"Beating around the bush", is something that I find as I age I do not like to do. Perhaps its because I realize my time is running out, so to speak. I do not like to waste the moments given to me. When a situation rises I like to cut right to the chase and deal with the matter.
Some people might think that is abrupt. Others may think its tactless. Even others may agree with my tactics and become brave enough to give it a try. What's weird is that usually thinking about confrontation chews me up on the inside. Going down the path of exhortation is more of my daily journey now.
Often times the work I am involved in is messy. Expectations get muddled. Focus becomes blurred. Whats' real is often mixed in with fantasy or worse, when its spiritualized and cloaked in "God speak." My current job is to help others confirm their call. That's serious, deadly business in a way. I am dealing with holy matter here. God's chosen. Those whom He has called. I am called along side with my team to add the confirmation. Or to deny it.
Helping someone to face the need to be honest about their situation can be draining. Because it always caused me to look inward. The one finger point out and three pointing back at me sort of thing.
When it comes to my own heart and my own sin I found its best to be completely honest with God about it and with myself. Its really pointless for me to even any attempt at running away from God. I have spent way to much time with the stories of the Old Testament prophets to know that resistance is futile.
St John of the Cross, the 16th Century spiritual guide understood that both the intellect, memory and will are all 'faculties of the soul.' That there is a need for the seeker of God to be instructed in all of these in order that purification of the soul can begin.
He writes, "The same has to be done for the other two faculties, memory and will. They must undergo a purification relative to their respective apprehensions in order to reach union with God in perfect hope and charity." (from The Ascent of Mt. Carmel)
What he is driving at here is the need to go deeper. Memory must be looked at. The will must be broken. There is a process of clearing the pathway to the depths of our soul. It begins with an honest examination. When we are honest with our sin and short coming. That we learn not to dance around the matters of the heart but rather allowing God to make straight the paths in our inward parts.
Removing debris in my own heart only begins when I am honest with myself and when I allow others to be honest with me. Spiritual exhortation goes beyond the small talk of 'scripture coasters' but rather seeps into the recesses of the places God really wants to clear out.
My favorite phrase these days is simply: To him/her who has ears to hear...listen.
Some people might think that is abrupt. Others may think its tactless. Even others may agree with my tactics and become brave enough to give it a try. What's weird is that usually thinking about confrontation chews me up on the inside. Going down the path of exhortation is more of my daily journey now.
Often times the work I am involved in is messy. Expectations get muddled. Focus becomes blurred. Whats' real is often mixed in with fantasy or worse, when its spiritualized and cloaked in "God speak." My current job is to help others confirm their call. That's serious, deadly business in a way. I am dealing with holy matter here. God's chosen. Those whom He has called. I am called along side with my team to add the confirmation. Or to deny it.
Helping someone to face the need to be honest about their situation can be draining. Because it always caused me to look inward. The one finger point out and three pointing back at me sort of thing.
When it comes to my own heart and my own sin I found its best to be completely honest with God about it and with myself. Its really pointless for me to even any attempt at running away from God. I have spent way to much time with the stories of the Old Testament prophets to know that resistance is futile.
St John of the Cross, the 16th Century spiritual guide understood that both the intellect, memory and will are all 'faculties of the soul.' That there is a need for the seeker of God to be instructed in all of these in order that purification of the soul can begin.
He writes, "The same has to be done for the other two faculties, memory and will. They must undergo a purification relative to their respective apprehensions in order to reach union with God in perfect hope and charity." (from The Ascent of Mt. Carmel)
What he is driving at here is the need to go deeper. Memory must be looked at. The will must be broken. There is a process of clearing the pathway to the depths of our soul. It begins with an honest examination. When we are honest with our sin and short coming. That we learn not to dance around the matters of the heart but rather allowing God to make straight the paths in our inward parts.
Removing debris in my own heart only begins when I am honest with myself and when I allow others to be honest with me. Spiritual exhortation goes beyond the small talk of 'scripture coasters' but rather seeps into the recesses of the places God really wants to clear out.
My favorite phrase these days is simply: To him/her who has ears to hear...listen.
