Gathering and Preparing
When you are anticipating something, how do you gather or prepare? For vacations, I find myself gathering the hiking stuff, gathering the reading materials, and gathering the food. All in discrete piles where I frequently stumble over them! It increases the anticipation, the excitement builds for the time when I will actually use these things.
How do we prepare and gather for other events? With little piles or some other way. How do we prepare for the biggest event, that plunge into life everlasting? Am I preparing in the same way? What piles do I stumble over? What increases my excitement and anticipation? I don't have answers for these questions, but I do have some thoughts. Two are below. More may follow.
Jesus has been the only person to take that plunge and return. How did he prepare? What would I call those piles in my life?
- We know he spent time with the Father. So my time with the Father pile is scattered throughout my day. Sometimes I trip over it in the morning, but more often it's after I'm truly awake. My friend, Anne, has recommended a book which will help me build those piles in a discrete place. I will start reading it in a couple of weeks. This is the book:
When the Soul Listens: Finding Rest and Direction in Contemplative Prayer
- We know he spent time with his friends. I was reading this morning how he left the crowds and went up on a hillside with his friends. This is the hard thing for me. Life is so full, it's difficult to fit in with the also full lives of friends. For some it's a one-a-month meal, or a once in awhile meal. And we have friends that stay with us when we vacation so we can have a longer time with them. But making the time is hard for me because I like solitude but too much of that tends to lead to inertia. So, if you're my friend and I'm not scheduling you in, please let me know. The best "friends" book I ever read was A Prayerbook for Spiritual Friends this is my model for friendship:
A Prayerbook for Spiritual Friends: Partners in Prayer
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