What means do you use to maintain Sabbath, spiritual disciplines, and care of mind- body-spirit? 

 

     I have grown to appreciate the routines of Sabbath, spiritual disciplines, and care of mind-body-spirit. I set growth goals each year that focus on these gifts. I take a day off each week and try to spend as much time as possible with my family over the weekends. I enjoy a few personal pleasures, and have grown to value time with my family, and my own personal and spiritual health.  

     When I first arrive at a Church, I meet with Staff parish and part of this conversation centers on the necessity of Sabbath, spiritual disciplines, and care of mind-body-spirit. I love being a pastor and take the responsibility serious but personal boundaries and family are very important to me. I have a scheduled a day off each week where I do no church work. During my day off I enjoy doing things that provide me with rest and personal pleasure: I enjoy going to the movies, sitting in a bookstore with a latte reading random books and magazines while listening to music in my headphones. Depending on the time of year I may go hiking, hunting or fishing. I have grown to protect this day, as I learned early on it’s very easy to take a call, accept another meeting, or assignment on this day. I recently began walking/jogging around my neighborhood regularly.

     I have an insatiable thirst for reading and studying the scriptures. Admittedly, there are weeks where this thirst is met with only a sip from the faucet. I can’t always commit the time I desire so I set aside every morning to read devotionally and pray while seeking to apply the lessons to my life. I also practice the other instituted means of grace: Holy Communion, Fasting, and Christian fellowship. I receive Holy Communion each month with my church family. I practice fasting but could grow in this discipline. I meet monthly with other clergy. Annually, I retreat for spiritual nourishment and rest either on a trip, (most recently to Israel), to a conference, or retreat center. I pray continuously, but there are days where I walk into the sanctuary alone to pray at the altar, this began as a desire for it to be a weekly practice, but I have struggled to keep it routine. 

     I enjoy spending time with my family. Most evenings we sit together on the back porch and reflect on the day and share time in one another’s presence while cooking and relaxing. We also take a family vacation each summer; we usually spend a week at the beach or my wife’s family’s lake house back home. On the weekends we enjoy shopping, eating out, and exploring the town together. 

    The channels of God’s grace are converting and confirming me. I understand that growth in God’s grace is neither accidental nor automatic; one doesn’t stumble into Christian maturity. I have allowed this process to bend and shape me and remain open and committed to the work of God in my life. 

His Peace