Guest post by Bill Cruse
We are in a diverse changing world
that seems to move faster and faster every year. I hear myself and others say
things like, “wow, it’s summer already? Where did the spring go?” We have a
sense that time is passing more quickly. We rush from one meeting to the next,
and from worship service to the next activity without much time for reflection
on what has happened.
I entered seminary six weeks ago. I’ve been forced to stop
rushing by the intentional pattern of life established in this community. I
might feel pressed to get the next chapter read or the paper written, but this
community provides an opportunity for the sustaining of my wellness. Even
though I have deadlines at school, a flight to catch for weekend work or family
visits, I am able to do all this in a new way, with a spirituality that sustains
me. I’m not drained of energy; instead I feel more alive and connected.
Something has changed for me. I have a new sense of wellness
and sustaining rhythm in my life. And if I think back to an earlier
Sustainist blog post, my wellness will affect those who are in my spheres of
influence. Through email, text messages, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter I have
been sharing my experiences. My friends are learning of the new patterns and
rhythm my life has acquired. I have adopted a new ordo – a word that implies a methodical
series or arrangement (and is used in the church to describe liturgical order).
I use the word intentionally. It is unusual, set apart from daily life, and not
part of our common parlance. What’s happened for me is that I have adopted an
intentional ordo that invites me to slow down, connect with people and my
thoughts, and with my Creator. I take time to sustain all of my holy currencies:
relationship, wellness, time and place, money, leadership, and truth.
To sustain our wellbeing, our communities, our
relationships, and our world, we need to re-establish a World Ordo, each of us,
alone and in community. I’m in residence at seminary where developing a pattern
and rhythm is hard to avoid. I am blessed with time intentionally set apart in
community with daily prayer, and twice weekly mid-day Eucharist, times to give
thanks. But also in the hearing of the Word (classes) and beginning to put the
Word into action. I offer myself, my soul, my body through my assignments as a
thanksgiving for all I have and continue to receive. I am sent forth each day,
and am preparing to be sent forth in a new and unique way when I complete this
formational process.
Invite members of your
community to gather and explore ways to create intentional time that sustains
wellness and relationship:
- Give everyone a piece of paper that will be the dialogue worksheet.
- Invite participants to spend a moment to identify the current rhythm or
pattern of their daily life. Invite them to make a list or draw a picture.
- Invite participants to describe how the parts of their daily life
sustain (or don’t) their spiritual wellness and relationships with family,
friends and the community.
- Form small groups and invite participants to use Mutual Invitation to
share as much as they would like from their dialogue worksheet.
- As a large group, close the dialogue time by inviting participants to
reflect and share.
- What’s the pattern and rhythm of being in community you can establish
that will be transformational for you and the wellbeing of your relationships
and communities?
- Where can you find your rhythm, your ordo, both individually and in
community?
- What will become your ordo in order to be a sustainist, contributing to your
own well-being, the wellbeing of your relationships and the wellbeing of your
communities?
|
Reflection Questions for Proper 23 (Year B)
Job 23:1-9, 16-1
What sustains your relationship with God when you think God is not there?
Psalm 22:1-15
In what ways does God respond to your cries?
Hebrews 4:12-16
In times of need how do you hold fast to your confession and approach
with boldness?
Mark 10:17-31
Why is it hard to enter the kingdom of God?
|
Bill Cruse is the East
Coast Program Coordinator and an Associate with the Kaleidoscope Institute. He
is an intercultural competency coach and a licensed Qualified Administrator of
the Intercultural Development Inventory®. Bill is a postulant in the Episcopal
Diocese of New Hampshire and pursuing the Master of Divinity degree at
Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. He will be co-facilitating the Multicultural Conference “Creating a Church for All People” at Lake Junaluska
November 29 – December 1. Bill can be
reached via email at [email protected]