Peter Scazzero(0/0)
Defining emotional health and contemplative spirituality
Emotional Health naming, recognizing, and managing our own feelings identifying with and having active compassion for others initiating and maintaining close and meaningful relationships breaking free from self-destructive patterns being aware of how our past impacts our present developing the capacity to express our thoughts and feelings clearly, both verbally and nonverbally respecting and loving others without having to change them asking for what we need, want, or prefer clearly, directly, and respectfully accurately self-assessing our strengths, limits, and weaknesses and freely sharing them with others learning the capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the perspectives of others distinguishing and appropriately expressing our sexuality and sensuality grieving well Contemplative Spirituality awakening and surrendering to God’s love in any and every situation positioning ourselves to hear God and remember his presence in all we do communing with God, allowing him to fully indwell the depth of our being practicing silence, solitude, and a life of unceasing prayer resting attentively in the presence of God understanding our earthly life as a journey of transformation toward ever-increasing union with God finding the true essence of who we are in God loving others out of a life of love for God developing a balanced, harmonious rhythm of life that enables us to be aware of the sacred in all of life adapting historic practices of spirituality that are applicable today allowing our Christian lives to be shaped by the rhythms of the Christian calendar rather than the culture living in committed community that passionately loves Jesus above all else
Discipleship models often protect against growing up emotionally
The spirituality of most current discipleship models often only adds an additional protective layer against people growing up emotionally. Because people are having real, and helpful, spiritual experiences in certain areas of their lives–such as worship, prayer, Bible studies, and fellowship–they mistakenly believe they are doing fine, even if their relational life and interior world is not in order. This apparent “progress” then provides a spiritual reason for not doing the hard work of maturing.…
Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable
Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.
Head east into the darkness
Gerald Sittser, in his book A Grace Disguised, reflects on the loss of his mother, wife, and young daughter from a horrific car accident. He chose not to run from his loss but to walk directly into the darkness, letting the experience of that overwhelming tragedy transform his life. Le learned that the quickest way to reach the sun and the light of day is not to run west chasing after it, but to head east into the darkness until you finally reach the sunrise.…
Jesus was not selfless
Jesus was not selfless. He did not live as if only other people counted. He knew his value and worth. He had friends. He asked people to help him. At the same time Jesus was not selfish. He did not live as if nobody else counted. He gave his life out of love for others. From a place of loving union with his Father, Jesus had a mature, healthy “true self.…
Space to explore my feelings
Beyond my times of reading the Bible, I now needed time to pay attention to what was happening within me each day so that I could bring that to God also. Rather than keeping busy to avoid my inner pain and disappointments, I needed space to explore my feelings and wrestle with anger, shame, bitterness, grief, jealousy, fear, or depression–in an open, contemplative way before God.
Top ten symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality
The top ten symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality: Using God to run from God Ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear Dying to the wrong things Denying the past’s impact on the present Dividing our lives into “secular” and “sacred” compartments Doing for God instead of being with God Spiritualizing away conflict Covering over brokenness, weakness, and failure Living without limits Judging other people’s spiritual journey
We need to stop so we might create familiarity at all times
The reason we need to stop and be with God is so we might create a continual and easy familiarity with God’s presence at all times–while working, playing, cooking, taking out the garbage, driving, visiting friends, as well as during worship, prayer, and Bible study.
We underestimate the power of evil
Revelation, one of the most badly interpreted and misunderstood books of the Bible, contains the key to why most present-day Christians are overwhelmed by the culture and the world around us: we underestimate the intensity and power of evil–both outside and inside of us.
Conflict and trouble were central to the mission of Jesus
Conflict and trouble were central to the mission of Jesus. He disrupted the false peace all around him–in the lives of his disciples, the crowds, the religious leaders, the Romans, those buying and selling in the temple. He taught that true peacemaking disrupts false peace even in families: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.…
When we create a counterfeit reality we exclude God from our lives
When we leave reality for a mental creation of our own doing (hidden assumptions), we create a counterfeit world. When we do this, it can properly be said that we exclude God from our lives because God does not exist outside of reality and truth.