Martinsville, Virginia ~ Pastor's Page
Spiritual discipline? Do we really want to take on one more thing that is going to show us that we don’t have any—discipline? I wondered about that, too, when I thought about using a book on spiritual discipline for Lent. The word “discipline” always brings to my mind being sent to the principal’s office or having to play scales on the piano. In short, drudgery.
But, I have LOVED this book (The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, John Ortberg). I want to make sure those of you who cannot come to the Wednesday night Lenten suppers have a taste of it, too. First, I love the title because a life making use of spiritual disciplines in order to be more loving to people IS the life we have really always wanted. John Ortberg makes sure that we understand that spiritual disciplines are useless, or worse, if they do not lead us to “love God, love people” as he loosely translated Jesus’ summary of the law. “Practices such as reading scripture...are important—not because they prove how spiritual we are—but because God can use them to lead us into life.” (p. 39)
Even though Ortberg defines a spiritual disciplines as any activity that helps us live as Jesus taught, he zeros in on several that are most relevant to how we live today. There are two in par-ticular that have to do with the busy lives we live, even after we are retired. In our modern society, we think we are not valuable unless we are busy all the time. He urges us to practice the discipline of slowing down our hurried lives. Life is not about accomplishments, it is about the relationships we have.
The second is about celebrating. Ortberg wrote that he was urging his daughter to hurry up and finish her bath and she asked him the profound question “Why?” He realized there was no particular reason, he was just used to hurrying up. His daughter loved taking a bath, and she loved drying off, and she loved moving on to the next thing because she enjoyed life. We adults often do not. Better for us if we learn to enjoy what God is giving us all the time.
Ortberg covers the disciplines that you would expect him to cover—such as prayer, reflecting on scripture, serving others, and giving. But, each time his approach is grounded in our deepest spiritual needs. He has a chapter on confession entitled “Life Beyond Regret: the Practice of Confession” sums up why we need on-going confession to God and to others.
We will be meeting two Wednesdays in March for supper and for discussion 5:30 – 6:45 PM. Please join us.
March 10 – “A Life of Freedom: the Practice of Secrecy”
March 24 – “A Life of Endurance: the Experience of Suffering”
– Pr. Lynn
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1527 Church Street Extension, PO Box 5184, Martinsville, VA 24115
Voice: (276)632-4677
(Fax on demand)
