Category: Spiritual Formation

To remain… to abide… to bear fruit

by Dan, posted in Discipleship/Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Formation

I have been in the habit of reading through a daily lectionary reading the past several months. It is a joyous journey that keeps me faithfully reading the broad scope of the biblical story.

But then there are passages that sweep into my spirit with a fresh wind and I am held there for a bit of time. It messes up my “schedule”, but I get less worried about that over time. I love the story. And I love the “camping out.” Both are necessary for my life.

Continue reading “To remain… to abide… to bear fruit” →

Vices… when seeking good goes bad

by Dan, posted in Spiritual Formation

All the vices are distorted or excessive attachments to good things. Wrath is ostensibly born of concern for justice and honor, greed regards sufficient possessions, gluttony is about food, vainglory seeks the approval of others. Vice happens when our pursuit of these good things gets twisted, that is, when we try to make them fill gaps and needs in our hearts that only God can fill, and when we define happiness in terms of them, rather than appreciating them as (finite) blessings from God. — Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies

Reading Holy Scripture

by Dan, posted in Bible Study, Spiritual Formation

If you will profit by reading Scripture, read humbly, simply, and faithfully, and never desire to gain by your reading the name of the learned. Ask gladly and heed humbly the saying of saints, and do not disdain the parables of the ancient Fathers, for they were not spoken without great cause. — Thomas A’ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ