A rut
Rut. Can one be in a discipline rut?I find that I am not getting up early enough to read the devotional book that I use, the scripture that goes with it, or to pray.
I'm not in a class, I'm not teaching a class, and I'm not volunteering to teach Sunday school very often. The past two times I have taught, it's been an annual conference report -- not something that required study on my part.
I'm reading two books, and one of them is actually good, but I don't seem interested enough to pick either of them up to read them.
I am still writing for the blog, which I think is a discipline, but without devotions, study or reading, I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job at this, either.
What do you do when you feel like you are in a discipline rut? How do I motivate myself to get up earlier, to read, to study, to pray? I know myself, and I know that if I am interested enough, and feel like it is important enough, I'll make time for it, whatever it is.
Does a life of spiritual discipline have natural dips and crests? Should I expect this? Or should I worry? Do I force it to happen, or do I just wait in this time of quiet?
Are ruts to be expected or to be fought against? Both? Neither?
Image: Altar from opening worship of the School of Christian Mission
Labels: Discipleship, Faith
posted by Kim at 11:35 PM
3 Comments:
No trail is perfectly straight. So why should our lives be any different.
Maybe the way to break a rut is to look at the path in a different light. realizing that this down time may be there as God's way of refreshing you.
Be still and know that God is God. Ps 46:10
Can one be in a discipline rut? Yes.
What do I do when I feel like I'm in a rut? I talk with my spiritual director, and often it is a time when I need to let the rut be what it is. I'll find ways to intentionally be with God, but if my normal practices aren't working, then I set them aside for a time, with the intention of picking them up again later.
How do I motivate myself to get up earlier? Years ago, I had to give up on this. But I made some intentional space - praying on a rosary or anglican prayer beads on my way to work, intercessory prayer during my drive to work, saying an abbreviated office at my desk - and sometimes that is enough.
Does a life of spiritual discipline have natural dips and crests? Yes. You should expect them. Notice them, mark them, heed them, pay attention to them. Otherwise, ride them, just like you can float on your back as the ocean's waves roll past underneath you. I don't force it, but try to let the Holy Spirit work on me as the Spirit wills. Hold this trough-time in your prayers. You may be in for a trip through the desert, or it may be just a little dip. Just try to remember to intentionally connect with God, at least once a day.
Are ruts to be expected - yes - or fought against - no. Crests and troughs just... happen. Let the waves of the Living Water roll over and through you. Often I find that these quieter times, when nothing much seems to be going on within me spiritually, end up being the most fertile times. At the end, when I'm heading back up for the crest again, I will discover new spiritual gifts and graces that have grown within me during the trough time.
I will hold you in the Light, Kim. All will be well, as Dame Julian of Norwich says, and all will be well, and all manner of thing will be well.
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