Appendix 10
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TEMPTATIONS
SIGNS OF STUCKNESS AND FAILURE TO THRIVE
DISCIPLINES
SUMMER
KEY QUESTION
How can I grow as a disciple and share my faith?
PRIMARY LONGINGS
SIGNS OF THE SEASON
TEMPTATIONS
SIGNS OF STUCKNESS AND FAILURE TO THRIVE
DISCIPLINES
AUTUMN
KEY QUESTION
How do I shoulder responsiblity for my gifts and bear fruit?
PRIMARY LONGINGS
SIGNS OF THE SEASON
TEMPTATIONS
SIGNS OF STUCKNESS AND FAILURE TO THRIVE
DISCIPLINES
WINTER
KEY QUESTION
What happens when the well runs dry?
Who is God when the darkness comes?
PRIMARY LONGINGS
SIGNS OF THE SEASON
TEMPTATIONS
SIGNS OF STUCKNESS AND FAILURE TO THRIVE
DISCIPLINES
SEASONED SAINT
KEY QUESTION
How do I remain open and in communion with Jesus?
How do I graciously let go and prepare for my last letting go?
PRIMARY LONGINGS
SIGNS OF THE SEASON
TEMPTATIONS
SIGNS OF STUCKNESS AND FAILURE TO THRIVE
DISCIPLINES
Besides ages, stages and seasons of growth affecting the spiritual marathon, life circumstances play their own part. Illness, job changes, moving, weddings, vacations, work, caring for children or elderly parents, divorce, accidents, deaths—these are just a few of the many life circumstances that affect our ability to meaningfully engage and practice spiritual disciplines. It is important to consider the limitations as well as the opportunities that life circumstances bring.
Spiritual disciplines must be adapted to fit the reality of the life we are living. A person with a houseful of noisy children may long for solitude! But the realities of such a life takes him or her more deeply into disciplines of incarnating God’s love for others. Disciplines he or she can share with the children—care of the earth, hospitality, walking prayer or service—can be especially meaningful at this time. We must attend to what’s on our plate and not put emotional energy into wishing for a solitude that will definitely come. If the longing for solitude persists, we should ask God how to find time each week when someone else is in charge of the homefront while we spend time alone with him. Maybe it’s just an hour alone in the bathtub.
As I encourage people in the practice of spiritual disciplines, I find it intriguing to see how people with different life circumstances respond. Circumstances matter when it comes to disciplines. The grandmother living alone doesn’t really warm to the discipline of solitude; she has all she needs. But the busy CEO finds solitude a breath of fresh air. A mother of young children finds breath prayer suits her busy day, while a doctor seeking discernment on a new responsibility embraces the examen. I have found that my disciplines shift when I am on vacation, sick or traveling for work and when I have guests that stay for extended lengths of time. The more I attend to what God wants of me in these circumstances, the clearer I am on the practices that suit the situation. Disciplines are fluid; they flow in and out of our circumstances.
Ages, stages, seasons and circumstances always affect our relationship with God. So we should expect the journey to take us into new ways of noticing and attending to the divine romance.