I'm not sure how to conclude these Invitation to Solitude & Silence sessions we've had together. I am so grateful to have been able to share Ruth Haley Barton's life changing little treasure with you. I'm appreciative that you've shared this series with your Facebook friends and have found this to be a safe community where you are comfortable in giving us a peek into your own unique spiritual journey.
I've been touched by seeing God at work.
Some of you have written that you've said, 'yes, please' to God's very personal invitations during these past six weeks. That's what spiritual growth is all about, isn't it.
As you finish up the book, you might find yourself yearning to do a bit of re-reading with highlighter in hand or perhaps some journaling on passages that have hit home for you. Anticipate the delightful probability of God inviting you to consider a life-changing decision or two in the days ahead.
And in the process, may Jesus Christ continue to be praised.
'Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity'
{Jeremiah 29:12 - 14}.
Two final quotes from Invitation to Solitude & Silence ...
Chapter 11 - Receiving Guidance
The capacity to recognize the voice of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit arises out of friendship with God that is sustained through prayer, silent listening and attentiveness to all that is going on outside us, inside us, and between us and God. Through practice and experience we become familiar with the tone of God's voice, the content of his communications with us and his unique way of addressing us. We learn to recognize God's voice just as we recognize the voice of a loved one on the other end of the phone. There is a place deep inside each of us where God's Spirit witnesses with our spirit about things that are true (Rom 8:16). It takes experience and practice to learn to recognize the communication that goes on in that place.
Chapter 12 - For the Sake of Others
We discover that much that happens in solitude and silence ends up being "for others" - as paradoxical as that may seem. Our speech patterns are refined by the discipline of silence, because growing self-awareness enables us to choose more truly the words we say. Rather than speech that issues from subconscious needs to impress, to put others in their place, to compete, to control and manipulate, to repay hurt with hurt, we now notice our inner dynamics and choose to speak from a different place, a place of love, trust and true wisdom that God is cultivating within us. Over time we become safer for other seeking souls, because we are able to be with them and the issues they are dealing with without being hooked by our own anxieties and fears. We are comfortable with our humanity, because we have experienced God's love and compassion in that place, and so it becomes very natural for us to extend love and compression to other in their humanity.
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What's been your biggest aha moment from the book?
And where do you go from here with what you've gleaned?
Beyond Words
Beginnings
Resistance
Dangerously Tired
Book Open House #3
Rest for the Body
Rest for the Mind
Book Open House #4
Rest for the Soul
Emptiness
Book Open House #5
Facing Ourselves
Pure Presence
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Book Open House #3
Rest for the Body
Rest for the Mind
Book Open House #4
Rest for the Soul
Emptiness
Book Open House #5
Facing Ourselves
Pure Presence
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* * * Blogging Pitfalls. It's lots of fun to write up a storm, to share our faith, creativity, stories, to cultivate an online community ... and invest valuable time in running around visiting our online friends. But fasten your seat belts because we're going to be talking about the behind the scene pitfalls that so easily come along with our passion to blog.
* * * The Next Book Open House Selection - Coming soon.
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