Re-evaluating our Spiritual Rhythms
How do we make sense of life and its rhythms? It's a question that we ponder from time to time. Perhaps more in the last few years than at other times in human history, people have tried to make sense of the moments in which we have found ourselves. More often than not, attempts to make sense of life are done through the lens of who are as humans, our own ingenuity, even our history. The Scriptures however encourage us to think differently. In fact the Bible encourages us to take a bigger view: a cosmic view of sorts to help make sense of life and our place in the cosmos. Throughout this year in church we will focus on God's extraordinary purposes and how that impacts our ordinary lives, especially when it comes to the rhythms that make up the everyday. There’s a pattern to our activities. We build structure into our days. We create family traditions and rituals. Our churches use “liturgies,” even if we never write them down — we tend to follow the same order of worship week by week. Even though we often rejoice in spontaneity and flexibility, the truth is we like routines; we prefer order to chaos. We live by rhythms.
This is why spiritual disciplines or rhythms are so important. But have you ever asked yourself: What is the goal of spiritual rhythms or practices? When I read my Bible, pray, give, fast, or any other spiritual practice, what am I hoping will happen? It's sometimes the case that we don't understand why we need to practice them or what we are trying to experience or accomplish when we practice them. It can be easy to miss what God is trying to do in us, around us, and in those practices. We can read our Bible, pray, take a sabbath, and miss all that it could be. When this happens it's easy to get frustrated with ourselves, think something is wrong with us, and then fail to reengage with God. There are many reasons this happens, but I think one of them centres on our spiritual rhythms.
It's probably true to say that Spiritual rhythms, disciplines or practices are often given a bad wrap. Sometimes they're viewed as just "going through the motions". Or perhaps we think of them like a sort of left-over legalism from the “devotion” or “quiet time” days when people saw these rhythms as a way to achieve spiritual points or something. Rather than a way to connect with a God who loves us, wants to lead us, refresh us and guide us towards greater wellbeing in our lives.
I like the idea of spiritual disciplines because they help me see life as a rhythm. Rhythms get the idea of movement, timing, seasons, and life in that way. Practices help me to know that I am practicing, I have not arrived. Every time I feast, pray, sit in silence or join in community, I am practicing. And, if I don’t get it right (which is often) or if things feel stale (which happens), I am practicing.
Spiritual practices are how we connect with God and relate to God. But spiritual practices also do something else; they are how we become more present to God, others, and ourselves. They reorient our hearts and lives around the things of God, which is crucial in our world that is so loud and easily distracts us.
While spiritual practices do many things, I think they bring about two important things:
They are about our formation, becoming more like Christ, and how we walk with Christ as his disciples, as his apprentices, alongside him.
They help us to be present with God, ourselves, and others. They help us be aware of what is happening in us, what is going on in others, and what God is doing. They help us not to miss things.
As we practice them, we look for how God is forming us. As we experience difficulty or struggle through practice, we look for what God is doing in us, how we are being shaped, and who we are being shaped into.
My prayer is that this term and indeed throughout this year we will see how God's extraordinary purposes are intrinsically connected with how we order our daily lives through spiritual rhythms & seasons; how they're stitched into the very fabric of creation, reflected in our life together and based in the wisdom of Jesus.