Rhythms for Life (part 2: IN)

INward to self

Rhythm - an event repeating regularly over time

Rhythms for Life - what are the regularly repeated events or practices of our lives that help us to flourish as human beings?

How do we recognize that God is at work forming Christ in us? And then how do we learn to pay attention? How do we cooperate?

Over the centuries, spiritual practices have emerged among the people of God.

Sometimes, certain practices have been neglected or elevated, but there are a few that have persisted. And over the next four weeks, we’ll look at 12 of them.

During these four weeks, we’re listening for the rhythms that are part of the movement of God.

We’re learning how to notice the patterns or the repetitions and to see where they intersect with our own lives and our own spiritual practice.

And, this connects not only to who we are as individuals, but also to who we are as a community. As SWCC.

Our mission statement is that we are a community who seeks to live and love like Jesus. And we do that by seeking to deepen our connection to God (up), to one another (in & with) and with a cause (out). Up to God, in to self, with in community, and out in mission.

These four Sundays in June we’re exploring the four directions that the Rhythms for life take us: UPward to God, INward to self, WITHward in community and OUTward in mission.

Last week, we looked at practices that help us move UPward, a God-ward movement...

Solitude.

Gratitude.

Sabbath.

This week, we will look at the INward movement. How does God invite us to relate to ourselves. Before we think about relating to others, we have to start with how we relate to ourselves.

Self-examination.

Stewardship.

Guidance.

Now, a quick reminder once again, this is not a checklist. These are invitations. So there are no grades.

There is an invitation to see where you are already practicing these AND a beckoning to maybe deepen a practice or to try it a different way than you have before.

How does self-examination show up in your life?

How does stewardship express itself?

What does guidance look like for you?

Where do you seek it and how do you receive it?

The goal of the inward movement is integration. Integration - where all the parts of us relate to each other as intended. Inward movement is not self-actualization or “finding oneself” but becoming the most authentic versions of ourselves. Discovering the truth of ourselves - in all of our beauty and dignity AND in all of our struggle and brokenness. Until we accept the reality of who we are, we can’t expect growth. Sterne writes in his chapter on the INward movements:

“The inward journey is not merely embracing our good parts and ignoring our bad parts. Nor is it compulsively identifying our sin to the neglect of any good in us. Instead of embracing ourselves selectively, Christian self-acceptance embraces the whole picture of who we are.

We can do this because God doesn’t shrink back from our failures and mistakes, our sins and transgressions. He always moves towards us, even the darkest parts of us, with love. As Paul wrote, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). In accepting our whole selves before God, we embrace that we are not just sinners; we are beloved sinners.

This makes all the difference.”

Did you hear that one line in the middle?

“God always moves towards us, even the darkest parts of us, with love.”

If God moves toward us in love - always in love - is it possible that we can begin to join in on that rhythm…moving even towards our inner selves with love. That is the strain we’re trying to hear…seeking pick out from the music… each of these practices helps us to that. We take our cue from God - if God can move toward us in love, in compassion, can we also relate to ourselves in this way? If we are to make any progress toward the goal of integration, or becoming the most authentic versions of our human selves… well, then I think we have to start from this posture. No one has hated themselves into authenticity. No one has disciplined themselves into integration. Acceptance comes first. Acknowledging and allowing ourselves to see who we really are. Then love draws us in. Invites growth. Shines light into dark corners and onto shadow selves. But transformation isn’t the first step.

The three practices help us get a little more practical. Let’s look at each one: self-examination, stewardship, and guidance.

Self-examination.

French Reformer John Calvin once wrote “Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God.”

Self-examination is all about learning how to pay attention to our own lives, our own experiences so that we can become more aware even as we experience things in real time. It’s about reconnecting what can easily get disconnected.

Self-examination is an invitation to pay attention. To notice. But not in order to critique or to pass judgment. Just to notice so we are aware. And can live in a growing awareness of who we are and how we tend to approach things. (And, of course, how there are other legitimate ways to approach things as people will constantly demonstrate for us.)

Do you feel your way through a day? Do you act your way through a day? Do you think your way through a day?

Are you naturally focused on the present moment? The past? The next moment?

We don’t all answer those questions the same way. But also, sometimes we don’t even know the answers to those questions for ourselves. And self-examination helps us see and name the ways in which we most naturally move through the world.

One way of practicing this kind of paying attention is something I actually mentioned last week: Praying the examen.

I didn’t go into a lot of detail, but mentioned in passing that praying the examen includes looking back over a period of time, asking when did I feel most alive? When did I experience joy? When did I feel most connected to the Creator? I was making the connection between the examen and practicing gratitude. And it is helpful for that. But there is also more to it as well.

Tracing its roots back to 16th century Ignatius of Loyola, the Examen was meant to help the Christian grow in a awareness of God’s presence in every moment of life by paying attention (and learning to pay better attention) to when we have sensed God’s presence or have experienced God’s invitation throughout the day. Or maybe have even seen God at work - in our own lives or in the world around us.

But the examen also gives opportunity to see how we might be avoiding or resisting God’s invitations, or how our choices or habits might be keeping up from enjoying the freedom God’s love brings. Richard Foster described the Examen as a prayerful reflection on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of our day to see how God has been at work in our lives and how we respond.

There are many ways to engage in self-examination, but the one thing that they all have in common will be that they enable us to pay attention - and to grow in awareness. Self-examination leads us toward integration by helping us notice what’s going on internally.

Stewardship

Now, you might immediately think that stewardship is speaking about finances. And they are included, but stewardship is more far-reaching than just our money.

Stewardship is about how we relate to and handle all that has been entrusted to us. So yes, financial resources might well be included, but what about our time, our relationships, our work, our skills and talents...

Key to the practice of stewardship is the posture that it takes in relation to all that has been entrusted to us. All is actually God’s and we have been given access, opportunity, invited to STEWARD… going all the way back to Genesis 2 where the humans are put in the garden and asked to tend it, to cultivate it.

This principle extends to every part of our lives then.

These people? They belong to God first.

This house? It’s God’s.

These hours of my day? God’s.

This body? God’s.

This money? These possessions? They are God’s first.

When we steward what belongs to someone else, we take their wishes into consideration. What would God have me do with my body, my possessions, my time, my relationships, my…

And a key way that we flourish is in how we relate to, how we handle all that has been entrusted to us. All of that is stewardship.

And then thirdly, guidance.

The practice of guidance involves hearing from others so that we can see ourselves more clearly and catch a glimpse of how God is at work in our lives.

Note that even though this is an INward practice, it requires other people.

Just as solitude is an UPward practice. Guidance requires another person in order for us to receive the gift of what other people can see.

This is a practice that will require relationship.

For many people, guidance comes in the form of a spiritual director.

“What exactly do spiritual directors do? The simple and most direct answer I can give is that they help others attend to God’s presence and revelation and prepare to respond to him. In other words, they help people attune themselves to God.” (David Benner, Sacred Companions, p.106)

Within the protestant tradition, there is such a focus on learning and getting more knowledge - and so spiritual direction stops the fire hose spray of things to know and allows us to slow down and attend to the things that often get overlooked.

One image that I find really helpful when speaking spiritual direction is that of a midwife. A spiritual director, as a sort of spiritual midwife, is there to nurture that life within a person and to walk with them as it is brought forth into the world.

For me, spiritual direction has been a place where I receive and practice guidance.

There are, of course, other ways that we receive guidance. Some people find that a particular friend or two might serve as a place in which they feel they can receive guidance. Sometimes a spiritual leader or even a pastor ;) might be someone who helps us in this regard.

And then, of course, there are overlaps between practices and even in the directions. We mentioned the overlap of Praying the Examen leading to gratitude, but also to self-examination.

And some of you have found something like the enneagram to be a helpful tool, both for self-examination and for guidance. Those of you who are familiar are nodding away - as one of the gifts of the enneagram is that it not only exposes your “superpowers” and “achilles heels” but it also is a powerful tool for self-compassion and then ultimately of compassion for others with whom relationships might otherwise be fraught and full of misunderstanding.

The enneagram helps a person to discover and explore the questions I asked at the beginning… about whether you think, feel or act your way through a day. And about whether you focus tends to naturally be on the past, present or future. And knowing and understanding even these two things can have a massive impact on growing in self-awareness and in self-compassion. If you’re interested in exploring the enneagram, send me a note, or ask one of the Juras’…

And so I wonder...

How does self-examination show up in your life?

How does stewardship express itself?

What does guidance look like for you?

Where do you seek it and how do you receive it?

The goal of the inward movement is integration. Integration - where all the parts of us relate to each other as intended. Inward movement is not self-actualization or “finding oneself” but becoming the most authentic versions of ourselves. Discovering the truth of ourselves - in all of our beauty and dignity AND in all of our struggle and brokenness.

God moves toward us…always in love.

We learn to move toward ourselves in the same way. With acceptance and love first. Growth and transformation can come out of that posture.

May it be so.