Over the past 6 or 7 years I have drawn a group together to spend several weeks experiencing and practicing the spiritual disciplines. Usually this group is pretty homogeneous; folks my age, life style, circumstances. But this time I recruited young adults, parents of young families, and of course my friends who would have a hard time turning me down. The reason I wanted this was to get a cross view of generational perspectives. Believe me, millennials do not view the world the same way as boomers, or busters, or X-ers. So it is nice group, hopefully outspoken, willing to share their ideas, thoughts and concerns.
So I started this group with the question I always start with..Why? Why care about this stuff? What can you gain? And the obvious answers, Self-improvement, curious, and my favorite..they love my teaching (sorry, ego is an insidious creature)
So we spend some time looking at what the real goals need to be. You see, spiritual disciplines can be a wonderful handmaiden, but a terrible taskmaster. If you don't understand the point, the exercise can begin to create terrible strain and even more guilt than what you started with.
So we spent the time talking about "wisdom" or discernment as our culture would understand it. Dallas Willard says that the world doesn't need more talented people, or smarter people, but deeper people. I agree. You see most churches can't seem to develop a very balanced approach to spiritual formation. Depending on the talent and inclination of the pulpit guy, most churches will tilt towards service, or knowledge, or emotional mountain tops, few lean toward inner piety, but the imbalance will inhibit growth. So this time together will allow us to re-balance our tires, to find a smoother ride in a world that wants us to go along a road that promises to be bumpy.
Anyway, for those who are in the group..welcome. For those who are not, I will share a little of our insights as time goes by.
In the meanwhile..Godspeed.
Don
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