I originally wrote this to encourage someone else that I don't even know (one of my brother's friends). Then I thought, 'It's about that time for me to encourage myself.' That is why I've titled this piece, "Note To Self" via yours truly. The person expressed that they find themselves loosing sight of their faith, wanting to pray but is too focused on themselves to do so. My response to her (which is also written to myself):
"mystery person - we ALL fall into that. i will give you props for acknowledging that. BUT, i'm one who believes and tries to live by "with acknowledgment should come action" ... now that you know what is leading you to get caught up in loosing sight of your faith, what can you do/ how can you add MORE sight to your faith? desire is good. the question is: HOW MUCH do you REALLY want to pray? if you want so much to pray, then it would gradually be moving up your list of priorities, and then when it does get to that point, if it's something that you know you want daily, i would only think that you'd want to make your way there, no matter who or what stands in your way, even if it is you, yourself.
i hope you keep walking and i wish you a purposeful journey where you are able to be drawn closer to Him, because the truth is, though we're selfish and focus on us, even in those moments, God is focused on us, He is focused on you, He's never lost sight of you ... happy journeying as you make your way to His feet, once again."
A proposal for an exercise this Lent: Pick one of the books of the Bible, and copy the entire
ReplyDeletebook by hand. If something jumps out at you in a positive way, then
mark it with a cross. If you encounter something that you do not
understand or have a question about, mark it with a question mark.
When Doug told me about this, it struck me as an intriguing exercise.
I anticipate that the act of copying the text in longhand will cause
me to think about the text in ways that I had not previously. I
expect it will slow down the reading/perceiving. I see this as a way
of engaging with the text more actively than our usual, habitually
passive reading.
Since I am proposing this as a Lenten exercise, do a little planning.
Take whatever book you choose and decide how to divide it up in order
to complete it in the forty days of Lent. I suggest: (1) Using a
fresh notebook, and (2) copying the Biblical text onto the left side
page and writing your comments and questions on the right side page.
Doug's pastor said that in Botswanna, they asked that when the people
read the text and think about: the nature of God, the sin of man, the
work of Christ for us, and the salvation that God provides. But I
would stress not limiting yourself to that.
I plan on doing the book of Romans. If you decide to do a long book,
maybe you should start sooner.
Where this came from: Doug's pastor had gone to Botawanna as a
missionary for 3 months. He said that as a method of evangelizing
Botswannans, they asked them do the above exercise and found that it
worked very well. The missionary was now proposing it for members of
Doug's church in PA--Lehigh Valley Baptist Church in Emmaus When Doug
told me about this, I liked it instantly and gave me the idea for
Lent.
Encouragement: You may think this is too child -like or too
unsophisticated for you. Look on it as an exercise in putting aside
your ego, your arrogance, and your self-pride. It is like becoming a
child in a way, in the New Testament sense. Think of it as a way of
trusting and opening your mind. Also, note that this is what monks
did in the Middle Ages in their scriptoriums.
What if we call this, The Botswanna Exercise? (lol)
My own idea to add on to this exercise: Starting on Easter /
Resurrection Day or during the week after, in the same notebook,
journal your thoughts, questions, feelings, etc. regarding the
experience of copying the book. What did you get out of this
exercise? Was it a disappointment? You can even write bad things
about me if you didn't like it! I will never know!