I have long posts in my head and no time in the past few days to write them. But I also have a few little things so I''l just post them quick.
1. Thanks to K.T. Ace for the extremely insightful comments. I may have to write entire posts to respond, you brought up so many things for me to think about.
2. Still going with the Lenten sweets sacrifice, not doing so well with the reading/praying/meditating, I plan to work on that this week.
3. On Sunday the pastor mentioned how he can tell whenever someone links to the church in their blog and he enjoys going back and reading what people write about the church. My immediate thought was to wonder how many people would now purposefully put a link in their post just because he mentioned it. I apparently am one of those people. (http://www.substancechurch.com/) Hi Pastor Peter!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
More on Lent (this might be a theme for while...try not to get bored)
[First, I just started twittering so I added a widget thing to show my tweets :)]
I addition to making my Lenten sacrifice and I am also trying to do an additional bible reading/study every day during Lent. And since I am normally very bad about reading my Bible it does seem that it should be easier to do more than I normally do. I do read my Bible, but I am more likely to read it like a novel that to really study. I pick it up and start reading through a book (old testament usually) and get sucked in and read for longer than I intended. This is usually when I lay down to go to bed and suddenly it is past when I should have been asleep. I recently stayed up an extra 45 minutes one night to finish Genesis. I get wrapped up in the story and I really don't think much about what it is saying about God or how it could apply to me and my life.
Since my familiarity with the Bible probably isn't as complete as it could be I don't think that this is really a bad thing it just isn't what I would consider "devotional time". What I don't do is read and meditate of the Word. It is actually extremely difficult for me to do that. I am very distractable and fidgety and sitting quietly thinking about a verse or passage leads to all sorts of random trains of thought that aren't really going anywhere. It seems like if I am not active about it, it won't keep my attention. I go through phases where this is easier and harder as well.
I have experienced what this type or study and meditation can be, so I can tell when it isn't working. I know when I am reading and it isn't sinking in. Psalms seems to be particularly bad for me this way. I can even read it out loud to myself and then realize my mind was on something else the entire time. I am a natural multi-tasker, most of us with ADD/ADHD are, our brain natually bounce from one focus to another. Even when I am actively doing something, like typing this blog, my mind is jumping to other things and then back. Every once in awhile I will even type a few words that go with the other train of thought in my head instead of the one I am trying to write about. Luckily for me (and whoever else has to try and read and decipher what I wrote) I almost always catch the mistake and fix it.
In any case, I find quiet difficult especially internal quiet. Holding a single though, idea, phrase, etc. in my mind and working through it, praying about it, meditating on it is next to impossible most of the time. But I keep trying, keep working on the discipline of it and keep praying for focus. This particular schedule of readings for both morning and night every day of Lent is a challenge but I know that it is only through challenging ourselves that we grow.
I addition to making my Lenten sacrifice and I am also trying to do an additional bible reading/study every day during Lent. And since I am normally very bad about reading my Bible it does seem that it should be easier to do more than I normally do. I do read my Bible, but I am more likely to read it like a novel that to really study. I pick it up and start reading through a book (old testament usually) and get sucked in and read for longer than I intended. This is usually when I lay down to go to bed and suddenly it is past when I should have been asleep. I recently stayed up an extra 45 minutes one night to finish Genesis. I get wrapped up in the story and I really don't think much about what it is saying about God or how it could apply to me and my life.
Since my familiarity with the Bible probably isn't as complete as it could be I don't think that this is really a bad thing it just isn't what I would consider "devotional time". What I don't do is read and meditate of the Word. It is actually extremely difficult for me to do that. I am very distractable and fidgety and sitting quietly thinking about a verse or passage leads to all sorts of random trains of thought that aren't really going anywhere. It seems like if I am not active about it, it won't keep my attention. I go through phases where this is easier and harder as well.
I have experienced what this type or study and meditation can be, so I can tell when it isn't working. I know when I am reading and it isn't sinking in. Psalms seems to be particularly bad for me this way. I can even read it out loud to myself and then realize my mind was on something else the entire time. I am a natural multi-tasker, most of us with ADD/ADHD are, our brain natually bounce from one focus to another. Even when I am actively doing something, like typing this blog, my mind is jumping to other things and then back. Every once in awhile I will even type a few words that go with the other train of thought in my head instead of the one I am trying to write about. Luckily for me (and whoever else has to try and read and decipher what I wrote) I almost always catch the mistake and fix it.
In any case, I find quiet difficult especially internal quiet. Holding a single though, idea, phrase, etc. in my mind and working through it, praying about it, meditating on it is next to impossible most of the time. But I keep trying, keep working on the discipline of it and keep praying for focus. This particular schedule of readings for both morning and night every day of Lent is a challenge but I know that it is only through challenging ourselves that we grow.
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