to interrupt us in the midst of our ordinary routines, on the ground of what is familiar to us—everyday life, the arena in which most of life with God takes place.  He whispers rather than shouts, gently prompts rather than shoves, I am with you—will you be with me?

“Grace enables us to do with God what we could never do on our own.

“Grace is the invisible made visible in ways we could never dream of, much less bring about….grace operates like this: the more we use it, the more there is of it.

“God makes grace accessible to us by empowering us with the means for growth.

“Mother Teresa knew with every fiber in her body that John’s call to love does not refer to some warm feeling or abstract ideal.  She demonstrated, at great cost to her own comfort and feelings, that love involves clearheaded action toward God and others, rooted in Jesus’ sacrificial action on our behalf.

Life With God by Richard Foster

I have just finished a book called Life With God by Richard Foster.  The subtitle is Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation.  So that’s what it’s about…reading the Bible.  It also ties in to the spiritual disciplines we so need to develop in our lives.  I love Mr. Foster’s heart as he shares it in this book.  I will be sharing some excerpts from the book.

“Freedom comes not from the absence of restraint but from the presence of discipline.  Only the disciplined gymnast if free to score a perfect ten on the parallel bars.

  Only the disciplined violinist is free to play Paganini’s ‘Caprices.’ 

This, of course, is true in all of life, but it is never more true than in the spiritual life.  When we are on the spot, when we find ourselves in the midst of the crisis, it is too late.  Training in the Spiritual Disciplines is the God-ordained means for forming and transforming the human personality so that in the emergency we can be ‘response-able’—able to respond appropriately.”

Reflections on Autumn in Canada

The camp road

Phil says this has been the best trip of his life.

We have reveled in the glorious weather and scenery we enjoyed.  Except for a couple of days of rain, the rest of the days were picture perfect.  The fall colors were at their peak and the temperatures were most comfortable.  We did some stargazing on several nights, which included a spectacular view of the Northern Lights. 

View from Bear Track

Sundown Point

We enjoyed great food and fellowship.  Suppers of partridge, walleye, and wild rice (Fawnda outdid herself); breakfasts of blueberry & wild rice pancakes and delicious coffee (thanks, John); and other wonderful dishes (I made a chicken pot pie) tasted even better after a hard day’s work.  We ate well and had great conversations that deepened our ties to one another.

John & Fawnda

We played a couple of new games.  I finally had a chance to play “Ticket to Ride” which is very popular among the staff at camp.  We also played a quick an easy card game called Golf.  I’ll be happy to teach it to anyone who wants to learn.  Phil even played and enjoyed the games.

I spent some of my days working with the Bates children.  They are a wonderful bunch of kids.  I also spent time working of ideas for next years’ camp.  I feel like we made good progress.

And I read…ah, the luxury of quiet time to read.  I’ll be sharing some of what I read in later posts.  So many good things to think about.